Hodie

“Hodie” was written for the Dale Warland Singers, specifically for their Echoes of Christmas concert in 1998. The previous Christmas, Dale had programmed Poulenc’s Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël. I found the first three movements magical, but somehow the fourth – his setting of the Hodie text – didn’t seem to fit with the others. I wondered what would happen if I were to write what I wanted to hear from Poulenc. Here is the result.

Hodie Christus natus est,
hodie Salvator apparuit:
hodie in terra canunt Angeli,
laetantur Archangeli:
hodie exsultant justi, dicentes:
Gloria in excelsis Deo, alleluia.
Today Christ is born,
today the Savior has appeared;
today on earth the Angels sing,
the Archangels rejoice;
today the righteous exult, saying:
Gloria to God in the highest. Alleluia!