Your Favorite Christmas Carol? "Sacred Miscellany" wants to know
  • henrik.hank
    Posts: 103
    Nu tändas tusen juleljus is awesome.
    Then dont forget Gläns över sjö och strand.
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    Swedish repertoire isn't known here in the US as it deserves to be, since so few people know how to pronounce it.
    Nu tändas tusen juleljus : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDwIa4e4JJE
    Gläns över sjö och strand : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZGW605aCJo
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen
  • CeciliaJulia
    Posts: 52
    Angels We Have Heard on High
    Coventry Carol
    Wessex Carol
    What Child Is This (Greensleeves)
    Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
    He Is Born, the Divine Christ Child
    Of the Father's Love Begotten

    There are so many! I love almost all of the traditional arrangements of the hymn-type tunes, such as those found in that book with the Currier-and-Ives-style illustration on the front cover. But I also love the going-back-to-the-original-style newer arrangements of older carols and chants, except when the arrangements sound modern-pretending-to-be-authentic to my ear. Hard to define, of course.

    Also, while it's not precisely Christmas, the Angelus/Ave Maria setting by Franz Biebl is beautiful and has the most essential distillations of our faith about Christmas, in chant (from the Angelus): the Annunciation, and then "et verbum caro factus est, et habitavit in nobis."
  • narfie13
    Posts: 18
    It came upon a midnight clear (for the meaning of the text!) either tune is OK. No Christmas possible without human response to the angelic song .
    Thanked by 1mmeladirectress
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    Ding-dong Merrily on High
    Thanked by 2a_f_hawkins StimsonInRehab
  • a_f_hawkins
    Posts: 3,631
    MJO - might have known you would favour something with lengthy, albeit simple, melismata. (As do I.)
    Thanked by 1M. Jackson Osborn
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,961
    Ding-Dong also encourages active participation of the congregation in singing Latin. ("and i-o, i-o, i-o, by priest and people sungen") as well as promoting the Divine Office in parish life ("Pray you, dutifully prime [ok, a bit of a stretch, I'll suppress that one] your matin chime, ye ringers/may you beautifully rime your eve time song, ye singers.") Excellent choice!
    Thanked by 2a_f_hawkins ServiamScores
  • ClemensRomanusClemensRomanus
    Posts: 1,023
    Adeste fideles
    Silent Night (because I sang it as a lullaby each night to my son when he was born)
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • Daniel Bennett PageDaniel Bennett Page
    Posts: 818
    All poor men and humble
    Here is the little door (Howells)
    music from the Cowley Carol Book, the predecessor and source of many of the arrangements popularized in Carols for Choirs 1 & 2
    https://imslp.org/wiki/The_Cowley_Carol_Book_(Various)
  • cesarfranck
    Posts: 172
    Sussex carol, Once in royal David's city (actually a hymn), The first Nowell, Adeste Fidelis, In dulci jubilo, The holly and the ivy, Divinum Mysterium, The Angel Gabriel...
    Thanked by 3StimsonInRehab CHGiffen CharlesW
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    'Break Forth, O Beauteous Heav'nly Light'
    (Not actually a Christmas carol - but a Christmas chorale.)
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen cesarfranck CharlesW
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,271
    For Liam, "I wander as I wonder" recorded this afternoon at the Phipps Festival Chorus concert (Hudson, Wisconsin). Nice bass part ... with a low D-flat at the end for those of us on second bass.
    03_I_Wander_as_I_Wonder.mp3
    4M
    Thanked by 1Liam
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,483
    Thanks! The parody version of I Wonder as I Wander would of course treat the use of mobile devices by automobile drivers, under the title of I Wander as I Wonder.....
    Thanked by 3WGS StimsonInRehab CHGiffen
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,271
    I Wander as I Wonder.....

    This is exactly the sentiment I had when walking in the Institute for Advanced Study woods in Princeton, NJ, when I was in residence at the IAS ... a perfect place to wander whilst wondering about ones research.
    Thanked by 3Liam CharlesW StimsonInRehab
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,961
    Not all those who wander are lost. Neither are all those who wonder, thank heavens.
    Thanked by 5CHGiffen M. Jackson Osborn mmeladirectress MarkS ServiamScores
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    Not to wonder is to have died spiritually.
    Wonder is, if not the keystone, then a pillar of sanity.
    Thanked by 1Carol
  • Maureen
    Posts: 679
    I recently spent an evening on YouTube, finding out that St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a bunch of famous Christmas songs.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    ...finding out...
    Such as?
  • GregoriusGregorius
    Posts: 18
    Resonet in laudibus by Bartłomiej Pękiel
    Gratanter jubilemus from the Kancjonał Staniątecki
    King Jesus hath a garden - which I think maybe based on a Dutch carol.

    Greg
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,486
    ...which I think maybe...
    It is.
    Heer Jesus heeft een Hofken,
    from Geestlijcke Harmonie,
    1633
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    Welcome, Gregorius!

