Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Carols are the Songs of the Reason...

So, we’ve been regaled about Christmas SONGS and a few Christmas Carols, but mostly Songs. Wait, what’s the difference? Christmas songs are secular songs about Christmas. “White Christmas” and “Blue Christmas” are Christmas songs. Songs that are rather heartfelt but not religious-religious, though sung properly, by Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley respectively, are as introspective and, well, religious as you can get without being religious-religious. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" is a song, about carols, but still a song. "Jingle Bells" and "Winter Wonderland" are also Songs, not Carols.  Still great and wonderful, full of emotion and power, but... not a Carol, or Amber, or Cynthia...  (BEANS!!!!  Not Christmas, NOT Christmas...)

There is a another type of song during this Christmas season, but they aren't Christmas songs. Though the idiots who run radio stations and cable music stations seem to think so. That horrible "Hallelujah" song that has nothing to do with religion, or Christ, or Christmas. Hate that song, once I found out what the lyrics said. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is another, not a Christmas song, and, yes, I've seen the movie and enjoyed the way skeevy Ricardo Montalban tries to use it on his girl and Red Skelton gets it used against him by his girl. But NOT a Christmas song or carol or anything about Christmas.  Winter songs are also not Christmas songs or carols.  Just because it's a song about freezing to death with your family or main squeeze doesn't make it classify as a CS or CC.  Gotta have actual Christmastime references to make it a Song, and must reference Christ to be a Carol.

Carols, on the other hand, in my book, in my mind, are religious-religious. They deal with “The Reason for the Season” and speak about religious matters. "Coventry Carol," "Silent Night" and my favorite, "O Holy Night," which, when you hit the 'Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices." just makes me tear up and, well, fall on my knees, because it is so pretty and powerful and touches me right at that religious spot that almost led me to going to seminary or a monastery.  They invoke the power and majesty of the season.  "Away in a Manger," carol.  Handel's actual "Hallelujah Chorus" (though maybe a stretch, but still, yeah, carolistic, though most carolers can't carol it.) and tons of others that no-one ever hears on the radio because "Santa Baby" screeched by some dingbat is taking up valuable air-time (and I barely classify SB as a Christmas Song, barely.  Hate it, but we're talking about Carols so …)  "Little Drummer Boy" can be either a Song or a Carol, modernish but okay, a carol (it is not just a holiday version of "Bang Your Drum.")

"Ave Maria" is, well, a carol to me.  Also my wedding song, which cheesed the music director at my church when Mrs. Andrew and I told him.  Definitely a carol.  And Shubert's version is just darned glorious.  (Hmmm, maybe there's a bit of a Marian in me, which is also part of the Season.) (Marian being a follower of Mary, not a follower of the cute farm girl from "Gilligan's Island.")

By the way, "Oh Christmas Tree" is often sanitized and turned into a Christmas Song.  But it, in it's full version, is most decidedly a Christmas Carol.  From the Third verse...

Let us all remember
In our gift giving and our merriment
With our family and friends and loved ones
The real and true meaning of Christmas
The birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ

See? Do you remember learning those lyrics in school to "Christmas Tree" or did they, those godless socialists, keep that away from you, too? (BEANS!!!!! No Politics, it's Christmas!!!!)  Of course, that's the English version, translated (maybe badly) from the original German. And sung in the original it is very haunting and beautiful, a great example of the message getting across no matter what language is used.

Now that we have that over and done with, there's lots of Christmas Carols out there.  We all know them, the really good and common (as in known) ones.  But there's one I have always liked, since I first heard it.  And learned to sing it, well, at least the background part, not the part the prima donnas always take over and refuse to let anyone else sing.

That would be "Gaudete."  No one really knows where it came from, though the medieval Latin lyrics point to it being, well, medieval.  The music may have been written in the 16th Century, but that's only based on it being published in a Finnish (yes, Finnish, oh, those tricky Finns) or Swedish book of Finnish and Swedish sacred music in 1581.  Like a lot of Church (big "C" there, notice?) music, the song may have existed in a monophonic form before being attached to a 'more' modern structure.

