As On the Night — SATB voices, organ by Orlando Gibbons 4-Part - Digital Sheet Music

"As On The Night" is a song text for Christmas Day by English poet, satirist, pamphleteer, and hymn-writer George Wither (1588-1667), whose life spanned the tumultuous period in English history that included the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I, and Charles I and the continuous tension between Catholic and Protestant faith and practice. Desiring to counter the practice of exclusively using psalms as texts for congregational singing in worship, Wither published in 1623 The Hymnes and Songs of the Church, with "The First Part comprehend[ing] Hymns, and such parcels of Holy Scripture, as may properly be sung, with some other ancient Songs and Creeds," and "The Second Part consist[ing] of Spiritual Songs, appropriated to the several Times and Occasions observable in the Church of England." "As On The Night" appears in part two as a song to commemorate Christmas Day. Its first stanza is a retelling of elements of the Nativity story as found in Luke 2:7-20; its second stanza is a consideration of the Incarnation and work of Christ ("Our flesh he wore, our sin to wear away; Our curse he bore, that we escape it may; And wept for us that we might sing for aye.").The music accompanying "As On the Night" is "Song 46," one of many tunes written for Wither's collection by English composer and keyboardist Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625). As Gibbons notated only the melody and bass lines of his tunes, the harmonization in this arrangement for SATB choir and organ is largely that of The English Hymnal (1906). ©Copyright 2024 Todd Marchand / Con Spirito Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. For more sacred, folk, patriotic, and popular music for instruments and voices, visit www.conspiritomusic.comVoices realized by Cantamus (https://cantamus.app/); organ realized by NotePerformer (https://www.noteperformer.com)