Liner Notes by Mark Doerries 'O day of peace that dimly shines, through all our hopes and fears and dreams, guide us to justice, truth, and love, delivered from our selfish schemes.' - Carl P. Daw, Jr. It is fitting that Carl Daw’s poetic hymn text provides the title of this album, O Day of Peace. During moments of immense joy and sorrow, communities unite in song and poetry to seek justice, peace, love, and truth. This is a timeless and fundamentally human reaction which has produced the writing and singing of hymns in cultures worldwide. No singular form girds the evolution of the hymn and the genre extends beyond Christianity to the traditions of Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Ancient Greece. Christian hymns vary greatly in style, from Latin chant and settings of biblical psalms, to carols for Christmas and Easter, to the chorale melodies of Martin Luther, J.S. Bach, Isaac Watts, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Lowell Mason, Thomas Tallis, and C. Hubert H. Parry. Child choristers have served an integral role in the performance of sacred music, including the singing of hymns, for over a millennium. Palestrina, J.S. Bach, Haydn, Britten, and Bernstein left an oeuvre of music specifically for young singers. Child choristers trace their roots through Vienna and the Hofmusikkapelle Chor, precursor to the Vienna Boys Choir, established in 1498, to the Sistine Chapel Choir organized in 1483, to Thomaskirche of Leipzig founded in 1212, to Saint Paul’s Cathedral of London formed in 1127. Vocal ensembles that included child voices served papal masses as early as the sixth century. Since that time boy choirs, and more recently girl choirs, have flourished in Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches across Europe. The Notre Dame Children’s Choir continues in this tradition by training children to lead the sacred music of the future. Latin hymns (such as Of the Father’s Love Begotten) dominated Christian music until the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther introduced texts composed in his community’s vernacular language, German, and sought to include his congregation in the singing of hymns with the choir. O Day of Peace compiles hymns from both Catholic and Protestant traditions. Many works stem from the English choral culture, which has long placed child choristers at the center of liturgical worship. Works by Methodist Charles Wesley (Love Divine, All Love Excelling), Anglican C. Hubert Parry (Dear Lord and Father of Mankind), and Catholic Richard Terry (O Strength and Stay) exemplify the unification of ebullient melodies with expressive poetry of the English sacred music. The flowing melody of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ hymn draws from his symphonic poem Finlandia for the foundation of This Is My Song, O God of All the Nations. The text speaks of God’s eternal love and challenges communities to build “a nobler world than we have known today.” Similarly, our adaptation of Friedrich Filitz’s Love is Kind and Suffers Long with poetry by English poet Christopher Wordsworth rings out a clear and concise message, “Love than death itself more strong, therefore give us love.” The evening hymn O Strength and Stay employs the image of the setting sun as a metaphor for a peaceful transition from Earthly life to eternal life, “Grant to life’s day a calm unclouded ending…With dawning glories of the eternal day.” Two new hymns commissioned by the Notre Dame Children’s Choir are premiered on the album and speak to the sanctity of darkness. Brian Schoettler’s While Seeking Refuge from the Storms of Life depicts God’s protective presence during periods of conflict, while Hillary Doerries’ setting of Brian Wren’s poetry in Joyful is the Dark explores how God is present even, and especially, within darkness. Carols are a beloved form of the hymn, yet few are as haunting as Harold Darke’s setting of In the Bleak Midwinter whose extended melody floats mystically above the organ accompaniment. Our singers adore the Welsh hymn, Suo Gân, a soft lullaby to the sleeping Christ child. Also included are favorites such as Silent Night and Of the Father’s Love Begotten. The hymns on O Day of Peace often require spiritual and thoughtful elucidation; they necessitate wrestling with the implications of the combined text and music. The poetry is often mysterious. This enigmatic quality allows them to speak across cultural, economic, and even spiritual divides and endure for generations. The Notre Dame Children’s Choir embraces the notion that while all members of our choir stand behind these melodies and texts, no two singers share precisely the same interpretation of their meanings. Hymns are designed to speak to entire congregations and to the individual. Their power emanates from this duality, to be at once corporate and personal. When we engage with hymns, we are linked to a history of congregations, choirs, and individuals singing together across time. --Mark Doerries