Bogoróditse Djévo (God Bless You) was completed in 1990, commissioned by the King’s College Choir, Cambridge. It premiered on Christmas Eve that same year as part of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. The piece is based on a Slavonic Church text from the Orthodox Book of Prayers. The hymn to the Virgin Mary, used in the Orthodox tradition, differs from the Latin Ave Maria in some slight nuances in the text. Pärt’s short and concentrated musical prayer is dominated by vibrant joy, instead of the usual lyrical mood.
The lyrics of Tonttu are based on Valter Juva's 1906 Finnish translation of Viktor Rydberg's 1881 Swedish-language poem called Tomte. A tomte or tonttu is nowadays primarily understood to mean one of Santa's elves, but originally referred to a supernatural guardian spirit from Nordic mythology who appeared as a diminutive and benign old man inhabiting individual lots and buildings. Although this poem's ancient concept of a tonttu predates (and is tangentially a partial source of!) the modern concept of Santa Claus and his elves, the setting of the poem by composer Lyyli Wartiovaara-Kallioniemi in the 1940s has since come to have strong connotations with Christmas. (note thanks to yoarastrophe@lyricstranslate)
It's a frosty night, and as though aflame, the northern sky is lit up
The folk of a silent farmhouse are getting their midnight slumber
Silently the moon goes on its way; the trees are white with snow
The rooftops are covered with snow, yet still the elf cannot sleep
He comes from the barn and stops in the snow, a gray figure by the doorframe
As is his old habit, he squints up towards the sky and the moon
He then looks towards the forest, where pinewoods shelter the farmhouse from wind
And turns around in his mind his eternal problem
Caressing his beard he ponders, shakes his head and his hair
"No, I cannot understand this. No, this is quite the problem indeed!"
Reasonable as he is, he casts off these troubles of the mind again
And sets off to do his task and his work, to do his chores in the night
He inspects the granaries and storehouses, pulls on their locks to test them
The cows, bound to their shackles as they are, dream of groves
The gelding dreams as well, of when reins and lashes do not strike his back
While napping against the wall and chewing hay in his corral
The elf makes his way to the sheep in their stall, where they are lying down
The chickens watch him from their rungs; on the highest one sits the rooster
The watchdog is doing well in its kennel; it wakes up and wags its tail affectionately
The guardian of the house is already very familiar indeed with the gray-coated elf
The old man sneaks inside the farmhouse where the family resides
The elf has known these folk to venerate him since a very long time ago
He tiptoes to the children to see a glimpse of the little darlings
After all, who could blame him? They are a source of great joy to him
He has witnessed generations of fathers and sons
Slumbering here, but from whence did the path of the innocent ones lead here?
Generations upon generations have grown up, grown old, and left - but gone where?
This is the problem for which he is once more burning for answers
He makes his way to the barn attic, which is where he has made his home
On his stack of hay close to the eaves, he is the neighbor to a swallow
Even though the swallow is gone now, the scent of hackberries in the spring
Will surely bring it back, accompanied by its beloved spouse
The swallow will then sing of many memories from its travels
Though certainly the swallow is not familiar with the problem that troubles the elf's mind
The moon shines in from a crack in the wall and casts its light upon the elf's beard
His beard moves and flutters in the draught as he ponders his problem
The forest is silent under a layer of ice; all living things are at rest
The rapids alone still foam away, humming from beyond the forest
The elf, half asleep, imagines himself traversing the stream of time
He ponders where it leads to, where its source might be
It's a frosty night, and as though aflame, the northern sky is lit up
The folk of the silent farmhouse slumber till the morn
Silently the moon begins to set; the trees are white with snow
The rooftops are covered with snow, yet still the elf cannot sleep
The Wexford Carol is a traditional Irish carol from Enniscorthy, in County Wexford. Sometimes known by its first verse "Good people all this Christmas time", the carol is of uncertain origins, and, while it is occasionally claimed to be from the early Middle Ages, it was likely composed in the 15th or 16th century. The subject of the song is the nativity of Jesus Christ.
Day 8 - Bethlehem Down (Peter Warlock & Bruce Blunt, 1927)
The poet and journalist Bruce Blunt told the story behind the creation of Bethlehem Down in a 1943 letter to Gerald Cockshott . . .
Blunt and Peter Warlock were short on money in the run up to Christmas 1927. They had the idea to write a Christmas carol together in the hopes it would be published and earn them enough for alcohol (or as Blunt called it, an "immortal carouse"). Whilst on a night time walk between two pubs - The Plough in Bishops Sutton and The Anchor in Ropley - Blunt thought up the words to Bethlehem Down. He sent the text to Warlock who set it to music within a few days. The completed carol was entered into The Daily Telegraph's Christmas carol competition that year . . . and it won! It was published in the paper on 24 December 1927. The carol would be published again the following year by Winthrop Rogers (now Boosey & Hawkes). Warlock and Blunt would work on other carols together, including The Frostbound Wood, which was published in the Radio Times on 20 December 1929.
