Nicola here, talking about festive music. In the last week I’ve been to a couple of carol concerts and it’s been lovely. Nothing puts me more in the mood for Christmas than a carol concert, perhaps because I’ve sung in choirs since I was a small girl and so music and Christmas are inextricably linked for me. I vividly recall the Christmas candlelight services I went to with my grandparents (there’s something very beautiful about candlelight these days when so much of our lighting is very bright and harsh in comparison.) I also remember the mortifying experience one Christmas of accidentally gate-crashing a nativity scene when I processed the wrong way and ended up in the manger rather than the choir stalls!
This year the first concert I went to was in the 13th century church in the small market town of Highworth. Highworth is one of those places that most people haven’t heard of but it is a settlement that goes back to before the Romans. The church has a feeling of great antiquity about it and the first reference to a church on that site is made in the Domesday book of 1086: “Radalphus, the priest, holds the church at Wrde.” In those days the town was called “Vorda” “Wrde” or “Worth” (I love that names were so interchangeable at that time) but as it is built on a hill the “High” was soon added. The church has the most beautiful 12th century carved stone tympanum, which is a decorative wall surface that was often placed above a doorway (in the picture). Above that is a squint, where the priest could look through from his rooms above the porch and see who was in the church.
Anyway, I am getting distracted from music. On that occasion the choir sang some carols such as The Coventry Carol and Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, and the congregation joined in with the old favourites such as Once in Royal David’s City and Good King Wenceslas and we all shared mince pies and mulled wine in the interval. A few days later I went to another concert in the sculpture gallery at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. This time it was the children from the local school singing the carols and they were fabulous! They looked very cherubic and I must admit I felt a pang of nostalgia when I saw a small, serious girl with glasses on the middle row, singing her heart out!
I suppose it’s inevitable that having been a chorister I would associate Christmas music with carols although these days there are Christmas songs everywhere, from the shops to my pilates class where today we exercised to the sound of Jingle Bell Rock and Have Yourselves a Merry Little Christmas. One thing I often wonder is whether the same carols and the same Christmas songs are universally played at this time of year. I realise there must be quite a bit of variation country to country: As a child I learned the French carol “Il est né, le divin enfant” which I’ve never heard in English. But a lot of countries have Silent Night, Nuit Paisible, and other variations.
Many carols apparently pre-date the Christian faith and like a lot of other pagan festivals and imagery, they were adapted by the early church. The Holly and the Ivy is one of these, and has its origins in pagan fertility myths. Henry VIII wrote a version of this song in the 16th century and over the years it has had verses added and removed. So has Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, which dates from the 18th century. One of the original 18th century lines was “Hark, how all the welkin rings, glory to the king of kings!” I didn’t know what a welkin was and had to look it up, discovering it was another word for heaven. I rather like it – bring back the welkin!
Silent Night is one of the most famous carols at all and the story of how it came to be written is a lovely 
one. On Christmas Eve in 1818 Joseph Mohr, the curate of a Roman Catholic church in Austria, discovered that mice had destroyed the mechanism of his church organ and it could not be repaired in time for midnight mass. They needed something to sing, so he sat down and wrote the words of Silent Night, then called on a musician friend to see if he knew of any music that would fit them. Thus Silent Night was born and has been translated into 200 languages and sung across the trenches during the famous Christmas truces of the First World War.
Are you a fan of Christmas music? Do you sing or play? And do you have a favourite carol or seasonal song for this time of year?
Lovely blog, Nicola. Not sure I like ‘welkin’ as much as ‘heaven’ though — I suspect if you said “You are my welkin” to your beloved, you’d probably get a nasty look. It sounds like something you need to put a medicinal creme on. 😉
I love most of the carols. For a lot of my childhood I was in a church choir so we got to sing most of them over and over.
But the one that always causes me to choke up is The Little Drummer Boy. Something about that little boy, with nothing to offer except playing his drum, always gets to me. It was playing in the supermarket the other day and even there I got a bit choked up. 🙂
Lovely blog, Nicola. Not sure I like ‘welkin’ as much as ‘heaven’ though — I suspect if you said “You are my welkin” to your beloved, you’d probably get a nasty look. It sounds like something you need to put a medicinal creme on. 😉
I love most of the carols. For a lot of my childhood I was in a church choir so we got to sing most of them over and over.
But the one that always causes me to choke up is The Little Drummer Boy. Something about that little boy, with nothing to offer except playing his drum, always gets to me. It was playing in the supermarket the other day and even there I got a bit choked up. 🙂
Lovely blog, Nicola. Not sure I like ‘welkin’ as much as ‘heaven’ though — I suspect if you said “You are my welkin” to your beloved, you’d probably get a nasty look. It sounds like something you need to put a medicinal creme on. 😉
I love most of the carols. For a lot of my childhood I was in a church choir so we got to sing most of them over and over.
But the one that always causes me to choke up is The Little Drummer Boy. Something about that little boy, with nothing to offer except playing his drum, always gets to me. It was playing in the supermarket the other day and even there I got a bit choked up. 🙂
Lovely blog, Nicola. Not sure I like ‘welkin’ as much as ‘heaven’ though — I suspect if you said “You are my welkin” to your beloved, you’d probably get a nasty look. It sounds like something you need to put a medicinal creme on. 😉
I love most of the carols. For a lot of my childhood I was in a church choir so we got to sing most of them over and over.
But the one that always causes me to choke up is The Little Drummer Boy. Something about that little boy, with nothing to offer except playing his drum, always gets to me. It was playing in the supermarket the other day and even there I got a bit choked up. 🙂
Lovely blog, Nicola. Not sure I like ‘welkin’ as much as ‘heaven’ though — I suspect if you said “You are my welkin” to your beloved, you’d probably get a nasty look. It sounds like something you need to put a medicinal creme on. 😉
I love most of the carols. For a lot of my childhood I was in a church choir so we got to sing most of them over and over.
But the one that always causes me to choke up is The Little Drummer Boy. Something about that little boy, with nothing to offer except playing his drum, always gets to me. It was playing in the supermarket the other day and even there I got a bit choked up. 🙂
Thank you, Anne! I am wondering how many child choristers there are out there – quite a few of us, I imagine. That’s a good point about welkin. It isn’t as pretty as heaven and does rather sound like a cross between a sea creature and a medical condition!
It’s interesting about the power of carols, isn’t it, and the fact that some can still make you choke up whatever circumstances you hear them under. They are very emotionally powerful.
Thank you, Anne! I am wondering how many child choristers there are out there – quite a few of us, I imagine. That’s a good point about welkin. It isn’t as pretty as heaven and does rather sound like a cross between a sea creature and a medical condition!
It’s interesting about the power of carols, isn’t it, and the fact that some can still make you choke up whatever circumstances you hear them under. They are very emotionally powerful.
Thank you, Anne! I am wondering how many child choristers there are out there – quite a few of us, I imagine. That’s a good point about welkin. It isn’t as pretty as heaven and does rather sound like a cross between a sea creature and a medical condition!
It’s interesting about the power of carols, isn’t it, and the fact that some can still make you choke up whatever circumstances you hear them under. They are very emotionally powerful.
Thank you, Anne! I am wondering how many child choristers there are out there – quite a few of us, I imagine. That’s a good point about welkin. It isn’t as pretty as heaven and does rather sound like a cross between a sea creature and a medical condition!
It’s interesting about the power of carols, isn’t it, and the fact that some can still make you choke up whatever circumstances you hear them under. They are very emotionally powerful.
Thank you, Anne! I am wondering how many child choristers there are out there – quite a few of us, I imagine. That’s a good point about welkin. It isn’t as pretty as heaven and does rather sound like a cross between a sea creature and a medical condition!
It’s interesting about the power of carols, isn’t it, and the fact that some can still make you choke up whatever circumstances you hear them under. They are very emotionally powerful.
Lovely blog, Nicola.
Growing up, I was the source of much family mirth as I insisted on singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the line “and a par-trin-age in a pear tree!” What can I say—to my ear it needed an extra syllable to sound right. To this day, I still get teased by my brothers about it!
Lovely blog, Nicola.
