Paine: The Nativity, Op. 39

John Knowles Paine (1839–1906) was a leader in composing choral music. His earliest major work was his Mass in D (1865); the oratorio St. Peter (1872) was his first choral work to be performed. Two short cantatas were followed by a more extended effort, The Nativity, composed for the sixth triennial festival of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston in 1883, with its premiere occurring on 2 May, conducted by the composer. The cantata sets twenty-seven stanzas of John Milton's early ode, On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (1629), in three movments, with SATB soloists, SATB chorus, and full orchestra, including harp and organ.

No. 1. Solo and Chorus: It Was the Winter Wild

No. 2. Quartet and Chorus: The Shepherds on the Lawn

No. 3. Chorus: Ring Out, Ye Crystal Spheres