Bethlehem Down
When He is King we will give him the King's gifts,
Myrrh for its sweetness, and gold for a crown,
"Beautiful robes", said the young girl to Joseph
Fair with her first-born on Bethlehem Down.
Bethlehem Down is full of the starlight
Winds for the spices, and stars for the gold,
Mary for sleep, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.
When He is King they will clothe Him in grave-sheets,
Myrrh for embalming, and wood for a crown,
He that lies now in the white arms of Mary
Sleeping so lightly on Bethlehem Down.
Here He has peace and a short while for dreaming,
Close-huddled oxen to keep Him from cold,
Mary for love, and for lullaby music
Songs of a shepherd by Bethlehem fold.
Bethlehem Down - The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
In 1934 Benjamin Britten wrote a series of twelve songs for the school in Wales where his brother was a teacher. These songs, called Friday Afternoons (that was when pupils had their singing practice), started Britten’s lifelong interest in music for young people and in music education. A New Year Carol is one of the Friday Afternoons songs. In this collection he sets to music words by many different poets and authors, and the music always beautifully illustrates the mood of the text.
Here we bring new water from the well so clear,
For to worship God with, this happy New Year.
Chorus
Sing levy dew, sing levy dew, the water and the wine;
The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.
Christmas time would make sacred music shined forth in monarchical France. The court organists had free rein to improvise on the popular Nativity songs, which had been known to all the faithful for centuries, and amateurs would swarm to churches throughout Paris to hear the virtuoso works of these masters. Here, finally gathered together in this collection, are the most famous organ pieces of Daquin, Corette, Dandrieu and Balbastre along with the melodies that inspired them, played by Gaétan Jarry at the Grand Orgue of the Royal Chapel of Versailles, accompanied by the children’s choir of the Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, just as the children used to at the Chapel during the reign of Louis XIV.
1. |: Joseph est bien marié à la fille de Jessé :|
Joseph is indeed married to Jesse's daughter
C'était chose bien nouvelle D'être mère et pucelle
It was a very new thing To be a mother and a maid
Dieu y avait opéré: Joseph est bien marié
God was at work there: Joseph is indeed married
2. |: Et quand ce fut au premier Que Dieu voulut nous sauver :|
And when it was at first that God wanted to save us
Il fit en terre descendre Son seul fils Jésus pour prendre
He sent down His only son Jesus to the earth, to take
En Marie humanité: Joseph est bien marié
In Mary's humanity: Joseph is indeed married
3. |: Quand Joseph eut aperçu Que la femme avait conçu :|
When Joseph saw that the woman had conceived
Il ne s'en contenta mie, Fâché fut contre Marie
He was not happy with it, he was angry with Mary
Et se voulut en aller: Joseph est bien marié
And wanted to leave: Joseph is indeed married
4. |: Mais l'ange si lui a dit: Joseph n'en aie point dépit :|
But the angel said to him: Joseph be not angry
Ta sainte femme Marie Est grosse du fruit de vie
Your holy wife Mary is pregnant with the fruit of life
Elle a conçu sans péché: Joseph est bien marié
She conceived without sin: Joseph is indeed married
5. |: Les anges y sont venus Voir le Rédempteur Jésus :|
The angels came there to see the Redeemer Jesus
De très belle compagnie, Püis à haute voix jolie
In such pleasant company, then in joyous voices
Gloria ils ont chanté: Joseph est bien marié
They sang Gloria: Joseph is indeed married
6. |: Or prions dévôtement De bon coeur et humblement :|
Now let us pray devoutly with good heart and humbly
Que paix, joie et bonne vie Impêtre Dame Marie
May peace, joy and good life secure Lady Mary
A notre nécessité: Joseph est bien marié
For all our necessities: Joseph is indeed married
Joseph est bien marié - traditional, arr. by Claude Balbastre, 1724-99 / Choir of the Pages du Centre de musique baroque de Versailles
British composer Philip Stopford composed Lully, Lulla, Lullay, his version of the Coventry Carol in 2008. The original Coventry Carol dates from the 16th century and was traditionally performed in Coventry as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The rocking lullaby tells the story of the massacre of the innocents — when King Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two to be killed. It is sung though from a mother's perspective . . . a beautiful lament for her doomed child. (Note thanks to ClassicFM.com)
Today we have a reprise of Susan Lewis bringing us the story behind the classic Christmas carol Silent Night . . .