Growing up, I was the source of much family mirth as I insisted on singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the line “and a par-trin-age in a pear tree!” What can I say—to my ear it needed an extra syllable to sound right. To this day, I still get teased by my brothers about it!
Lovely blog, Nicola.
Growing up, I was the source of much family mirth as I insisted on singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the line “and a par-trin-age in a pear tree!” What can I say—to my ear it needed an extra syllable to sound right. To this day, I still get teased by my brothers about it!
Lovely blog, Nicola.
Growing up, I was the source of much family mirth as I insisted on singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the line “and a par-trin-age in a pear tree!” What can I say—to my ear it needed an extra syllable to sound right. To this day, I still get teased by my brothers about it!
Lovely blog, Nicola.
Growing up, I was the source of much family mirth as I insisted on singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with the line “and a par-trin-age in a pear tree!” What can I say—to my ear it needed an extra syllable to sound right. To this day, I still get teased by my brothers about it!
My favorites have always been Carol of the Bells, and Silver Bells (Christmastime in the City). Away In a Manger. The Huron Carol.
My favorites have always been Carol of the Bells, and Silver Bells (Christmastime in the City). Away In a Manger. The Huron Carol.
My favorites have always been Carol of the Bells, and Silver Bells (Christmastime in the City). Away In a Manger. The Huron Carol.
My favorites have always been Carol of the Bells, and Silver Bells (Christmastime in the City). Away In a Manger. The Huron Carol.
My favorites have always been Carol of the Bells, and Silver Bells (Christmastime in the City). Away In a Manger. The Huron Carol.
There is no Christmas without Music. I’m part of a choir that gives a Christmas concert each year and I always loved carols in church at Christmas.
Sadly a lot of “modern” churches have gotten away from singing carols on Sunday except for special services. So I must get my carol fix by joining small groups who bring Christmas cheer to others around town.
My favorite is Joy to the World but also In the Bleak Midwinter.
There is no Christmas without Music. I’m part of a choir that gives a Christmas concert each year and I always loved carols in church at Christmas.
Sadly a lot of “modern” churches have gotten away from singing carols on Sunday except for special services. So I must get my carol fix by joining small groups who bring Christmas cheer to others around town.
My favorite is Joy to the World but also In the Bleak Midwinter.
There is no Christmas without Music. I’m part of a choir that gives a Christmas concert each year and I always loved carols in church at Christmas.
Sadly a lot of “modern” churches have gotten away from singing carols on Sunday except for special services. So I must get my carol fix by joining small groups who bring Christmas cheer to others around town.
My favorite is Joy to the World but also In the Bleak Midwinter.
There is no Christmas without Music. I’m part of a choir that gives a Christmas concert each year and I always loved carols in church at Christmas.
Sadly a lot of “modern” churches have gotten away from singing carols on Sunday except for special services. So I must get my carol fix by joining small groups who bring Christmas cheer to others around town.
My favorite is Joy to the World but also In the Bleak Midwinter.
There is no Christmas without Music. I’m part of a choir that gives a Christmas concert each year and I always loved carols in church at Christmas.
Sadly a lot of “modern” churches have gotten away from singing carols on Sunday except for special services. So I must get my carol fix by joining small groups who bring Christmas cheer to others around town.
My favorite is Joy to the World but also In the Bleak Midwinter.
Now I’m singing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day. Another favorite from the same choir book (Oxford Carols?), though a farming song not a Christmas carol, is Now the Spring Has Come Again (joy and warmth will follow, cold and wet are quite forgot, northward flies the swallow…). It has a set of rhymes that doesn’t rhyme in modern English (compare and are). Makes me wish for a scholar to pronounce the words correctly!
When I was young, the entire town would have wassail and cider out for the carolers and we would stroll and sing until we got to a grand old house where the lady made an architectural wonder of a gingerbread house every year.
Now I’m singing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day. Another favorite from the same choir book (Oxford Carols?), though a farming song not a Christmas carol, is Now the Spring Has Come Again (joy and warmth will follow, cold and wet are quite forgot, northward flies the swallow…). It has a set of rhymes that doesn’t rhyme in modern English (compare and are). Makes me wish for a scholar to pronounce the words correctly!
When I was young, the entire town would have wassail and cider out for the carolers and we would stroll and sing until we got to a grand old house where the lady made an architectural wonder of a gingerbread house every year.
Now I’m singing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day. Another favorite from the same choir book (Oxford Carols?), though a farming song not a Christmas carol, is Now the Spring Has Come Again (joy and warmth will follow, cold and wet are quite forgot, northward flies the swallow…). It has a set of rhymes that doesn’t rhyme in modern English (compare and are). Makes me wish for a scholar to pronounce the words correctly!
When I was young, the entire town would have wassail and cider out for the carolers and we would stroll and sing until we got to a grand old house where the lady made an architectural wonder of a gingerbread house every year.
Now I’m singing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day. Another favorite from the same choir book (Oxford Carols?), though a farming song not a Christmas carol, is Now the Spring Has Come Again (joy and warmth will follow, cold and wet are quite forgot, northward flies the swallow…). It has a set of rhymes that doesn’t rhyme in modern English (compare and are). Makes me wish for a scholar to pronounce the words correctly!
When I was young, the entire town would have wassail and cider out for the carolers and we would stroll and sing until we got to a grand old house where the lady made an architectural wonder of a gingerbread house every year.
Now I’m singing Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day. Another favorite from the same choir book (Oxford Carols?), though a farming song not a Christmas carol, is Now the Spring Has Come Again (joy and warmth will follow, cold and wet are quite forgot, northward flies the swallow…). It has a set of rhymes that doesn’t rhyme in modern English (compare and are). Makes me wish for a scholar to pronounce the words correctly!
When I was young, the entire town would have wassail and cider out for the carolers and we would stroll and sing until we got to a grand old house where the lady made an architectural wonder of a gingerbread house every year.
LOL, Cara/Andrea! I don’t think we’re ever allowed to forget these things, are we! I’m sure it made perfect sense to you!
LOL, Cara/Andrea! I don’t think we’re ever allowed to forget these things, are we! I’m sure it made perfect sense to you!
LOL, Cara/Andrea! I don’t think we’re ever allowed to forget these things, are we! I’m sure it made perfect sense to you!
LOL, Cara/Andrea! I don’t think we’re ever allowed to forget these things, are we! I’m sure it made perfect sense to you!
LOL, Cara/Andrea! I don’t think we’re ever allowed to forget these things, are we! I’m sure it made perfect sense to you!
Thank you, Artemisia. I don’t know those carols and will be listening to a recording of them.
Thank you, Artemisia. I don’t know those carols and will be listening to a recording of them.
Thank you, Artemisia. I don’t know those carols and will be listening to a recording of them.
Thank you, Artemisia. I don’t know those carols and will be listening to a recording of them.
Thank you, Artemisia. I don’t know those carols and will be listening to a recording of them.
How lovely that your choir goes around spreading the joy of Christmas, Samantha. We used to have carol singing here in our village but not in recent years and I really miss it! I love In the Bleak Midwinter too.
How lovely that your choir goes around spreading the joy of Christmas, Samantha. We used to have carol singing here in our village but not in recent years and I really miss it! I love In the Bleak Midwinter too.
How lovely that your choir goes around spreading the joy of Christmas, Samantha. We used to have carol singing here in our village but not in recent years and I really miss it! I love In the Bleak Midwinter too.
How lovely that your choir goes around spreading the joy of Christmas, Samantha. We used to have carol singing here in our village but not in recent years and I really miss it! I love In the Bleak Midwinter too.
How lovely that your choir goes around spreading the joy of Christmas, Samantha. We used to have carol singing here in our village but not in recent years and I really miss it! I love In the Bleak Midwinter too.
Hi Sylvia! Yes, that’s the choir book we’re using! I haven’t cone across Now the Spring has come Again but I like the sound of it and will look it up! I love these memories we all have of carol singing! Until you mentioned the wassail and cider I’d forgotten that we used to have mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to warm up!
Hi Sylvia! Yes, that’s the choir book we’re using! I haven’t cone across Now the Spring has come Again but I like the sound of it and will look it up! I love these memories we all have of carol singing! Until you mentioned the wassail and cider I’d forgotten that we used to have mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to warm up!
