Bethlehem Down - Peter Warlock (1894-1930)

Bethlehem Down, composed by British composer Peter Warlock, is a piece that contains the rich harmonies of the Romantic Era in a relatively restrained fashion. Peter Warlock, the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine was born in 1894, living a relatively un-charming life before passing away, likely by suicide, shortly before Christmas in 1930. The claims of suicide are supported by evidence, including the fact that his young cat was placed outside of the room that was filled with gas, the cause of his death. Heseltine was interested in the occult, and the name “Warlock” stemmed from this interest. Peter Warlock was also noted for his scandalous lifestyle, with many claims that he lived a bisexual lifestyle and had a suspected illegitimate child with an intermittent girlfriend, named Mary Jessica Perkins.

        Bethlehem Down is a piece that was written in conjunction with lyricist Bruce Blunt to fuel the pair’s drinking habits. It was submitted to The Daily Telegraph’s annual Christmas Carol Competition, where it was declared the winner, and is largely recognized as Peter Warlock’s greatest choral work. It was later arranged for solo voice and keyboard accompaniment (often organ), less than three weeks before Peter Warlock’s death. The text was written by Bruce Blunt and sent to Peter Warlock, where it was set to music within a number of days.

      Due to the rich harmonic nature of the piece, it is difficult, yet attainable for developing groups. While the harmonies can be relatively difficult, it is written as a pseudo-strophic piece with four verses. Two of the verses are set to the opening theme, while the remaining two verses are set to a variation of this opening, with different, more dense harmonies used in the second half of the piece. The piece is intended to be a somber reflection of Mary, mother of Jesus’s thoughts and feelings, as she holds a child destined to save humanity, all the while acknowledging the fate that is to befall her child. There should be a gradual crescendo through each verse, which peaks halfway through the third verse before ending quietly in a reflective manner on the fourth verse. Although contrapuntal at times, the similarities to the Baroque and Classical eras end there. There is a wide dynamic range that extends through the piece, and time should be taken to allow for all harmonic changes to settle. A prominent example of this is the tenor move from an E-flat to an E-natural in bars 8 and 16, creating an incredibly tense harmonic clash as the E-natural conflicts with the bass B-flat (a tritone away) and the alto E-flat (a diminished second away). The piece also frequently resolves half-diminished seventh chords to major-seventh chords, creating an even more unsettled feeling as the resolutions never quite happen. The piece harmonically resolves at the end of each phrase when the tenor sings a descending line with a sharp-sixth scale degree before resolving in an open fifth between the voice parts. The piece is available in the public domain on IMSLP and CPDL.