Christmastide

Carlotta Ferrari’s Christmastide opens with a gentle exploration of the text’s core message: love’s descent at Christmas. The SATB voices weave together, initially in homophony, to affirm the divine nature of this love. As the music develops, Ferrari uses the interplay of the voices to reflect on the significance of this incarnation, questioning what offering can be made in return. The composer finds the answer in the text’s final stanza, transforming the musical texture to embody the unifying power of love, a love that is to be shared with God and all humanity, becoming our offering and sign.