Friday, January 1, 2021

The Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 9  - Another one of my favorites . . . Gustav Holst's In The Bleak Midwinter, in a number of wonderful, memorable performances. Trying not to feel too bleak today . . .

In the bleak mid-winter 
Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, 
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, 
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him 
Nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter 
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, 
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom cherubim 
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk 
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels 
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel 
Which adore.

Angels and archangels 
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim 
Thronged the air,
But only His mother1
In her maiden bliss,
Worshipped the Beloved 
With a kiss.

What can I give Him, 
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him, 
Give my heart.


In The Bleak Midwinter - Choir of Kings College, Cambridge

In The Bleak Midwinter - The Sixteen

In The Bleak Midwinter - The Trebled Ladybug

And even this very wild, weird and amazing arrangement . . .
In The Bleak Midwinter - reimagined by Jacob Collier


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Twelve Days of Christmas

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