Hi Sylvia! Yes, that’s the choir book we’re using! I haven’t cone across Now the Spring has come Again but I like the sound of it and will look it up! I love these memories we all have of carol singing! Until you mentioned the wassail and cider I’d forgotten that we used to have mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to warm up!
Hi Sylvia! Yes, that’s the choir book we’re using! I haven’t cone across Now the Spring has come Again but I like the sound of it and will look it up! I love these memories we all have of carol singing! Until you mentioned the wassail and cider I’d forgotten that we used to have mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to warm up!
Hi Sylvia! Yes, that’s the choir book we’re using! I haven’t cone across Now the Spring has come Again but I like the sound of it and will look it up! I love these memories we all have of carol singing! Until you mentioned the wassail and cider I’d forgotten that we used to have mulled wine and mince pies afterwards to warm up!
Lovely, Nicola. I suppose I was a chorister, as I was in the choir at secondary school. As that was a convent boarding school, lots of religious music. I love plainchant.
I like all the traditional carols, but one unusual favourite is I sing of a maiden. It’s one of those medieval ones that don’t quite rhyme in modern English that Sylvia mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
We used to sing it in the Middle English, with a simple medieval-sounding melody. I’ve just been cruising the ‘net looking for it, but nothing with that tune.
Lovely, Nicola. I suppose I was a chorister, as I was in the choir at secondary school. As that was a convent boarding school, lots of religious music. I love plainchant.
I like all the traditional carols, but one unusual favourite is I sing of a maiden. It’s one of those medieval ones that don’t quite rhyme in modern English that Sylvia mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
We used to sing it in the Middle English, with a simple medieval-sounding melody. I’ve just been cruising the ‘net looking for it, but nothing with that tune.
Lovely, Nicola. I suppose I was a chorister, as I was in the choir at secondary school. As that was a convent boarding school, lots of religious music. I love plainchant.
I like all the traditional carols, but one unusual favourite is I sing of a maiden. It’s one of those medieval ones that don’t quite rhyme in modern English that Sylvia mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
We used to sing it in the Middle English, with a simple medieval-sounding melody. I’ve just been cruising the ‘net looking for it, but nothing with that tune.
Lovely, Nicola. I suppose I was a chorister, as I was in the choir at secondary school. As that was a convent boarding school, lots of religious music. I love plainchant.
I like all the traditional carols, but one unusual favourite is I sing of a maiden. It’s one of those medieval ones that don’t quite rhyme in modern English that Sylvia mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
We used to sing it in the Middle English, with a simple medieval-sounding melody. I’ve just been cruising the ‘net looking for it, but nothing with that tune.
Lovely, Nicola. I suppose I was a chorister, as I was in the choir at secondary school. As that was a convent boarding school, lots of religious music. I love plainchant.
I like all the traditional carols, but one unusual favourite is I sing of a maiden. It’s one of those medieval ones that don’t quite rhyme in modern English that Sylvia mentioned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_syng_of_a_mayden
We used to sing it in the Middle English, with a simple medieval-sounding melody. I’ve just been cruising the ‘net looking for it, but nothing with that tune.
The Huron Carol is quite wonderful and a Canadian favourite.
The Huron Carol is quite wonderful and a Canadian favourite.
The Huron Carol is quite wonderful and a Canadian favourite.
The Huron Carol is quite wonderful and a Canadian favourite.
The Huron Carol is quite wonderful and a Canadian favourite.
I sang in church choirs for years, as an adult as well as a child. I love the Holst setting of Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day. Another favourite is Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. I still remembering how a group of us hung a Stopping All Stations sign over the choir balcony during the processional hymn one year for Epiphany. The presiding bishop looked up, grinned and blessed the lot of us. Which I suppose we needed!
I sang in church choirs for years, as an adult as well as a child. I love the Holst setting of Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day. Another favourite is Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. I still remembering how a group of us hung a Stopping All Stations sign over the choir balcony during the processional hymn one year for Epiphany. The presiding bishop looked up, grinned and blessed the lot of us. Which I suppose we needed!
I sang in church choirs for years, as an adult as well as a child. I love the Holst setting of Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day. Another favourite is Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. I still remembering how a group of us hung a Stopping All Stations sign over the choir balcony during the processional hymn one year for Epiphany. The presiding bishop looked up, grinned and blessed the lot of us. Which I suppose we needed!
I sang in church choirs for years, as an adult as well as a child. I love the Holst setting of Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day. Another favourite is Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. I still remembering how a group of us hung a Stopping All Stations sign over the choir balcony during the processional hymn one year for Epiphany. The presiding bishop looked up, grinned and blessed the lot of us. Which I suppose we needed!
I sang in church choirs for years, as an adult as well as a child. I love the Holst setting of Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day. Another favourite is Elizabeth Poston’s Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. I still remembering how a group of us hung a Stopping All Stations sign over the choir balcony during the processional hymn one year for Epiphany. The presiding bishop looked up, grinned and blessed the lot of us. Which I suppose we needed!
Lovely, Nicola! And both of the carol concerts sounds splendid. I sang in choirs and choruses through my first year of college, and I’ve always loved Christmas carols. I once knew three verses of O, Come, All Ye Faithful” in Latin. *G*
Some of my favorite carols have been mentioned: Carol of the Bells, Holly and the Ivy, Tomorrow Will be My Dancing Day, Joy to the World–really, anything this side of “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” which I loathe. *G*
Lovely, Nicola! And both of the carol concerts sounds splendid. I sang in choirs and choruses through my first year of college, and I’ve always loved Christmas carols. I once knew three verses of O, Come, All Ye Faithful” in Latin. *G*
Some of my favorite carols have been mentioned: Carol of the Bells, Holly and the Ivy, Tomorrow Will be My Dancing Day, Joy to the World–really, anything this side of “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” which I loathe. *G*
Lovely, Nicola! And both of the carol concerts sounds splendid. I sang in choirs and choruses through my first year of college, and I’ve always loved Christmas carols. I once knew three verses of O, Come, All Ye Faithful” in Latin. *G*
Some of my favorite carols have been mentioned: Carol of the Bells, Holly and the Ivy, Tomorrow Will be My Dancing Day, Joy to the World–really, anything this side of “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” which I loathe. *G*
Lovely, Nicola! And both of the carol concerts sounds splendid. I sang in choirs and choruses through my first year of college, and I’ve always loved Christmas carols. I once knew three verses of O, Come, All Ye Faithful” in Latin. *G*
Some of my favorite carols have been mentioned: Carol of the Bells, Holly and the Ivy, Tomorrow Will be My Dancing Day, Joy to the World–really, anything this side of “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” which I loathe. *G*
Lovely, Nicola! And both of the carol concerts sounds splendid. I sang in choirs and choruses through my first year of college, and I’ve always loved Christmas carols. I once knew three verses of O, Come, All Ye Faithful” in Latin. *G*
Some of my favorite carols have been mentioned: Carol of the Bells, Holly and the Ivy, Tomorrow Will be My Dancing Day, Joy to the World–really, anything this side of “Grandma got run over by a Reindeer,” which I loathe. *G*
The Christmas shows around me seem to be plays and ballets. For carols, I attend the two Sundays after Christmas in a certain liturgical tradition. At one nearby church, they have a short sermon and a long carol sing-a-long on the third Sunday of Christmas.
I was driving on Saturday, and was searching for a station when I hit on a station that had a long medley of carols, including Angels We Have Heard on High. I love the refrain.
The Christmas shows around me seem to be plays and ballets. For carols, I attend the two Sundays after Christmas in a certain liturgical tradition. At one nearby church, they have a short sermon and a long carol sing-a-long on the third Sunday of Christmas.
I was driving on Saturday, and was searching for a station when I hit on a station that had a long medley of carols, including Angels We Have Heard on High. I love the refrain.
The Christmas shows around me seem to be plays and ballets. For carols, I attend the two Sundays after Christmas in a certain liturgical tradition. At one nearby church, they have a short sermon and a long carol sing-a-long on the third Sunday of Christmas.
I was driving on Saturday, and was searching for a station when I hit on a station that had a long medley of carols, including Angels We Have Heard on High. I love the refrain.
