Twelve Day of Christmas

The Epiphany - The Three Kings

 - Drie Koningen zagen een sterre

 - Drie koningen, drie koningen geef mij een nieuwe hoed

Epiphany is the Christian holiday that celebrates the biblical story of the Three Kings from the east. They follow the star to Bethlehem and find the baby Jesus there. In the Netherlands there are songs sung on the Epiphany by children dressed as the Three Kings: Caspar, Balthasar and Melchior. The children traditionally go door to door, sing a song at each house and in return receive something tasty, or even some money. The centuries-old tradition still exists, although there are not nearly as many children as in the past who make the Epiphany procession, in the dark, with a homemade lantern, walking through the streets in the evening, singing.

Here are two Dutch songs sung on the Epiphany . . . 

Er kwamen drie koningen met ene ster

    Three kings came with a star

Zij kwamen van bij en zij kwamen van ver

    They came from near and they came from far

Zij kwamen de hoge berg opgegaan

    They came up the high mountain

Zij vonden de sterre daar stille staan

    They found the star standing there still

Wel sterre, gij moet er zo stille niet staan

    Well star, you must not stand so still

Gij moet met ons naar Bethlehem gaan

    You must go with us to Bethlehem

Naar Bethlehem binnen die schone stad

    To Bethlehem within that beautiful city

Waar Maria met haar kindetje zat

    Where Mary sat with her child

Zij gaven dat kindetje menigvoud

    They gave that child many times

Van wierook en mirre en rode fijn goud

    Of frankincense and myrrh and red fine gold

Er kwamen drie koningen met ene ster

Driekoningen, Driekoningen,

    Epiphany, Epiphany,

Geef mij een nieuwe hoed!

    Give me a new hat!

Mijn oude is versleten,

    My old one is worn out,

Mijn moeder mag het niet weten!

    My mother mustn't know!

Mijn vader heeft het geld op de schoorsteen/rooster geteld!

    My father counted the money on the chimney/grate!

- OR -

Driekoningen, Driekoningen

    Epiphany, Epiphany

geef mij een nieuwe hoed, hoed, hoed.

    give me a new hat, hat, hat.

Warit m'n oude die is versleten,

    My old one is worn out,

en m'n moeder die mag het niet weten

    and my mother she mustn't know

en m'n vader die is niet thuis

    and my father he's not home

Piep zei de muis al in het zomerhuis.

    Squeak said the mouse already in the summer house.

Drie koningen, drie koningen geef mij een nieuwe hoed

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 12 - Here Betwixt Ass and Oxen Mild

One of the oldest known French carols, Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris (Here Betwixt the Ass and Oxen Mild) dates from as early as the 13th century. A “modern” harmonized version, titled Le sommeil de l’enfant Jésus first appeared in Collection de chœurs, a 10-volume compendium of choral music composed and compiled by Belgian composer and musicologist François-Auguste Gevaert in the late 19th century. The text was eventually translated into English by Episcopal Canon Charles Winfred Douglas and appeared in the 1940 Episcopal Hymnal. The presence of the ox and ass is significant in that both were mentioned centuries before Christ’s birth in Isaiah’s prophecy: “The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib.” Certainly, oxen could have been the occupants of the stable in which Mary and Joseph lodged, and the ass would have carried the pregnant mother from Nazareth to Bethlehem. (note thanks to the LA Philharmonic)

Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris,

   Here 'tween the ox and donkey grey

Dort, dort, dort le petit Fils,

    Sleep, sleep, sleep the little Son.

Mille anges divins, mille séraphins,

    Thousand divine angels, thousand seraphim,

Volent à l’entour de ce Grand Dieu d’amour.

    Flying round about this great God of love.

Entre les deux bras de Marie,

    Between the arms of dear Mary

Dort, dort, dort le Fruit de Vie,

    Sleep, sleep, sleep the fruit of life.

Mille anges divins, mille séraphins,

    Thousand divine angels, thousand seraphim,

Volent à l’entour de ce Grand Dieu d’amour.