    I found these samples:

    Resonet in laudibus · Bartlomiej Pekiel
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoKhDeozamI

    "King Jesus hath a garden":
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M31QPqdqz04

    But alas, no examples of performances of Gratanter jubilemus. It doesn't even seem to be in the Choral Public Domain Library, so if you have a score old enough to be in the public domain (1923 or before), perhaps we should transcribe it and add the work.

    Thanks, incidentally, for mentioning the Kancjonały Staniąteckie; I hadn't heard of them before. Apparently they are a collection of 16th-18th century music manuscripts from the Benedictine convent at Staniątki in Poland.
    Thanked by 2M. Jackson Osborn CHGiffen
  • GregoriusGregorius
    Posts: 18
    I quite like this recording of Resonet in laudibus by Pękiel (Not sure if this clip can be accessed in the US) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G8wOrhSAiU

    I am quite a fan of Bartłomiej Pękiel's music. We always sing his Magnum nomen Domini each year for Christmas.

    The music for Grantanter jubilemus - http://biblioteka2.caecilianum.eu/religijne/boze-narodzenie/933-gratanter-iubilemus-2-anonim-partytura/file.html

    Also it can be found in Kolędy polskie: średniowiecze i wiek XVI Pax 1966.
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 12,044
    For the most part, I tend to love Christmas and Advent carols. But I can't believe this post has gone this far without someone mentioning "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Where is Melo Charles when you need him and his sterling sense of humor?

    May his memory be eternal.
    Thanked by 4tomjaw Incardination StimsonInRehab Carol
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,483
    What could be worse? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlIs27Z5Hrk
    Thanked by 2CharlesW Carol
  • CharlesW
    Posts: 12,044
    Priceless. LOL
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,101
    Here's a (caution!) simulated instrumental MP3 rendition of Gratanter iubilemus.
    Anonymous-Gratanter-iubilemus.mp3
    2M
    Thanked by 1CharlesW
  • Matilda
    Posts: 76
    Once He Came in Blessing
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • mmeladirectress
    Posts: 1,123
    bumping this thread, to get back to the original post :-)

    for our little choir -
    It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (yes! for the meaning of the text)
    Saint-Saens Tollite Hostias (not a carol, but a parishioner's young son told us that when he hears that, he knows it's Christmas - and we agree)
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Anna_BendiksenAnna_Bendiksen
    Posts: 271
    Hark, the Herald Angels Sing has done it for me ever since I was a preschooler.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • AnimaVocis
    Posts: 196
    Unto Us is Born a Son has always been a favorite of mine.

    https://youtu.be/dGS7igsATgs?si=M2pSm7Vj009tZdNj

    This and Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen!
  • Diapason84
    Posts: 144
    I have a soft spot for the tune “The Wise Men” by Berthold Tours in the Hymnal 1940, as an alternate for the text “Saw you never, in the twilight.” It’s syrupy but also strangely charming.
    Thanked by 1Paul F. Ford
  • sdtalley3sdtalley3
    Posts: 278
    I didn’t know about “O Little One Sweet” by JS Bach till a few years ago, but the more I look and listen to it, the more I need to try and convince my DM to fit it in this Christmas!

    https://youtu.be/bSI5ZyfuVOc?si=4afX2rFORei1xoBT

    Thanked by 2francis Paul F. Ford
  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 777
    Decidedly non-liturgical, but I quite like the Sans Day Carol. Quempas and Personent Hodie are up there too.
  • Felicia
    Posts: 143
    From a posting in 2018:
    @Maureen
    I recently spent an evening on YouTube, finding out that St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote a bunch of famous Christmas songs.

    @M. Jackson Osborn
    ...finding out...
    Such as?

    The most popular Christmas song in Italy, "Tu scendi dalle stelle" (literally, "You come down from the stars") is credited to St. Alphonsus de Liguori. He based it on a traditional carol in Neapolitan dialect, "Quanno nascette ninno." The New Saint Basil Hymnal of 1958 had an adaptation in English.

    Here is a recording of Andrea Bocelli singing two verses:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK932hwc8UA

    For a more rustic, folksy, outdoors sound, played on zampogna (bagpipe) and ciaramella or piva (shawm), which might be how it sounded in the 18th century:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2rg5Rytbww


    Thanked by 3CHGiffen Paul F. Ford M. Jackson Osborn
  • PhilipPowell
    Posts: 127
    Not my favorite but it’s a hidden gem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwICADplEgA
    Thanked by 3Anna_Bendiksen sdtalley3 CHGiffen
  • tomjaw
    Posts: 2,916
    The Sussex Carol

    Followed by,
    The Salutation Carol
    The Truth sent from above
    Praise of Christmas
    First Nowell
    The Wexford Carol
    Down in yon Forest
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen mmeladirectress
  • francis
    Posts: 11,183
    Two by JSB

    A child is born in Bethlehem (chorale number 12)