The Christmas shows around me seem to be plays and ballets. For carols, I attend the two Sundays after Christmas in a certain liturgical tradition. At one nearby church, they have a short sermon and a long carol sing-a-long on the third Sunday of Christmas.
I was driving on Saturday, and was searching for a station when I hit on a station that had a long medley of carols, including Angels We Have Heard on High. I love the refrain.
The Christmas shows around me seem to be plays and ballets. For carols, I attend the two Sundays after Christmas in a certain liturgical tradition. At one nearby church, they have a short sermon and a long carol sing-a-long on the third Sunday of Christmas.
I was driving on Saturday, and was searching for a station when I hit on a station that had a long medley of carols, including Angels We Have Heard on High. I love the refrain.
I found a Christmas song sung by a group called Pentatonix. The song is Mary did You Know it’s lovely
I found a Christmas song sung by a group called Pentatonix. The song is Mary did You Know it’s lovely
I found a Christmas song sung by a group called Pentatonix. The song is Mary did You Know it’s lovely
I found a Christmas song sung by a group called Pentatonix. The song is Mary did You Know it’s lovely
I found a Christmas song sung by a group called Pentatonix. The song is Mary did You Know it’s lovely
I have a very low tolerance for Christmas music (probably because they start playing the same ones over and over again BEFORE Thanksgiving), but I love Carol of the Bells. Its the one Christmas song I could listen to all year.
I agree with Heather that Pentatonix’s Mary Did You Know is lovely, they also have an awesome version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries!
Usually this time of year I’ll baffle my friends by singing Silent Night in Korean.
I have a very low tolerance for Christmas music (probably because they start playing the same ones over and over again BEFORE Thanksgiving), but I love Carol of the Bells. Its the one Christmas song I could listen to all year.
I agree with Heather that Pentatonix’s Mary Did You Know is lovely, they also have an awesome version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries!
Usually this time of year I’ll baffle my friends by singing Silent Night in Korean.
I have a very low tolerance for Christmas music (probably because they start playing the same ones over and over again BEFORE Thanksgiving), but I love Carol of the Bells. Its the one Christmas song I could listen to all year.
I agree with Heather that Pentatonix’s Mary Did You Know is lovely, they also have an awesome version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries!
Usually this time of year I’ll baffle my friends by singing Silent Night in Korean.
I have a very low tolerance for Christmas music (probably because they start playing the same ones over and over again BEFORE Thanksgiving), but I love Carol of the Bells. Its the one Christmas song I could listen to all year.
I agree with Heather that Pentatonix’s Mary Did You Know is lovely, they also have an awesome version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries!
Usually this time of year I’ll baffle my friends by singing Silent Night in Korean.
I have a very low tolerance for Christmas music (probably because they start playing the same ones over and over again BEFORE Thanksgiving), but I love Carol of the Bells. Its the one Christmas song I could listen to all year.
I agree with Heather that Pentatonix’s Mary Did You Know is lovely, they also have an awesome version of Dance of the Sugar Plum Faeries!
Usually this time of year I’ll baffle my friends by singing Silent Night in Korean.
I was curious about the Huron Carol, and then ended up looking up a number of the less well-known carols to put on here for everyone’s convenience. I think I’m now a Pentatonix fan.
The Coventry carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRitP2EB9QA
In the Bleak Midwinter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
Pentatonix: Carol of the Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSUFzC6_fp8
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm3fZDZxiko
The Huron carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQlkRcTdN0
Pentatonix: Mary did You Know
http://faithtap.com/2089/pentatonix-mary-did-you-know/
I was curious about the Huron Carol, and then ended up looking up a number of the less well-known carols to put on here for everyone’s convenience. I think I’m now a Pentatonix fan.
The Coventry carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRitP2EB9QA
In the Bleak Midwinter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
Pentatonix: Carol of the Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSUFzC6_fp8
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm3fZDZxiko
The Huron carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQlkRcTdN0
Pentatonix: Mary did You Know
http://faithtap.com/2089/pentatonix-mary-did-you-know/
I was curious about the Huron Carol, and then ended up looking up a number of the less well-known carols to put on here for everyone’s convenience. I think I’m now a Pentatonix fan.
The Coventry carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRitP2EB9QA
In the Bleak Midwinter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
Pentatonix: Carol of the Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSUFzC6_fp8
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm3fZDZxiko
The Huron carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQlkRcTdN0
Pentatonix: Mary did You Know
http://faithtap.com/2089/pentatonix-mary-did-you-know/
I was curious about the Huron Carol, and then ended up looking up a number of the less well-known carols to put on here for everyone’s convenience. I think I’m now a Pentatonix fan.
The Coventry carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRitP2EB9QA
In the Bleak Midwinter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
Pentatonix: Carol of the Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSUFzC6_fp8
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm3fZDZxiko
The Huron carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQlkRcTdN0
Pentatonix: Mary did You Know
http://faithtap.com/2089/pentatonix-mary-did-you-know/
I was curious about the Huron Carol, and then ended up looking up a number of the less well-known carols to put on here for everyone’s convenience. I think I’m now a Pentatonix fan.
The Coventry carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRitP2EB9QA
In the Bleak Midwinter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0aL9rKJPr4
Pentatonix: Carol of the Bells
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSUFzC6_fp8
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm3fZDZxiko
The Huron carol
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khQlkRcTdN0
Pentatonix: Mary did You Know
http://faithtap.com/2089/pentatonix-mary-did-you-know/
I went to my friend’s sister’s choir’s Christmas concert a few days ago, and amazingly, they did some real Christmas carols and I even recognized some. I don’t know what it is about professional choirmasters, but they seem to feel they must choose the most obscure stuff possible (which gets polite applause because the choirs are mostly people’s kids or SOs), as opposed to the happy participation of the audience when they do Children Go Where I Send Thee or Adeste Fideles.
For my part, I generally find time to watch two or three versions of A Christmas Carol and to listen to Christmas CDs by Joan Baez, Elvis and the doo wop guys. Mostly I try to avoid the secular seasonal stuff; it’s got no soul 🙂
I went to my friend’s sister’s choir’s Christmas concert a few days ago, and amazingly, they did some real Christmas carols and I even recognized some. I don’t know what it is about professional choirmasters, but they seem to feel they must choose the most obscure stuff possible (which gets polite applause because the choirs are mostly people’s kids or SOs), as opposed to the happy participation of the audience when they do Children Go Where I Send Thee or Adeste Fideles.
For my part, I generally find time to watch two or three versions of A Christmas Carol and to listen to Christmas CDs by Joan Baez, Elvis and the doo wop guys. Mostly I try to avoid the secular seasonal stuff; it’s got no soul 🙂
I went to my friend’s sister’s choir’s Christmas concert a few days ago, and amazingly, they did some real Christmas carols and I even recognized some. I don’t know what it is about professional choirmasters, but they seem to feel they must choose the most obscure stuff possible (which gets polite applause because the choirs are mostly people’s kids or SOs), as opposed to the happy participation of the audience when they do Children Go Where I Send Thee or Adeste Fideles.
For my part, I generally find time to watch two or three versions of A Christmas Carol and to listen to Christmas CDs by Joan Baez, Elvis and the doo wop guys. Mostly I try to avoid the secular seasonal stuff; it’s got no soul 🙂
I went to my friend’s sister’s choir’s Christmas concert a few days ago, and amazingly, they did some real Christmas carols and I even recognized some. I don’t know what it is about professional choirmasters, but they seem to feel they must choose the most obscure stuff possible (which gets polite applause because the choirs are mostly people’s kids or SOs), as opposed to the happy participation of the audience when they do Children Go Where I Send Thee or Adeste Fideles.
For my part, I generally find time to watch two or three versions of A Christmas Carol and to listen to Christmas CDs by Joan Baez, Elvis and the doo wop guys. Mostly I try to avoid the secular seasonal stuff; it’s got no soul 🙂
I went to my friend’s sister’s choir’s Christmas concert a few days ago, and amazingly, they did some real Christmas carols and I even recognized some. I don’t know what it is about professional choirmasters, but they seem to feel they must choose the most obscure stuff possible (which gets polite applause because the choirs are mostly people’s kids or SOs), as opposed to the happy participation of the audience when they do Children Go Where I Send Thee or Adeste Fideles.
