In the fall of  2001, The Publick Musick was scheduled to perform a concert of celebratory music by Johann Sebastian Bach for choir and orchestra.  Then the 911 attacks occurred and the concert was cancelled.  In response to those horrific events, Publick Musick’s choir decided to come together to make a short recording of music that reflected their resiliency and the imperative of so many of them to create art in the face of destruction.  We then sent the finished recording as a gift to all of those audience members who had planned to attend the concert.   The recording proved so popular that we made it available to the general public by advertising in the local newspaper.

Most of the music on the disc was intended for the Christmas season but, as with any great music, it can be enjoyed anytime.  The selection below is a simple four part Introit for a Christmas Day Mass.  It was composed by the Flemish musician Heinrich Isaac, who enjoyed a prestigious career in the early part of the Renaissance.  The style is imitative, meaning that the voices echo each other, singing the same notes, rhythms and text, one immediately after the other.  The effect is one of exuberant joy and the confidence that comes with the belief in the goodness of humankind – something that many musicians were struggling to find during the weeks and months after 911.

The music opens with a short solo (chanted) introduction, setting the fundamental tone for the choral entries to follow.  The music is divided into distinct sections with  brief chanted passages between each section.  (The performance below does not include the final section.)

Score:  Puer_natus_est_nobis