Jamaican version of 15th-century song fires up carol service
Halliburton creates ‘lick shot, wheel and come again’ moment with University Singers
Published:Sunday | December 17, 2023 | 12:06 AMDave Rodney - Sunday Gleaner Writer
‘Tis the Christmas season when typically there is a flood of old and new music at carol services across the island. One of the highly anticipated holiday events is the decades-old Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols featuring The University Singers at the University Chapel at UWI Mona.
The format was adapted from King’s College, University of Cambridge in England, and over several decades it was perfected at UWI by legendary music director, the late Noel Dexter. He elevated the service to become a ‘must-see’ calendar event that served up an eclectic and mind-blowing musical feast each year. But a lesser known fact is that this carol service also became an important platform for breaking new, exciting home-grown compositions, many of which have become Christmas staples across the Caribbean region.
Happily, this tradition of excellence is continuing under the leadership of choir master and conductor extraordinaire, Franklin Halliburton. Last Sunday at the UWI Chapel, he created a ‘lick shot, wheel and come again’ moment with The University Singers when they transformed a solemn, sedate 15th-century treasure from the old repertoire of The University Singers called Adam Lay Ye Bounden into a rollicking, raucous chanson that reverberated throughout the pre-Emancipation cut-stones of the landmark chapel.
The original song text was written anonymously and is based on Genesis chapter 3. Halliburton reinvented the song by infusing it with assorted Jamaican elements, stopping only one step short of taking it through the doors of full-blown dancehall. Jaws dropped. Pompous bodies rocked. Ancestral drums beckoned. And the congregation stomped their feet to the haunting staccato beat.
“What we performed on Sunday, Adam Lay Ye Bounden, is an original text by me,” Halliburton told The Gleaner. “I translated the 15th century-words to Jamaican dialect and set them to Jamaican polyrhythms, the first segment continuing in a 5/4 meter and the final segment resolving to a 6/8 meter,” he explained.
“We preformed the traditional version of Adam at every carol service from 1977 to 1986 while I was a member of The University Singers so it still has a special place in my heart,” Texas-based Professor Ezra Englin revealed. “But I absolutely love this Jamaican setting with the intersection of medieval harmony structure and ‘dialectical’ language in this new piece. Kudos to Mr. Halliburton,” he raved.
Another former University Singers member, Flo Darby, who attended last Sunday’s event noted that “Halliburton has proven that composition of choral music in Jamaica has a bright future”.
She added, “Not even in my wildest imagination would I have expected his fascinating Jamaicanisation of Adam Lay Ye Bounden, which left us rivetted and satisfied.”
The exuberantly lively outcome of the classic was a glittering crown jewel from this very enjoyable and well-attended carol service. University executives and faculty members attended in numbers, as did students, music lovers and several retired UWI faculty members, including former Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Marlene Hamilton, who is herself an organist. The event was also enjoyed by an even larger global online audience.