For my part, I generally find time to watch two or three versions of A Christmas Carol and to listen to Christmas CDs by Joan Baez, Elvis and the doo wop guys. Mostly I try to avoid the secular seasonal stuff; it’s got no soul 🙂
Although not a church goer, I’m a huge fan of religious music. I think Palestrina is probably my favourite composer. I often sing in the bathroom but wouldn’t inflict my voice on anyone other than my wife …. she says I have other redeeming assets!
The broadcast ‘Carols at Kings’ is really the start of Christmas for me. ‘The holly and the Ivy’ evokes happy memories of childhood in the Cotswolds (never visited Highworth though) and is probably a favourite.
Lovely blog Nicola
Although not a church goer, I’m a huge fan of religious music. I think Palestrina is probably my favourite composer. I often sing in the bathroom but wouldn’t inflict my voice on anyone other than my wife …. she says I have other redeeming assets!
The broadcast ‘Carols at Kings’ is really the start of Christmas for me. ‘The holly and the Ivy’ evokes happy memories of childhood in the Cotswolds (never visited Highworth though) and is probably a favourite.
Lovely blog Nicola
Although not a church goer, I’m a huge fan of religious music. I think Palestrina is probably my favourite composer. I often sing in the bathroom but wouldn’t inflict my voice on anyone other than my wife …. she says I have other redeeming assets!
The broadcast ‘Carols at Kings’ is really the start of Christmas for me. ‘The holly and the Ivy’ evokes happy memories of childhood in the Cotswolds (never visited Highworth though) and is probably a favourite.
Lovely blog Nicola
Although not a church goer, I’m a huge fan of religious music. I think Palestrina is probably my favourite composer. I often sing in the bathroom but wouldn’t inflict my voice on anyone other than my wife …. she says I have other redeeming assets!
The broadcast ‘Carols at Kings’ is really the start of Christmas for me. ‘The holly and the Ivy’ evokes happy memories of childhood in the Cotswolds (never visited Highworth though) and is probably a favourite.
Lovely blog Nicola
Although not a church goer, I’m a huge fan of religious music. I think Palestrina is probably my favourite composer. I often sing in the bathroom but wouldn’t inflict my voice on anyone other than my wife …. she says I have other redeeming assets!
The broadcast ‘Carols at Kings’ is really the start of Christmas for me. ‘The holly and the Ivy’ evokes happy memories of childhood in the Cotswolds (never visited Highworth though) and is probably a favourite.
Lovely blog Nicola
I love carols and often have them playing very quietly in the background while a potter around at home. Sometimes so quietly that the CD comes to an end and I don’t really notice.
Here in Australia it is usually at least warm, and many cities and towns have carol services outdoors. Many many years ago when I was about 8 years old, the children in my class at school had to dress in light coloured clothes and walk around the public gardens in our town, carrying a lighted candle and singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. It was the Sunday night before Christmas, and we ended up in in a central park where families sat on the grass and enjoyed singing carols for an hour or so. A memory that I will never forget. Now Melbourne and Sydney have carol services which are televised. Some traditional carols, and some modern christmas songs. Still enjoyable though.
I love carols and often have them playing very quietly in the background while a potter around at home. Sometimes so quietly that the CD comes to an end and I don’t really notice.
Here in Australia it is usually at least warm, and many cities and towns have carol services outdoors. Many many years ago when I was about 8 years old, the children in my class at school had to dress in light coloured clothes and walk around the public gardens in our town, carrying a lighted candle and singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. It was the Sunday night before Christmas, and we ended up in in a central park where families sat on the grass and enjoyed singing carols for an hour or so. A memory that I will never forget. Now Melbourne and Sydney have carol services which are televised. Some traditional carols, and some modern christmas songs. Still enjoyable though.
I love carols and often have them playing very quietly in the background while a potter around at home. Sometimes so quietly that the CD comes to an end and I don’t really notice.
Here in Australia it is usually at least warm, and many cities and towns have carol services outdoors. Many many years ago when I was about 8 years old, the children in my class at school had to dress in light coloured clothes and walk around the public gardens in our town, carrying a lighted candle and singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. It was the Sunday night before Christmas, and we ended up in in a central park where families sat on the grass and enjoyed singing carols for an hour or so. A memory that I will never forget. Now Melbourne and Sydney have carol services which are televised. Some traditional carols, and some modern christmas songs. Still enjoyable though.
I love carols and often have them playing very quietly in the background while a potter around at home. Sometimes so quietly that the CD comes to an end and I don’t really notice.
Here in Australia it is usually at least warm, and many cities and towns have carol services outdoors. Many many years ago when I was about 8 years old, the children in my class at school had to dress in light coloured clothes and walk around the public gardens in our town, carrying a lighted candle and singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. It was the Sunday night before Christmas, and we ended up in in a central park where families sat on the grass and enjoyed singing carols for an hour or so. A memory that I will never forget. Now Melbourne and Sydney have carol services which are televised. Some traditional carols, and some modern christmas songs. Still enjoyable though.
I love carols and often have them playing very quietly in the background while a potter around at home. Sometimes so quietly that the CD comes to an end and I don’t really notice.
Here in Australia it is usually at least warm, and many cities and towns have carol services outdoors. Many many years ago when I was about 8 years old, the children in my class at school had to dress in light coloured clothes and walk around the public gardens in our town, carrying a lighted candle and singing ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’. It was the Sunday night before Christmas, and we ended up in in a central park where families sat on the grass and enjoyed singing carols for an hour or so. A memory that I will never forget. Now Melbourne and Sydney have carol services which are televised. Some traditional carols, and some modern christmas songs. Still enjoyable though.
I remember that one, Jo. I haven’t heard it for years but it is very beautiful! The medieval carols always give me a frisson to think of how long we have been singing them.
I remember that one, Jo. I haven’t heard it for years but it is very beautiful! The medieval carols always give me a frisson to think of how long we have been singing them.
I remember that one, Jo. I haven’t heard it for years but it is very beautiful! The medieval carols always give me a frisson to think of how long we have been singing them.
I remember that one, Jo. I haven’t heard it for years but it is very beautiful! The medieval carols always give me a frisson to think of how long we have been singing them.
I remember that one, Jo. I haven’t heard it for years but it is very beautiful! The medieval carols always give me a frisson to think of how long we have been singing them.
I’m so pleased to have discovered it, Madge!
I’m so pleased to have discovered it, Madge!
I’m so pleased to have discovered it, Madge!
I’m so pleased to have discovered it, Madge!
I’m so pleased to have discovered it, Madge!
Haha, Elizabeth! Fun! And Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is another gorgeous one I remember from my choir days too.
Haha, Elizabeth! Fun! And Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is another gorgeous one I remember from my choir days too.
Haha, Elizabeth! Fun! And Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is another gorgeous one I remember from my choir days too.
Haha, Elizabeth! Fun! And Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is another gorgeous one I remember from my choir days too.
Haha, Elizabeth! Fun! And Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is another gorgeous one I remember from my choir days too.
LOL, Mary Jo! I’ve just looked up Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and am grateful that until now I was in happy ignorance of it! I am very impressed at your Latin version since all I know is Adeste Fidelis. No idea what comes next!
LOL, Mary Jo! I’ve just looked up Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and am grateful that until now I was in happy ignorance of it! I am very impressed at your Latin version since all I know is Adeste Fidelis. No idea what comes next!
LOL, Mary Jo! I’ve just looked up Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and am grateful that until now I was in happy ignorance of it! I am very impressed at your Latin version since all I know is Adeste Fidelis. No idea what comes next!
LOL, Mary Jo! I’ve just looked up Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and am grateful that until now I was in happy ignorance of it! I am very impressed at your Latin version since all I know is Adeste Fidelis. No idea what comes next!
LOL, Mary Jo! I’ve just looked up Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer and am grateful that until now I was in happy ignorance of it! I am very impressed at your Latin version since all I know is Adeste Fidelis. No idea what comes next!
That is another one for me to put on the list of carols to listen to, Shannon.
I found myself singing Hark the Herald as I was walking the dog this morning!