    Break forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D7E0jM0F3M8g
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen trentonjconn Brian Michael Page
  • Anna_BendiksenAnna_Bendiksen
    Posts: 271
    I also adore this arrangement of In dulce jubilo:

    https://youtu.be/MrweXsImVhg?si=21TLo7sy66O-4jmc
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,483
    When Daniel Hyde's first lessons & carols run with the King's College Choir was broadcast over the radio, one could immediately hear the difference in choral sound. (A family member who is a recording wiz was so captured by the change that he was able to rip an excellent capture from the feed so we were able to listen to it and compare to prior KCC recordings over the course of the holiday week....) A top musical group, be it choral or instrumental, can under the right direction pull off that kind of relatively speedy pivot in character.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Anna_Bendiksen
  • Brian Michael Page
    Posts: 155
    My top six:
    O come, all ye faithful (Arr. Willcocks)
    Hark! the herald angels sing (Arr. Willcocks)
    O little town of Bethlehem ("Forest Green")
    Bel Bambino (I have a rather light arr. by Alex Peloquin from early in his career that's quite nice)
    God rest ye merry, gentlemen (While I like the standard accompaniment in most hymnals, I find the accompaniment in the Hymnal 1940 quite interesting, and, while in my car, I like listening to the Arthur Harris arrangement as played by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Eugene Ormandy conducting - sounds like the soundtrack to a western B-film lol).
    Away in a manger (the Kirkpatrick tune)
    BMP
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • oldhymnsoldhymns
    Posts: 262
    My top three Christmas hymns are:
    With Glory Lit, the Midnight Air Revealed
    See Amid the Winter's Snow
    Sleep Holy Babe

    King's College has recordings of the latter two which are quite nice.
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Don9of11
  • francis
    Posts: 11,183
    also

    In the Bleak Mid Winter

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE0aIQp9V4s
    Thanked by 3sdtalley3 CHGiffen Paul F. Ford
  • PhilipPowell
    Posts: 127
    also

    In the Bleak Mid Winter


    Harold Darke’s setting to the same words is always hit for congregations here.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • Don9of11Don9of11
    Posts: 804
    These a some of the christmas songs/ carols that St. Mary's choir in Akron, Ohio would sing for our Christmas programs which we did Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, about 1/2 hour before Mass. Adeste Fideles was always a favorite at Offertory. Many of these are out of print and likely in the public domain. If any of these look interesting, I have copies that I can share. Our Christmas program consisted of some of these selections but not all.

    In Old Judea - Adam Geibel/ Bruce Carleton (1929 solo/ 1943 choral)
    O Babe Divine - Italian Carol/ Howard McKinney (1956 SA)
    O Night of Holy Memory - Ira Wilson (1917 choral)
    Sleeping the Christ Child Lay - James Hall (1926 choral with Alto Solo)
    Sleep Holy Babe (St. Basil's 1918 hymn)
    Christmas Bells - Lester Price (1906 - unison)
    Christmas Bells - Lee Rodgers (1938 choral)
    His Natal Day (Ring Bells of Christmas) - Edward Norman (1929 choral)
    The Christmas Song - Ira Wilson (1916 choral)
    To Hear the Angels Sing - E. Lorenz (1909 choral)
    The Prince of Peace - A.J. Weiss/ Wm. Ashmall (1923 choral)
    Birthday of a King - W. Neidlinger/ E.C.C. (1950s choral)
    Sleep My Jesus Sleep - Dutch Lullaby/ Clarence Dickinson (1927 choral with Alto or Bass Solo)
    Adeste Fideles/ O Come All Ye Faithfull - V. Novello (1950s choral)
    With Glory Lit The Midnight Air Revealed - Dielman (1906 choral)
    The New Born King - Charles L'espoir (1932 Solo)
    The Christ Child - Margaret Beaulieu (1937 Solo)
    The Song That Will Never Cease - Howard Smith (1904 unison)

    The Mass setting was always the Christmas Carol Mass (Latin/ English) - James Korman (1937 choral) Everyother year was Latin.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen mmeladirectress kenstb
  • mmeladirectress
    Posts: 1,123
    forgot one
    Of the Father's Heart Begotten (Corde Natus ex Parentis)
    Thanked by 2tomjaw ServiamScores
  • CGM
    Posts: 782
    Wynton Marsalis's live rendition of Winter Wonderland, because Stephen Scott's piano playing is so incredibly hip.

    New York Voices's I wonder as I wander. An amazing arrangement & performance, even though the keyboard sound is terrible.

    Betty Carter's Let it snow. I know, she's not everybody's cup of tea. But I love her phrasing.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • bhcordovabhcordova
    Posts: 1,182
    O Holy Night
    Joy to the World
    The Huron Song
    O Come All Ye Faithful
    Silent Night
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • StimsonInRehabStimsonInRehab
    Posts: 1,961
    Anything Alfred Burt wrote.
  • mmeladirectress
    Posts: 1,123
    Here's a carol from at least 18th cent. Quand Dieu naquit à Noël
    I have no boychoir, no dulcimer, no flute, but one day we WILL find an arrangement which we can sing!
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXtdmrXZdTg
    Thanked by 2sdtalley3 CHGiffen
  • achoyce91achoyce91
    Posts: 181
    Veni, veni, Emmanuel.
    Thanked by 3CHGiffen hilluminar mmeladirectress
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