Love Divine

Description

Love Divine by James M. Stephenson
for SATB choir, concert winds, and strings

Commissioned by University of St. Thomas; Matthew George, Director

duration: 6′

Instrumentation:
SATB Choir
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 1 bassoon, 2 Bb clarinets, bass clarinet *saxophones:2 altos,tenor,baritone
2 Bb trumpets, 4 french horns, 2 trombones, *euphonium, tuba piano, timpani, double bass
percussion
strings: violin 1&2, viola, cello
*Note: this could be performed without saxophones and baritone, i.e. standard orchestra

Program notes:

I am always thankful for the opportunity to write music to celebrate a specific event. In this case, the occasion was the University of St. Thomas annual Christmas program. I did a rather thorough search for text containing “Love, Divine”, the theme of the concert, and found Christina Rossetti’s beautiful poem, ‘Christmastide’, that suited my purposes very well. I chose the first and third stanzas of the poem, in order to attain the effect I was after.

Here is the poem in its entirety:

Christmastide, Christina Rossetti 1830 – 1894
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
Star and Angels gave the sign.

(not used)
Worship we the Godhead,
Love Incarnate, Love Divine;
Worship we our Jesus:
But wherewith for sacred sign?

(used)
Love shall be our token,
Love be yours and love be mine,
Love to God and all men,
Love for plea and gift and sign.

It is my sincere hope that this music uplifts anyone present to hear it, because Love is indeed Divine. Thank you to Matthew George, Director of Bands at the University of St. Thomas, for this opportunity.

Jim Stephenson; September 30, 2025