Alexander Goehr

Carol For St. Steven

Written in memory of Erich Fried (1921-1988), a writer who wrote the libretto for Goehr's opera Arden Must Die and whose poems were set in Warngedichte (op. 22), Carol for St Steven is short and playful carol about St Steven as a servant boy in King Herod's Hall. Seeing the Star and realising that Jesus has been born, the boy tells King Herod who overreaction results in Steven being stoned to death (explaining why the Vigil of St Stephen takes place on Christmas Night). With a treble soloist singing the lines of Steven and a bass singing the parts of Herod, Goehr's carol for St Steven is an alternative carol in many senses but one that would be ideal for both amateur and professional choirs looking for new repertoire.