Il est ne lé divin Enfant

Published by Oxford University Press
Catalog # 0-19-386830-x
 

The traditional melody for this song is there- but it’s pretty well hidden by overlapping fragments of different lengths which continuously shift position as their different isorhythmic cycle points shift in relationship to each other. That may sound very serious and technical, but you wouldn’t call this piece serious upon hearing it- it’s bright, full of fun, and almost implies a Swingle Singer type approach to the piece. That’s exactly what happened on a first read-through, something in the music caused the group trying it out to lighten up their sounds and we really did start hearing a Swingle Singers type sound, even though nobody suggested taking that approach!