That is another one for me to put on the list of carols to listen to, Shannon.
I found myself singing Hark the Herald as I was walking the dog this morning!
That is another one for me to put on the list of carols to listen to, Shannon.
I found myself singing Hark the Herald as I was walking the dog this morning!
That is another one for me to put on the list of carols to listen to, Shannon.
I found myself singing Hark the Herald as I was walking the dog this morning!
That is another one for me to put on the list of carols to listen to, Shannon.
I found myself singing Hark the Herald as I was walking the dog this morning!
Thank you for the recommendation of Pentatonic, Heather. I will go in search of their music.
Thank you for the recommendation of Pentatonic, Heather. I will go in search of their music.
Thank you for the recommendation of Pentatonic, Heather. I will go in search of their music.
Thank you for the recommendation of Pentatonic, Heather. I will go in search of their music.
Thank you for the recommendation of Pentatonic, Heather. I will go in search of their music.
Yes, I agree the Christmas music starts way too early, Jikie.
So Korean is one of the languages that Silent Night is sung in. Interesting!
Yes, I agree the Christmas music starts way too early, Jikie.
So Korean is one of the languages that Silent Night is sung in. Interesting!
Yes, I agree the Christmas music starts way too early, Jikie.
So Korean is one of the languages that Silent Night is sung in. Interesting!
Yes, I agree the Christmas music starts way too early, Jikie.
So Korean is one of the languages that Silent Night is sung in. Interesting!
Yes, I agree the Christmas music starts way too early, Jikie.
So Korean is one of the languages that Silent Night is sung in. Interesting!
Thanks so much, Anne. Really looking forward to playing these!
Thanks so much, Anne. Really looking forward to playing these!
Thanks so much, Anne. Really looking forward to playing these!
Thanks so much, Anne. Really looking forward to playing these!
Thanks so much, Anne. Really looking forward to playing these!
I totally agree, Janice! I can remember struggling through some very difficult and obscure carols a couple of years ago and I’m not sure the audience really appreciated our efforts! Certainly this year as an audience participant I loved joining in the well known stuff.
I totally agree, Janice! I can remember struggling through some very difficult and obscure carols a couple of years ago and I’m not sure the audience really appreciated our efforts! Certainly this year as an audience participant I loved joining in the well known stuff.
I totally agree, Janice! I can remember struggling through some very difficult and obscure carols a couple of years ago and I’m not sure the audience really appreciated our efforts! Certainly this year as an audience participant I loved joining in the well known stuff.
I totally agree, Janice! I can remember struggling through some very difficult and obscure carols a couple of years ago and I’m not sure the audience really appreciated our efforts! Certainly this year as an audience participant I loved joining in the well known stuff.
I totally agree, Janice! I can remember struggling through some very difficult and obscure carols a couple of years ago and I’m not sure the audience really appreciated our efforts! Certainly this year as an audience participant I loved joining in the well known stuff.
Thanks so much, Quantum! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. And I think everyone should be allowed to sing in the privacy of their own bathroom! The Holly and the Ivy is a lovely carol IMO.
Thanks so much, Quantum! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. And I think everyone should be allowed to sing in the privacy of their own bathroom! The Holly and the Ivy is a lovely carol IMO.
Thanks so much, Quantum! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. And I think everyone should be allowed to sing in the privacy of their own bathroom! The Holly and the Ivy is a lovely carol IMO.
Thanks so much, Quantum! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. And I think everyone should be allowed to sing in the privacy of their own bathroom! The Holly and the Ivy is a lovely carol IMO.
Thanks so much, Quantum! I’m glad you enjoyed the blog. And I think everyone should be allowed to sing in the privacy of their own bathroom! The Holly and the Ivy is a lovely carol IMO.
I always wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in the summer, Jenny. One day I would love to visit Australia at this time of year just to see the contrast. We’re so used to it being dark and cold here (or dark, wet and mild in the UK!) that it would be fascinating to see Christmas in a completely different way.
I always wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in the summer, Jenny. One day I would love to visit Australia at this time of year just to see the contrast. We’re so used to it being dark and cold here (or dark, wet and mild in the UK!) that it would be fascinating to see Christmas in a completely different way.
I always wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in the summer, Jenny. One day I would love to visit Australia at this time of year just to see the contrast. We’re so used to it being dark and cold here (or dark, wet and mild in the UK!) that it would be fascinating to see Christmas in a completely different way.
I always wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in the summer, Jenny. One day I would love to visit Australia at this time of year just to see the contrast. We’re so used to it being dark and cold here (or dark, wet and mild in the UK!) that it would be fascinating to see Christmas in a completely different way.
I always wonder what it would be like to have Christmas in the summer, Jenny. One day I would love to visit Australia at this time of year just to see the contrast. We’re so used to it being dark and cold here (or dark, wet and mild in the UK!) that it would be fascinating to see Christmas in a completely different way.
You feel free to come down here any Christmas, Nicola.
Jo, I know that setting of I Sing of a Mayden. I’m having a brain fade and can’t recall the composer right now. Will post again when it comes back to me. It’s another one I love. There are number of settings. One by Holst for voice and violin. Britten used it, and this other one I can’t think of, except the tune. Now it’s driving me crazy!
You feel free to come down here any Christmas, Nicola.
Jo, I know that setting of I Sing of a Mayden. I’m having a brain fade and can’t recall the composer right now. Will post again when it comes back to me. It’s another one I love. There are number of settings. One by Holst for voice and violin. Britten used it, and this other one I can’t think of, except the tune. Now it’s driving me crazy!
You feel free to come down here any Christmas, Nicola.
Jo, I know that setting of I Sing of a Mayden. I’m having a brain fade and can’t recall the composer right now. Will post again when it comes back to me. It’s another one I love. There are number of settings. One by Holst for voice and violin. Britten used it, and this other one I can’t think of, except the tune. Now it’s driving me crazy!
You feel free to come down here any Christmas, Nicola.
Jo, I know that setting of I Sing of a Mayden. I’m having a brain fade and can’t recall the composer right now. Will post again when it comes back to me. It’s another one I love. There are number of settings. One by Holst for voice and violin. Britten used it, and this other one I can’t think of, except the tune. Now it’s driving me crazy!
You feel free to come down here any Christmas, Nicola.
Jo, I know that setting of I Sing of a Mayden. I’m having a brain fade and can’t recall the composer right now. Will post again when it comes back to me. It’s another one I love. There are number of settings. One by Holst for voice and violin. Britten used it, and this other one I can’t think of, except the tune. Now it’s driving me crazy!
And it came to me the second I posted. Patrick Hadley and it’s in The Oxford Book of Carols. Can’t recall the volume, but it’s in the one for treble voices only.
And it came to me the second I posted. Patrick Hadley and it’s in The Oxford Book of Carols. Can’t recall the volume, but it’s in the one for treble voices only.
And it came to me the second I posted. Patrick Hadley and it’s in The Oxford Book of Carols. Can’t recall the volume, but it’s in the one for treble voices only.
And it came to me the second I posted. Patrick Hadley and it’s in The Oxford Book of Carols. Can’t recall the volume, but it’s in the one for treble voices only.
And it came to me the second I posted. Patrick Hadley and it’s in The Oxford Book of Carols. Can’t recall the volume, but it’s in the one for treble voices only.
Thank you, Elizabeth. Will look forward to taking you up on that! A very Happy Christmas to everyone!
Thank you, Elizabeth. Will look forward to taking you up on that! A very Happy Christmas to everyone!
Thank you, Elizabeth. Will look forward to taking you up on that! A very Happy Christmas to everyone!
Thank you, Elizabeth. Will look forward to taking you up on that! A very Happy Christmas to everyone!
Thank you, Elizabeth. Will look forward to taking you up on that! A very Happy Christmas to everyone!
I thank you for this reminder of some of the songs I have not heard this year. When I was 5 I got to sing a duet of Away in A Manger. For several years I did sing in a chorus. Now I do not want to torture the world with what my voice has become. But, I love carols and I believe they are one reason people love this season. Music is a very emotional thing and it can inspire memories.
