December 2012

The Presbyterian College Choir will usher in the Christmas season with the annual Christmas at PC performances over the weekend of November 30-December 2. Kneel to the Child of Light, the theme of the production this year, will again be conducted by Dr. J. Porter Stokes, Chair of the Music Department and Director of Choral Activities at the college. This performance, always spectacular and moving, has become a much anticipated tradition across our campus and the upstate of South Carolina.

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In years past another tradition spanning 32 years introduced Advent on the PC campus—the Madrigal Dinner Concert, founded and directed by Dr. Charles T. Gaines in 1966.

The Madrigal Dinner-Concert featured a typically English dinner served in the traditional style of Merry Olde England. Trumpet fanfares announced various courses of the meal and highlighted the entrance of the specially costumed Madrigal Singers. Madrigals were sung and performers entertained throughout the meal of hot mulled cider, roasted beef, Yorkshire pudding, native cheeses, and plum pudding prepared by Mr. Vernon Powell and the dining hall staff each year.

In early 1966, Dr. Gaines consulted with student, Sam Hobson, a member of the class of 1969, who conducted summer research into authentic 16^th century English style. Sam then designed the costumes to be worn in the first performance that December. The Clinton Chronicle of Nov. 24, 1966, reported that “there were no patterns available for the costumes and Mr. Hobson had to make them [patterns] and give careful instruction to many seamstresses who sewed the costumes, in some cases, mothers of the singers.”

According to The Laurens County Advertiser from December 11, 1991, Sam also attended the Berea School of Dance in Kentucky where he learned the English Morris dance, later sharing the dance with the PC performers. In addition, Sam designed the Madrigal Coat of Arms you see here.

Madrigals are secular songs based on pastoral fables or love themes, written primarily for unaccompanied voices. Up to eighteen singers were selected each year from the PC Choir on the basis of their musical ability and vocal talent. A magician, a jester, up to ten Morris dancers, strolling troubadours, a trumpeter, and occasionally tumblers dressed in appropriate costumes, were chosen from the student body to contribute to the entertainment of dinner guests, much as was done in the 16^th century.

Preparations began at the start of fall semester each year. Additional students were recruited from the choir and the student body to serve the four course meal to guests. Choir members also were responsible for managing the publicity, decorations, and reservations for this event which was always held immediately before final exam week.

In January of 1969, video recordings of the Madrigal Singers were made to be shown on SC-ETV the following December. The Morris dancers and Jester appeared with the Singers in both segments and Merlin the Magician was featured in one segment, as well. According to the Laurens Advertiser, the Madrigal Singers were invited to perform at local schools, including Laurens District High School in 1975 and Laurens Grammar & Ford Elementary schools in 1977.

In 1986, the Madrigal Singers were invited to recreate their dinner performance in Greenville, South Carolina at the Hyatt Regency as a benefit for the St. Francis Hospital. Dr. Gaines worked with the hotel chefs to duplicate the menu, including the processional Boar’s Head. Possibly the oldest continuing festival of the Christmas season, the presentation of a boar’s head at Christmas came to symbolize the triumph of the Christ Child over sin.

By 1976, approximately 400 guests from around the southeast attended the performance each year as Greenville Dining Hall was transformed into a “Great Hall.”

The cost of an adult dinner reservation at the inaugural event in 1966 was $3.00.