#adventcarols

[adventcarols]

Dec. 25

Happy Christmas, everyone!

I leave you with a medley - I tend to shy away from medleys in general because they can so easily go wrong, but I’ll make an exception for Gustav Holst (you may know him as the composer of The Planets). He arranged ‘Christmas Day’ in 1910; it is performed here by the American Boy’s Choir.

Until another year! xox

[adventcarols]

Dec. 24

‘Walking in the Air’ is the centerpiece of The Snowman, a cartoon produced by the BBC in 1982, which was based on a children’s picture book written by Raymond Briggs. It has become a classic of British holiday culture. For many years, there was confusion over who had actually performed the song; eventually it was proved that it was sung by a choirboy from St. Paul’s Cathedral, Peter Auty, who was 13 years old at the time. It was later re-released as a single where it was sung by Aled Jones. The music and song for the cartoon were composed by Howard Blake. 

[adventcarols]

Dec. 23

‘The Seven Joys of Mary,’ or sometimes ‘Joys Seven,’ is a traditional English carol that has been arranged and sung in many different versions; it’s not strictly a Christmas text, but has come to be seen as a carol. This is arranged by Stephen Cleobury, and performed by King’s College Choir.

[adventcarols]

Dec. 22

‘The Huron Carol’ is one of the most unusual, and the most beautiful, carols around. It was written in 1642 in Huron/Wendat, an indigenous Canadian language, by Jean de Brébeuf, a French Jesuit missionary who was working to convert the Huron to Christianity. The piece is an example of syncretism - the conscious mixing of cultures, a tactic which many missionaries used around the world in order to accommodate native practices and languages into Christian worship. It is performed here in Huron, French, and English by Heather Dale.

HURON/WENDAT: Ehstehn yayau deh tsaun we yisus ahattonnia O na wateh wado:kwi nonnwa 'ndasqua entai ehnau sherskwa trivota nonnwa 'ndi yaun rashata Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia.

Ayoki onki hm-ashe eran yayeh raunnaun yauntaun kanntatya hm-deh 'ndyaun sehnsatoa ronnyaun Waria hnawakweh tond Yosehf sataunn haronnyaun Iesus Ahattonnia, Ahattonnia, Iesus Ahattonnia....

[adventcarols]

Dec. 21

A modern American classic - ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ was written in 1957 by Joseph Carleton Beale and James Ross Boothe. This is the original recording, where it was sung by Bobby Helms, a rockabilly singer for whom it may have been his biggest hit. 

[adventcarols]

Dec. 20

Continuing with another animated classic - this is ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch’ from the 1964 cartoon adapting Dr. Seuss’s book. The lyrics were written by Dr. Seuss himself (i.e. Thedor Geisel), the music was written by Albert Hague, and it was sung by Thurl Ravenscroft. Boris Karloff provided the voice of the Grinch in the rest of the show.

[adventcarols]

Dec. 19

I think we can all share in Jack Skellington’s curious happiness when confronted by a Christmas scene! ‘What’s This?’ is a much-beloved song written and sung by Danny Elfman, from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

[adventcarols]

Dec. 18

Another contemporary commission by King’s College Choir - Arvo Pärt is an Estonian composer who rose to prominence in the 1990s with his spare, soaring religiously-inflected music, which includes pieces like Fratres and Tabula Rasa. ‘Bogoróditse Dyévo’ was originally written by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1915, and this adaptation by Pärt debuted in 1990.

CHURCH SLAVONIC: Богородице Дево, радуйся, благодатная Марие, Господь с тобою. Благословена ты в женах, и благословен плод чрева твоего, яко Спаса родила еси душ наших.

ENGLISH: Rejoice, virgin mother of God, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, for you have borne the Savior of our souls.