I thank you for this reminder of some of the songs I have not heard this year. When I was 5 I got to sing a duet of Away in A Manger. For several years I did sing in a chorus. Now I do not want to torture the world with what my voice has become. But, I love carols and I believe they are one reason people love this season. Music is a very emotional thing and it can inspire memories.
I thank you for this reminder of some of the songs I have not heard this year. When I was 5 I got to sing a duet of Away in A Manger. For several years I did sing in a chorus. Now I do not want to torture the world with what my voice has become. But, I love carols and I believe they are one reason people love this season. Music is a very emotional thing and it can inspire memories.
I thank you for this reminder of some of the songs I have not heard this year. When I was 5 I got to sing a duet of Away in A Manger. For several years I did sing in a chorus. Now I do not want to torture the world with what my voice has become. But, I love carols and I believe they are one reason people love this season. Music is a very emotional thing and it can inspire memories.
I thank you for this reminder of some of the songs I have not heard this year. When I was 5 I got to sing a duet of Away in A Manger. For several years I did sing in a chorus. Now I do not want to torture the world with what my voice has become. But, I love carols and I believe they are one reason people love this season. Music is a very emotional thing and it can inspire memories.
What a wonderful conversation you’ve started, Nicola! This evening, my husband and I will attend a concert by a local early music group, The Boston Camerata. Each Christmas, they perform in several churches in the area, and each year the concert has a different theme. Last year, it was medieval French and Spanish Christmas–and they provided printed translations of the carols, which made it even more enjoyable. This year, the theme is Early American Christmas and I have been wondering what the songs will be, as I think of all carols as being “imported”! (Unlike some of our awful exports, such as “Grandma Got Run Over”!)
For many years, we have listened on short wave to the Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge, and that first treble voice beginning “Once in Royal David’s City” never fails to stop my breath!
And while not a carol, John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches”, which includes a reference to the singing of “Silent Night”, always makes me cry, and in the current world situation, is even more poignant and meaningful. If you don’t know it, there is a good version on YouTube of McCutcheon performing it.
What a wonderful conversation you’ve started, Nicola! This evening, my husband and I will attend a concert by a local early music group, The Boston Camerata. Each Christmas, they perform in several churches in the area, and each year the concert has a different theme. Last year, it was medieval French and Spanish Christmas–and they provided printed translations of the carols, which made it even more enjoyable. This year, the theme is Early American Christmas and I have been wondering what the songs will be, as I think of all carols as being “imported”! (Unlike some of our awful exports, such as “Grandma Got Run Over”!)
For many years, we have listened on short wave to the Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge, and that first treble voice beginning “Once in Royal David’s City” never fails to stop my breath!
And while not a carol, John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches”, which includes a reference to the singing of “Silent Night”, always makes me cry, and in the current world situation, is even more poignant and meaningful. If you don’t know it, there is a good version on YouTube of McCutcheon performing it.
What a wonderful conversation you’ve started, Nicola! This evening, my husband and I will attend a concert by a local early music group, The Boston Camerata. Each Christmas, they perform in several churches in the area, and each year the concert has a different theme. Last year, it was medieval French and Spanish Christmas–and they provided printed translations of the carols, which made it even more enjoyable. This year, the theme is Early American Christmas and I have been wondering what the songs will be, as I think of all carols as being “imported”! (Unlike some of our awful exports, such as “Grandma Got Run Over”!)
For many years, we have listened on short wave to the Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge, and that first treble voice beginning “Once in Royal David’s City” never fails to stop my breath!
And while not a carol, John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches”, which includes a reference to the singing of “Silent Night”, always makes me cry, and in the current world situation, is even more poignant and meaningful. If you don’t know it, there is a good version on YouTube of McCutcheon performing it.
What a wonderful conversation you’ve started, Nicola! This evening, my husband and I will attend a concert by a local early music group, The Boston Camerata. Each Christmas, they perform in several churches in the area, and each year the concert has a different theme. Last year, it was medieval French and Spanish Christmas–and they provided printed translations of the carols, which made it even more enjoyable. This year, the theme is Early American Christmas and I have been wondering what the songs will be, as I think of all carols as being “imported”! (Unlike some of our awful exports, such as “Grandma Got Run Over”!)
For many years, we have listened on short wave to the Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge, and that first treble voice beginning “Once in Royal David’s City” never fails to stop my breath!
And while not a carol, John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches”, which includes a reference to the singing of “Silent Night”, always makes me cry, and in the current world situation, is even more poignant and meaningful. If you don’t know it, there is a good version on YouTube of McCutcheon performing it.
What a wonderful conversation you’ve started, Nicola! This evening, my husband and I will attend a concert by a local early music group, The Boston Camerata. Each Christmas, they perform in several churches in the area, and each year the concert has a different theme. Last year, it was medieval French and Spanish Christmas–and they provided printed translations of the carols, which made it even more enjoyable. This year, the theme is Early American Christmas and I have been wondering what the songs will be, as I think of all carols as being “imported”! (Unlike some of our awful exports, such as “Grandma Got Run Over”!)
For many years, we have listened on short wave to the Nine Lessons and Carols from Kings College Cambridge, and that first treble voice beginning “Once in Royal David’s City” never fails to stop my breath!
And while not a carol, John McCutcheon’s “Christmas in the Trenches”, which includes a reference to the singing of “Silent Night”, always makes me cry, and in the current world situation, is even more poignant and meaningful. If you don’t know it, there is a good version on YouTube of McCutcheon performing it.
Fun factoids re Welkin: That town in Texas where they greet people with “Heaven-O” (to avoid having to say “Hell-O”) would have to say “Welkin-O,” lol. “Hello” is relatively recent, but “Hell” goes back a loooong way and appears to be the only antonym for Welkin.
Christmas to me is “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I was Amahl in high school and I still love the story and the music.
Fun factoids re Welkin: That town in Texas where they greet people with “Heaven-O” (to avoid having to say “Hell-O”) would have to say “Welkin-O,” lol. “Hello” is relatively recent, but “Hell” goes back a loooong way and appears to be the only antonym for Welkin.
Christmas to me is “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I was Amahl in high school and I still love the story and the music.
Fun factoids re Welkin: That town in Texas where they greet people with “Heaven-O” (to avoid having to say “Hell-O”) would have to say “Welkin-O,” lol. “Hello” is relatively recent, but “Hell” goes back a loooong way and appears to be the only antonym for Welkin.
Christmas to me is “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I was Amahl in high school and I still love the story and the music.
Fun factoids re Welkin: That town in Texas where they greet people with “Heaven-O” (to avoid having to say “Hell-O”) would have to say “Welkin-O,” lol. “Hello” is relatively recent, but “Hell” goes back a loooong way and appears to be the only antonym for Welkin.
Christmas to me is “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I was Amahl in high school and I still love the story and the music.
Fun factoids re Welkin: That town in Texas where they greet people with “Heaven-O” (to avoid having to say “Hell-O”) would have to say “Welkin-O,” lol. “Hello” is relatively recent, but “Hell” goes back a loooong way and appears to be the only antonym for Welkin.
Christmas to me is “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” I was Amahl in high school and I still love the story and the music.
Thanks, Mary — I didn’t know there was such a town. Interesting.
Thanks, Mary — I didn’t know there was such a town. Interesting.
Thanks, Mary — I didn’t know there was such a town. Interesting.
Thanks, Mary — I didn’t know there was such a town. Interesting.
Thanks, Mary — I didn’t know there was such a town. Interesting.
I have been a choir singer since age 3 and continue to this day. One of my earliest memories is of going to choir rehearsal for my parents performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. As we were driving home I told them I knew those songs. (Probably heard them in utero) They were doubtful, but I sang the intro to one of the choruses in the right key. I was 4.
Favorite carol: In the bleak midwinter.
One of the things I look forward to every year is a local production of the Boar’s Head Festival. It’s a gorgeous medieval pageant with full orchestra, dancing, bell choir and even “Beefeaters.” I’ve probably been 25 times and it always gets me.
I have been a choir singer since age 3 and continue to this day. One of my earliest memories is of going to choir rehearsal for my parents performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. As we were driving home I told them I knew those songs. (Probably heard them in utero) They were doubtful, but I sang the intro to one of the choruses in the right key. I was 4.