    Flying round about this great God of love.

Entre les roses et les lys,

    Here 'neath the rose and lilies lay,

Dort, dort, dort le petit Fils,

    Sleep, sleep, sleep the little son.

Mille anges divins, mille séraphins,

    Thousand divine angels, thousand seraphim,

Volent à l’entour de ce Grand Dieu d’amour.

    Flying round about this great God of love.

Entre les pastoureaux jolis,

    Here midst the gentle shepherds lay

Dort, dort, Jésus qui sourit,

    Sleep, sleep, smile the night away.

Mille anges divins, mille séraphins,

    Thousand divine angels, thousand seraphim,

Volent à l’entour de ce Grand Dieu d’amour.

    Flying round about this great God of love.

En ce beau jour si solennel,

    Beautiful it is this solemn day,

Dort, dort, dort l’Emmanuel,

    Sleep, sleep, sleep Emmanuel.

Mille anges divins, mille séraphins,

    Thousand divine angels, thousand seraphim,

Volent à l’entour de ce Grand Dieu d’amour.

    Flying round about this great God of love.

Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris - arr. Gavaert

Here Betwixt Ass And Oxen Mild - arr. Robert Shaw / UCA Chamber Singers

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 11 - John Rutter: Carol of the Magi (2015)

John Rutter's Carol of the Magi was commissioned in 2015 by Red Balloon, an organisation dedicated to the recovery of children who have experienced bullying, trauma, mental ill-health or have social, emotional and mental health needs. The work tells the story of the wise men’s journey to Bethlehem. It is an Epiphany carol beautifully set for solo cello, baritone voice, chorus and orchestra.

We rode all night through fields of darkness

Our guiding light, the eastern stars

We came to Bethlehem, we all were weary

We'd traveled far that night, we'd traveled far

We'd traveled far

We heard that here we'd find Messiah

Foretold by seers from days of old

We looked for palaces, we found a stable

Could it be here, so bare and cold?

So bare and cold?

We entered in and there we saw him

It seemed we'd known him from long before

A child like any child, yet somehow different

The face of every child, in him we saw

The face of every child, we saw

We brought him gifts and now we offer them

We knelt down low in silent prayer

With eyes that seem to know both joy and sadness

The child looked down as we knelt there

The child looked down as we knelt there

So long ago, yet, I remember

That child who lay at Mary's knee

How strange that every child seemed so much like him

He is the face I seem to see

He is the face I seem to see

John Rutter: Carol of the Magi (2015) - Gabriel Crouch (baritone), Tim Gill (cello), the Cambridge Singers & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 10 - Now Is Christmas Ycome

The carols of the past few days (as you may have noticed: Day 4, Peter Cornelius: The Three Kings, Day 5, Rejoice and Be Merry, Day 6, March of the Three Kings, and Day 7, Jonathan Dove: The Three Kings), have all focused on the story of the Three Kings who came to see the Christ-child. The Adoration of the Magi was one of the most popular subjects for pictorial and dramatic representation in the Middle Ages; but carols on the theme are few and far between. Today's carol on this subject, Now Is Christmas Ycome, is an ancient carol from the 15th century, and it comes down to us in a number of different versions, and under a variety of titles: Now ye Crystemas y-cum, Now Ys The Twelthe Day Cum, The III Kings, The Three Kings, I Would Now Sing For And I Might, The Golden Carol, and Now Is Christmas Ycome.

Now is Christemas ycome,

Father and Son together in one,

Holy Ghost, as ye be one,  -  in fere-a,

God send us good New Year-a!

I will you sing with I might,

Of a Child so fair in sight,

A maiden bare on Christmas night  -  so still-a,

As it was His will-a.

Three kingës came fro Galilee

To Bethlehem, that fair city,

All to offer and to see  -  by night-a,

It was a full fair sight-a.

As they came forth with their offering,

They met with Herod, that moody king,

He asked them of their coming  -  that tide-a,

And thus to them he said-a:

"From whence come ye, you kingës three?"

