VOCES8 Foundation Choir & Orchestra - Rose Ever Blooming [CD]

Format: CD Album
Catalogue No.: VCM178
Barcode: 5060140213017
Release Date: 14 Nov 2025
Genre: Choral

Rose Ever Blooming honours the role of Mary in the story of Jesus, highlighting the importance of family and the eternally strong bonds between mother and son. Inspired by poetry by Patricia Monaghan, we have constructed a libretto featuring twelve of these poems. Traditional Christmas carols are woven together with this poetry, acting as musical touchstones while also supporting the themes and narratives in Monaghan's poetry.

Each divine moment of the Christmas story is presented here with a human counterpart. These poems portray Mary in all her humanity and as a reluctant hero of the Christmas story. In Rose Ever Blooming, Mary's story is presented as a reflection from the end of her life, beginning with the Annunciation and ending with her own list of Beatitudes, praising the ordinary and the everyday blessings we take for granted. We see the onset of motherhood as a metamorphosis from ordinary girl to one who will "bring forth the future." A new Magnificat, not praising an entity outside ourselves, recognizes the divine within all of us. It was refreshing to tell Mary's story through her eyes, and Monaghan's brilliant portrayal of her character shines through in these sensitive and poignant poems.

- Jocelyn Hagen and Timothy C. Takach

Track Listing:
1. Lo, How a Rose (feat.Jack Liebeck)
2. The Beginning of the Story
3. Annunciation: With a Sound Like Wings (feat. Jack Liebeck)
4. Gabriel's Message (Album Version) (feat.Jack Liebeck)
5. And Then It Was Over (feat.Jack Liebeck)
6. Miracles
7. A Stranger Tells Us the News (feat.Jack Liebeck)
8. Life After Angels
9. Resurrection (feat. Jack Liebeck & Katie Jeffries-Harris)
10. Magnificat (feat.Jack Liebeck)
11. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (feat.Jack Liebeck)
12. I Said Yes to Hope (feat. Jack Liebeck & Katie Jeffries-Harris
13. Beatitudes
14. Woman Clothed With the Sun (feat.Jack Liebeck)