[Musicians] Christmas Carols
Todd Marsh via Musicians
musicians at lists.ansteorra.org
Sat Sep 20 16:52:21 PDT 2014
At LPT, the first thing everyone wanted to perform together was
Christmas Carols for the Yule Revels. These are a few I have located so
far. If you have a favorite that is not on this list, please post about
it. Especially if you know where to find the music. Also, if you don't
like one of these, or have found a better arrangement, let us know.
Also, I've started posting my arrangements at http://www.twmarsh.net/music/
Llywelyn
*A Carol Bringing In the Boar's Heed*
Lyrics by: Wynkyn de Worde. Unfortunately, only the last page of Jan van
Wynken's "Christmas Carolles", printed in 1521, survives, but it
includes portions of this carol, which appears in many different forms
in later publications. This song is traditionally sung during the
Christmas Feast at Oxford
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Christmas/boarshed.pdf
*Lo How a Rose*
Es Ist Ein Ros, 15th Century German carol, Translator Unknown; Arr. by
Michael Praetorius, 1609
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Christmas/lo_how.pdf
http://www.twmarsh.net/music/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Lo-How-a-Rose-duet.pdf
*The Holly & the Ivy*
This popular melody and text were recorded in Mowbray's Christmas Carols
in 1861, but he claimed that it appeared in "an old broadside, printed a
century and a half since" (roughly 1710). It is apparently much older
even than that; the phrase "the merry organ" appears in Chaucer's "Nonne
Preestes Tale", and holly and ivy are common motifs in pagan
celebrations which predate the Christian influence in Europe.
http://www.twmarsh.net/music/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Holly-and-the-Ivy-Duet.pdf
*In Dulci Jubilo*
Words: Nun singet und seid froh, attributed to Heinrich Suso (ca.
1295-1366). Folklore has it that Suso, hearing angels sing these words,
joined them in a dance of worship. Translation from The Oxford Book of
Carols, 1928; Music: "In Dulci Jubilo," 14th Century German melody
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Christmas/in_dulci.pdf
*Covertry Carol, Luly, lulay*
One of the most haunting of the carols written in the minor key,
Coventry Carol was sung in the pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors, a
mystery play put on by local guilds in Coventry, in the 15th century.
The most familiar text is that of Robert Croo (which we sing), written
in 1534. The Coventry Plays are recorded as having been witnessed by
Margaret, Queen of Henry VI, as early as 1456, by Richard III in 1484,
and by Henry VII in 1492.
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Christmas/coventry.pdf
*Tommorow Shall Be My Dancing Day*
The New Oxford Book of Carols suggests that the song was originally part
of a medieval Mystery Play. (It is also cited by some sources to be of
the 19th century.) This carol appears in Christmas Carols Ancient and
Modern by William Sandys in 1833, and in many broadsides of that period.
However, most historians date the text from before the 17th century.
http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Christmas/tomorrow.pdf
*O Come, O Come Emmanuel*
"Veni Emmanuel," 15th Century French Plain Song melody; Some sources
give a Gregorian, 8th Century origin
http://www.twmarsh.net/music/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Veni-veni.pdf
*God Rest You Merry Gentlemen*
This melody appears to spring from the Cornwall countryside in England,
and the lyrics appear as early as 1770 in the Roxburgh Ballads, but it
is apparent from references in earlier texts that the melody (of which
there are actually two, though only one is familiar in America) dates
from a considerably earlier period. It is commonly considered the "most
popular" Christmas Carol in England.
http://www.twmarsh.net/music/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/god-rest-you-merry-melody-and-bass.pdf
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