Twelve Day of Christmas

Day 9 - The Truth Sent from Above

The Truth Sent from Above is an English folk carol of unknown authorship, usually performed at Christmas. During the first part of the 20th century a number of English folk song collectors (people who traveled throughout England, Scotland, Wales and all their respective counties),located people who still sang songs that had come down to them by tradition, notated them, and eventually published - and therefore, preserved - these folk songs for all future generations. The texts collected for The Truth Sent from Above were all very similar. However, there were a number of variations on the tune used to sing the carol, based on the region were it was collected (mainly in Shropshire and Herefordshire). Cecil Sharp, England's most prolific folk music and dance collector, who collected and notated over 5000 English folk tunes, notated an eight stanza version of the carol from a Mr. Seth Vandrell and Mr. Samuel Bradley of Donnington Wood in Shropshire. He also found that a longer version of The Truth Sent from Above existed in a locally printed carol book. Composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (also an avid folk song advocate and collector) obtained a different version of the carol at King's Pyon, Herefordshire in July 1909 with help from Ella Mary Leather, the Herefordshire folklorist who had first collected it from the local oral tradition. This version, which contains only four stanzas, is therefore sometimes referred to as the Herefordshire Carol.

This is the truth sent from above,

The truth of God, the God of love,

Therefore don't turn me from your door,

But hearken all both rich and poor.

The first thing which I do relate

Is that God did man create;

The next thing which to you I'll tell

Woman was made with man to dwell.

Thus we were heirs to endless woes,

Till God the Lord did interpose;

And so a promise soon did run

That he would redeem us by his Son

And at that season of the year

Our blest Redeemer did appear;

He here did live, and here did preach,

And many thousands he did teach.

God grant to all within this place

True saving faith, that special grace,

Which to His people doth belong;

And thus I close my Christmas song.

The Truth Sent from Above - The Gesualdo Six

The Twelve Days (Before) Christmas

Day 3 - Veni, veni, Emmanuel (O come, O come, Emmanuel) is a hymn for Advent and Christmas. Its text was written as early as the 12th century as a metrical paraphrase of the O Antiphons, a series of plainchant antiphons used during the final days before Christmas. The earliest know version of the tune, to date, was discovered in a 15th-century manuscript devoted to processional chants for burials. That early version uses the text Bone Jesu dulcis cunctis eterni patris filius (Good Jesus all sweet eternal Father). This tune, which we know today as Veni, veni, Emmanuel (O come, O come, Emmanuel) was first linked with the Veni Emmanuel text in 1851, when Thomas Helmore published it in the Hymnal Noted, paired with an early version of John Mason Neale's now well known English translation of the text.

We'll start with a Gregorian chant styled two voice version of the tune and text . . . 

Veni, veni, Emmanuel (O come, O come, Emmanuel)

Because this is such a popular tune compared with some of the other songs we've heard earlier, there are pages upon pages of versions to choose from. Here are some of the most interesting and beautiful that I found. Enjoy!

Veni, veni Emmanuel!         O come, O come, Emmanuel,
Captivum solve Israel!       And ransom captive Israel,
Qui gemit in exilio,        That mourns in lonely exile here,
Privatus Dei Filio,        Until the Son of God appear.
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel      Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.      Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Veni o Jesse virgula!      O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Ex hostis tuos ungula,      Thine own from Satan's tyranny;
De specu tuos tartari      From depths of hell Thy people save,
Educ, et antro barathri.  And give them victory o'er the grave.
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel      Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.      Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Veni, veni o oriens!      O come, Thou Dayspring, from on high,
Solare nos adveniens,      And cheer us by Thy drawing nigh;
Noctis depelle nebulas,      Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
Dirasque noctis tenebras.   And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel      Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.      Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Veni clavis Davidica!      O come, Thou Key of David, come
Regna reclude coelica,      And open wide our heav'nly home;
Fac iter Tutum superum,      Make safe the way that leads on high,
Et claude vias Inferum.      And close the path to misery.
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel      Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.      Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Veni, veni Adonai!      O come, Adonai, Lord of might,
Qui populo in Sinai      Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
Legem dedisti vertice,      In ancient times didst give the law
In maiestate gloriae.      In cloud and majesty and awe.
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel      Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel.      Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Veni, veni, Emmanuel - The Gesualdo Six (arr. by Philip Lawson)

Veni, veni, Emmanuel - Iamthemorning (from Isolation)

Veni, veni, Emmanuel - Vitalij Neugasimov (piano)

Veni, veni, Emmanuel - Svanholm Singers (arr. by Sofia Söderberg)