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We are five weeks away from our rehearsal at the Cathedral for 'Nine Lessons and Carols' - and so preparing Christmas music is at the top of our list. One of the selections that the Chamber Choir will sing is one (that to my knowledge) has never been performed at this event. The carol is called "Tomorrow shall be my Dancing Day" -and it is a fascinating work - both musically and textually. The carol has a brand-new musical setting by the British composer, John Gardner (1917-2011) and while many carols have a dance element and an infectious rhythm, Gardner takes the rhythmic element to a new height.
The piece is multi-metric - that is, some measures have two beats while others contain one or three (all inter-mixed). Tapping one's foot or trying to clap to the beat can lead to mental breakdown - so I don't recommend it! Gardner's intent with these rhythmic changes is not to show off -but to simply set the text -which in itself is highly irregular. Thus, his combination of both music and text is truly impressive. 'Tomorrow shall be' is unusual in that it is Christ who is the narrator, and it is He who tells his story. There are close Medieval parallels among the many 'cradle prophecy ' carols in which the infant Christ foretells his future to his Mother while seated in her lap. The repertoire for choirs at Christmas is huge - ranging from the Medieval period to the contemporary. Gardner's 'Tomorrow shall be' somehow synthesizes the very old with the very new - and the result feels like a healthy gust of fresh air into a stuffy room. Malcolm V. Edwards
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Malcolm EdwardsMalcolm Edwards was born in Halifax, England and emigrated to Canada in 1967. He is a graduate of Sheffield College of Education (UK), Trinity College of Music, London, the University of Lethbridge, the University of Montana and has done further graduate work at the University of Northern Colorado. He taught music in junior and senior high school for twelve years in southern Alberta before joining the University of Calgary as a Professor of Music Education in 1980. He retired from the university after thirty-one years of service in 2011. In the community he was affiliated with the Youth Singers of Calgary for 21 years directing the Act Three and Senior divisions. In his retirement, he is now employed as an Adjunct Professor of Music at St Mary’s University, as the Artistic Director of the Calgary Men’s Chorus and as the Senior Choir Director at St John’s Choir Schola. He has held leadership positions within the Alberta Choral Federation, the Association of Canadian Choral Communities, served on the Board of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and is active as a choral adjudicator and workshop leader in schools and churches. He is the recipient of two awards from the Provincial Federation – one in recognition of advocacy in arts education and the second in recognition of exemplary service to choral music within the Province of Alberta. In 2004 he received recognition from the national body (ACCC) for twenty-five years of service to the Canadian choral community. Archives
October 2025
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