"Out of the east, as ye may see,

To seek Him that ever shall be  -  by right-a,

Lord and king and knight-a."

They took their leave, both eld and ying,

Of Herod, that moody king;

And forth they went with their offering  -  by light-a,

By the star that shone so bright-a.

When they came into the place,

Where Jesus with his mother was,

Offered they up with great solace  -  in fere-a,

Gold, incense, and myrrh-a.

Kneel we now here a-down,

Pray we in good devotion,

To that King of great renown,  -  for grace-a,

In heaven to have a place-a.

Now Is Christmas Ycome - Cardiff Festival Choir

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 9 - O Jesulein süss (O Little One Sweet)

Samuel Scheidt: O Jesulein süss (1650)

J.S. Bach: O Jesulein süss (O Little One Sweet) (1736)

The text and tune for the Christmas poem O Jesulein süss (O Little One Sweet) first appeared in Friedrich Spee's hymnal Auserlesene, Catholische, Geistliche Kirchengesäng (Selected Catholic Spiritual Church-Songs), published in Cologne in 1623. The words are attributed to Valentin Thilo (1607-1662). In 1650, German composer Samuel Scheidt composed a musical setting of the hymn, and nearly a century later, in 1736, Johann Sebastian Bach wrote a harmonization of the melody as a sacred song for solo voice and accompaniment. Long beloved as a German Christmas carol, O Jesulein süss began appearing in English translation in the early 20th century. Perhaps the best-known of these translations was made by the Anglican priest and liturgist Percy Dearmer, who arranged Bach’s solo song harmonization for four-part chorus and published it as O Little One Sweet in 1928.

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild,

Deins Vaters Willn hast du erfüllt;

    Thy Father's purpose thou hast fulfilled;

Bist kommen aus dem Himmelreich,

    Thou camest from heaven to mortal ken,

Uns armen Menschen worden gleich,

    Equal to be with us poor men,

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild.

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild,

Mit Freuden hast du die Welt erfüllt,

    With joy thou hast the whole world filled;

Du kommst herab vom Himmelssaal,

    Thou camest here from heaven's domain,

Und tröst’st uns in dem Jammertal,

    To bring men comfort in their pain,

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild.

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild,

Du bist der Lieb ein Ebenbild,

    In thee Love's beauties are all distilled;

Zünd an in uns der Liebe Flamm,

    Then light in us thy love's bright flame,

Dass wir dich lieben all zusamm’,

    That we may give thee back the same,

O Jesulein süß, o Jesulein mild!

    O little one sweet, O little one mild.

O Jesulein süss - Stephen Mann, treble recorder

Samuel Scheidt: O Jesulein süss (1650) - Bach Ensemble Amsterdam

J.S. Bach: O Little One Sweet (1736) - arr. Dearmer / The King's Singers

Twelve Days of Christmas

Day 8 - Levy-Dew

Levy-Dew is a Welsh folk song originating from Pembrokeshire. This New Year's carol was sung as boys sprinkled water, freshly drawn from the well, around the town as a way of blessing the households. There are competing theories as to the meaning of Levy-dew; perhaps the most convincing is that it is a corruption of the French Levez à Dieu, meaning “raise to God” - referring to the raising of the Host at Holy Communion. Or it could be a version of the Welsh phrase llef ar Dduw “a call to God”. Benjamin Britten set the tune in 1934.

Here we bring new water from the well so clear,

For to worship God with, this happy New Year.

Sing levy-dew, sing levy-dew, the water and the wine,

The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.

O Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her toe;

Open you the West Door and turn the Old Year go.

Sing levy-dew, sing levy-dew, the water and the wine,

The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.

O Sing reign of Fair Maid, with gold upon her chin;

Open you the East Door and let the New Year in. 

Sing levy-dew, sing levy-dew, the water and the wine,

The seven bright gold wires and the bugles that do shine.

Levy-Dew - arr. Benjamin Britten / The Cambridge Singers

Levy-Dew - Matthew Todd, voice and harp