Ben Ponniah

The Golden Carol

A setting of an anonymous Old English Carol ’(‘We saw the light shine out afar, On Christmas in the morning), subtitled ‘of Melchior, Balthazar, and Caspar, the Three Kings’, The Golden Carol tells of the kings’ adoration of the Christ child on that first Christmas morning. The wonder and emotional breadth of the text is brought to life through a steady build up through the two verses, in dynamic levels but also in harmonic language. Homophonic throughout, drawing influence from Bach chorales, the peaceful opening stanzas only hint at the jazz-inspired harmony which Ponniah frequently deploys in his works. More complexity, dissonance and divisi are gradually introduced until the outpouring of emotion at the climax of the piece ‘And see in heaven, our glorious home, The Star of Christmas morning.’