"It's a song about a calm, bright and silent night, and the wonder of a tender and mild newborn child; words written in 1816 by a young Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr, not long after the Napoleonic wars had taken their toll.
As the story goes, that young priest went for a walk and looked out over a very quiet, snow-laden town. That town at peace inspired him to write his verses. On Christmas Eve 1818, the now-famous carol was performed for the first time as Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht. And performing it were guitarist Joseph Mohr, the young priest who wrote the words, accompanying singer Franz Xaver Gruber, the choir director who had written the melody.
Some time later, an organ builder and repair man working at Mohr and Gruber's church (St. Nicholas in Oberndorf) took a copy of the six-verse song to his home village. There, it was picked up and spread by two families of traveling folk singers, who performed throughout northern Europe. In 1834, the Strasser family performed it for the King of Prussia. In 1839, the Rainer family of singers debuted the carol outside Trinity Church in New York City. The composition evolved, was translated into over 300 languages, and arranged for a wide variety of vocal and instrumental ensembles. It was sung in churches, town squares, and even on the battlefield during World War I. During a temporary truce in the war on Christmas Eve, soldiers sang carols from home. Silent Night (by 1914 now known round the world) was sung simultaneously in French, German and English.
Over the years, the carol's mystique grew with its popularity. After the original manuscript was lost, some speculated that the music had actually been written by Haydn, Mozart or even Beethoven. But in 1994, an original manuscript was found in Mohr's handwriting, with Gruber named as composer. Today, the Franz Xaver Gruber Museum in Hallein and the Joseph Mohr School in Wagrain, Austria honor the creators of this classic carol. The Stille Nacht Gesellschaft (The Silent Night Society) hosts a virtual Silent Night museum, tracks events, and promotes the use of all six verses, which in the words of the Silent Night Society president encourage peace and demand responsibility around the globe."
Day 3 - The Shepherd's Pipe Carol (John Rutter, 1966)
The Shepherd's Pipe Carol was composed by John Rutter in 1966 when he was studying as an undergraduate at Clare College at the University of Cambridge. Rutter stated that he believed his inspiration for writing it came from when he sang as a boy soprano during the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors and heard pipe music as the title character headed for Bethlehem with the Biblical Magi. (note thanks to Wikipedia)
Going through the hills on a night all starry On the way to Bethlehem Far away I heard a shepherd boy piping On the way to Bethlehem
Angels in the sky brought this message nigh: "Dance and sing for joy that Christ the newborn King Is come to bring us peace on earth And He's lying cradled there at Bethlehem."
"Tell me, shepherd boy piping tunes so merrily On the way to Bethlehem Who will hear your tunes on these hills so lonely On the way to Bethlehem
Angels in the sky brought this message nigh: "Dance and sing for the joy that Christ the newborn King Is come to bring peace on earth And He's lying cradled there at Bethlehem."
"None may hear my pipes on these hills so lonely On the way to Bethlehem; But a King will hear me play sweet lullabies When I get to Bethlehem."
Angels in the sky came down from on high Hovered over the manger where the babe was lying Cradled in the arms of his mother Mary Sleeping now at Bethlehem
"Where is the new King, shepherd boy piping merrily Is He there at Bethlehem?" "I will find Him soon by the star shining brightly In the sky o'vr Bethlehem."
Angels in the sky brought this message nigh: "Dance and sing for joy that Christ the king of Kings Is come to bring us peace on earth And He's lying cradled there at Bethlehem."
"May I come with you, shepherd boy piping merrily Come with you to Bethlehem Pay my homage too at the new King's cradle Is it far to Bethlehem?"
Angels in the sky brought this message nigh: "Dance and sing for joy that Christ the newborn King Is born in the stable yonder, born for you and me."
The Shepherd's Pipe Carol - Kings College Choir, Cambridge
Venez, Divin Messie (Come, Divine Messiah) is a simple and joyful Advent song from France. It calls for the coming of Jesus, asking Him to save us from our wretchedness and to count us one day among the blessed in Heaven. Dating back to the 16th century, the song has stood the test of time and is still popular in France during Advent and Christmastime. (Note thanks to Tradition-in-Action.com)
Venez Divin Messie / Come Divine Messiah,
Sauvez nos jours infortunés / Save our unfortunate days,
Venez source de Vie / Come, source of Life,
Venez, venez, venez / Come, come, come
1. Ah. Descendez, hâtez Vos pas / Ah. Descend, hasten Thy steps;
Sauvez les hommes du trépas / Save mankind from death,
Secourez-nous, ne tardez pas / Rescue us, do not delay.
Dans une peine extrême / In an extreme pain
Gémissent nos cœurs affligés / Our afflicted hearts groan.