Favorite carol: In the bleak midwinter.
One of the things I look forward to every year is a local production of the Boar’s Head Festival. It’s a gorgeous medieval pageant with full orchestra, dancing, bell choir and even “Beefeaters.” I’ve probably been 25 times and it always gets me.
I have been a choir singer since age 3 and continue to this day. One of my earliest memories is of going to choir rehearsal for my parents performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. As we were driving home I told them I knew those songs. (Probably heard them in utero) They were doubtful, but I sang the intro to one of the choruses in the right key. I was 4.
Favorite carol: In the bleak midwinter.
One of the things I look forward to every year is a local production of the Boar’s Head Festival. It’s a gorgeous medieval pageant with full orchestra, dancing, bell choir and even “Beefeaters.” I’ve probably been 25 times and it always gets me.
I have been a choir singer since age 3 and continue to this day. One of my earliest memories is of going to choir rehearsal for my parents performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. As we were driving home I told them I knew those songs. (Probably heard them in utero) They were doubtful, but I sang the intro to one of the choruses in the right key. I was 4.
Favorite carol: In the bleak midwinter.
One of the things I look forward to every year is a local production of the Boar’s Head Festival. It’s a gorgeous medieval pageant with full orchestra, dancing, bell choir and even “Beefeaters.” I’ve probably been 25 times and it always gets me.
I have been a choir singer since age 3 and continue to this day. One of my earliest memories is of going to choir rehearsal for my parents performance of Handel’s “Messiah”. As we were driving home I told them I knew those songs. (Probably heard them in utero) They were doubtful, but I sang the intro to one of the choruses in the right key. I was 4.
Favorite carol: In the bleak midwinter.
One of the things I look forward to every year is a local production of the Boar’s Head Festival. It’s a gorgeous medieval pageant with full orchestra, dancing, bell choir and even “Beefeaters.” I’ve probably been 25 times and it always gets me.
I’m sorry your voice isn’t want it was, Annette. I have a similar problem! I do agree – music can be so emotional and is associated with so many of our feelings and memories. It’s a very powerful thing.
I’m sorry your voice isn’t want it was, Annette. I have a similar problem! I do agree – music can be so emotional and is associated with so many of our feelings and memories. It’s a very powerful thing.
I’m sorry your voice isn’t want it was, Annette. I have a similar problem! I do agree – music can be so emotional and is associated with so many of our feelings and memories. It’s a very powerful thing.
I’m sorry your voice isn’t want it was, Annette. I have a similar problem! I do agree – music can be so emotional and is associated with so many of our feelings and memories. It’s a very powerful thing.
I’m sorry your voice isn’t want it was, Annette. I have a similar problem! I do agree – music can be so emotional and is associated with so many of our feelings and memories. It’s a very powerful thing.
Thank you, Constance. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the comments, recommendations and thoughts people have on the subject of Christmas music. I hope you enjoyed your concert. It sounds as though it would be wonderful!
Thank you, Constance. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the comments, recommendations and thoughts people have on the subject of Christmas music. I hope you enjoyed your concert. It sounds as though it would be wonderful!
Thank you, Constance. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the comments, recommendations and thoughts people have on the subject of Christmas music. I hope you enjoyed your concert. It sounds as though it would be wonderful!
Thank you, Constance. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the comments, recommendations and thoughts people have on the subject of Christmas music. I hope you enjoyed your concert. It sounds as though it would be wonderful!
Thank you, Constance. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the comments, recommendations and thoughts people have on the subject of Christmas music. I hope you enjoyed your concert. It sounds as though it would be wonderful!
Wow. Kathy, that is amazing! You must have been a child musical prodigy. I’ve heard of children being able to do that.
I love the sound of the Boar’s Head festival! I wish we had something similar around here. I’d love a bit of medieval pageantry!
Wow. Kathy, that is amazing! You must have been a child musical prodigy. I’ve heard of children being able to do that.
I love the sound of the Boar’s Head festival! I wish we had something similar around here. I’d love a bit of medieval pageantry!
Wow. Kathy, that is amazing! You must have been a child musical prodigy. I’ve heard of children being able to do that.
I love the sound of the Boar’s Head festival! I wish we had something similar around here. I’d love a bit of medieval pageantry!
Wow. Kathy, that is amazing! You must have been a child musical prodigy. I’ve heard of children being able to do that.
I love the sound of the Boar’s Head festival! I wish we had something similar around here. I’d love a bit of medieval pageantry!
Wow. Kathy, that is amazing! You must have been a child musical prodigy. I’ve heard of children being able to do that.
I love the sound of the Boar’s Head festival! I wish we had something similar around here. I’d love a bit of medieval pageantry!
Enya does it Gaelic of course, and I have a Carlos Nakai holiday CD with Silent Night sung in Navajo!
Enya does it Gaelic of course, and I have a Carlos Nakai holiday CD with Silent Night sung in Navajo!
Enya does it Gaelic of course, and I have a Carlos Nakai holiday CD with Silent Night sung in Navajo!
Enya does it Gaelic of course, and I have a Carlos Nakai holiday CD with Silent Night sung in Navajo!
Enya does it Gaelic of course, and I have a Carlos Nakai holiday CD with Silent Night sung in Navajo!
Fascinating stuff, Mary. Thank you! I have so enjoyed this topic.
Fascinating stuff, Mary. Thank you! I have so enjoyed this topic.
Fascinating stuff, Mary. Thank you! I have so enjoyed this topic.
Fascinating stuff, Mary. Thank you! I have so enjoyed this topic.
Fascinating stuff, Mary. Thank you! I have so enjoyed this topic.
Although this is a day late for the Winter Solstice, here are some revised lyrics for Silent Night that live on:
Silent Night (Solstice lyrics by Ellen Reed)
Silent night, Solstice night! All is calm, all is bright.
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
‘Til in Springtime She wakens again,
Sleeping spirits grow strong,
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Silver moon shining bright.
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun’s rebirth,
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Quiet rest ‘til the Light.
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the winter to comfort and heal,
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!
Although this is a day late for the Winter Solstice, here are some revised lyrics for Silent Night that live on:
Silent Night (Solstice lyrics by Ellen Reed)
Silent night, Solstice night! All is calm, all is bright.
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
‘Til in Springtime She wakens again,
Sleeping spirits grow strong,
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Silver moon shining bright.
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun’s rebirth,
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Quiet rest ‘til the Light.
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the winter to comfort and heal,
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!
Although this is a day late for the Winter Solstice, here are some revised lyrics for Silent Night that live on:
Silent Night (Solstice lyrics by Ellen Reed)
Silent night, Solstice night! All is calm, all is bright.
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
‘Til in Springtime She wakens again,
Sleeping spirits grow strong,
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Silver moon shining bright.
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun’s rebirth,
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Quiet rest ‘til the Light.
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the winter to comfort and heal,
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!
Although this is a day late for the Winter Solstice, here are some revised lyrics for Silent Night that live on:
Silent Night (Solstice lyrics by Ellen Reed)
Silent night, Solstice night! All is calm, all is bright.
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
‘Til in Springtime She wakens again,
Sleeping spirits grow strong,
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Silver moon shining bright.
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun’s rebirth,
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Quiet rest ‘til the Light.
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the winter to comfort and heal,
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!
Although this is a day late for the Winter Solstice, here are some revised lyrics for Silent Night that live on:
Silent Night (Solstice lyrics by Ellen Reed)
Silent night, Solstice night! All is calm, all is bright.
Nature slumbers in forest and glen
‘Til in Springtime She wakens again,
Sleeping spirits grow strong,
Sleeping spirits grow strong!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Silver moon shining bright.
Snowfall blankets the slumbering Earth
Yule fires welcome the Sun’s rebirth,
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Hark, the Light is reborn!
Silent night, Solstice night!
Quiet rest ‘til the Light.
Turning ever the rolling Wheel
Brings the winter to comfort and heal,
Rest your spirit in peace!
Rest your spirit in peace!
Thank you, Katherine. That is very beautiful!
Thank you, Katherine. That is very beautiful!
Thank you, Katherine. That is very beautiful!
Thank you, Katherine. That is very beautiful!
Thank you, Katherine. That is very beautiful!