Composer’s Note
by Frank Ferko

A Festival of Carols for mixed chorus and harp is based on five Christmas carol texts by 19th century American poets and hymn writers. Although it was my intention to use earlier American texts, I found that most Christmas carols sung in America prior to the 19th century were carols brought to this country by immigrants from their homelands in Europe. Thus, many of the early carols sung here did not originate in this country. The nineteenth century, however, did produce an abundance of new texts by American writers, and these were also set to music by American composers. Some of these carols have become quite well-known while others have remained relatively obscure. In the present work all of the music is new whether or not the texts are familiar. Thus, the carols herein are not arrangements of previously existing tunes but entirely new melodies and harmonizations with the harp used both as an accompanying instrument and as an intrinsic thread within the larger musical fabric.”
—Frank Ferko

This work was commissioned by the Dale Warland Singers. The music was composed in the summer and early fall of 2002 and first performed by the Dale Warland Singers at four performances in December 2002 of the annual Echoes of Christmas concerts. It was broadcast nationally by Minnesota Public Radio and may be listened to on the Minnesota Public Radio website in a world premiere performance by the Dale Warland Singers. The audio is located at http://music.mpr.org/features/0212_holiday/echoes.shtml Click on the "Listen to the program" link. This is a recording of the entire concert. A Festival of Carols begins at 16:30 if you choose to fast-forward.