Yes, of course, Steeleye Span, Sarah Brightman and Charlotte Church have all made recordings of this beautiful song.  But most people really don't know about it.

Gaudete

Gaudete, Gaudete!
Christus et natus
Ex maria virgine,
Gaudete!
Rejoice, Rejoice!
Christ is born
Of the virgin Mary,
Rejoice!
Tempus ad est gratiae,
Hoc quod optabamus;
Carmina laetitiae,
Devote redamus.


(Gaudete...) 
It is now the time of grace
That we have desired;
Let us sing songs of joy,
Let us give devotion.
Deus homo factus est,
Natura mirante;
Mundus renovatus est
A Christo regnante.


(Gaudete....) 
God was made man,
And nature marvels;
The world was renewed
By Christ who is King.
Ezechiellis porta
Clausa pertransitur;
Unde lux est orta
Salus invenitur.


(Gaudete....) 
The closed gate of Ezechiel
Has been passed through;
From where the light rises
Salvation is found.
Ergo nostra cantio,
Psallat iam in lustro;
Benedicat Domino:
Salus Regi nostro. 


(Gaudete, and then another round of Gaudete!)
Therefore let our assembly now sing,
Sing the Psalms to purify us;
Let it praise the Lord:
Greetings to our King.
See?  Really nice.  Here it is, 'live.'


Pretty, and one of my favorites.  I love the power of the Gaudete lines, I really do.  Love singing them when out just because they're pretty, and powerful.  Though... I need to go learn the non-Gaudete, Gaudete lines...  So I can sing the whole thing.  Maybe work on my falsetto for the non-Gaudete lines... Channel my inner Frankie Valle...  (Do I use "..." to much or is it okay?...)



On a weird note, and not a carol, actually a lullaby, but I've heard people call it a carol but well, not a carol, but it's something, I can also sing the Welsh lyrics to "Ar Hyd y Nos" or "All through the Night" for you English pikers.  And, according to a Welsh friend, my accent is rather good, for a bloody Norman...


So, not a Christmas Song or Carol, but still beautiful in either Welsh or English.  And beauty is kinda religious, isn't it?



So... What are your favorite Christmas Carols? Not songs, not winter pieces.  Carols.  Religious Songs of Christmastime, and maybe why?  Do you like singing them or just listening to them?  

42 comments:

  1. `Gaudete` (Maddy Prior's Steeleye Span version). Played it just before your post popped up on the feed, though I stayed baritone (at our age, Sarge, falsetto usually comes after an awkward landing involving a maladjusted parachute harness). I shun Christmas commercialism too.

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    1. Horray! Another who knew about that beautiful carol.

      I love the power that one gets by building the voices and the strength of the voices of the Gaudete-Gaudete part. Sung properly, it's like an army of Angels joining in chorus. Sung improperly, not so much DAMHIK. The soprano/falsetto part should be a beautiful counterpoint to the more bass-y chorus. In total, makes me want to aggressively go Christmas on people.

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  2. I'm sticking with "O Holy Night."
    As you said, it invokes the power and majesty of the season, and my father loved that carol.
    In the same way that I am still using his precision tools for metal work, hearing that song brings a powerful feeling of connection to those who aren't with us any longer.

    Good post and good thoughts.

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    1. Thanks on the thanks. My love for Christmas Carols and massed voices singing the same, properly, was from my dad. Who shared my disdain for most songs and modern 'jazzed up' versions of the carols. I mean, the music is right there, says to hold a note here for this length of time, sing this note, that note, the other note, exactly this way, that way and the other way. Every time. No embellishing. That's God's job. To be totally un-PC. Sing it like a Northern European in a Christmas Mass in an unheated Cathedral in the 1800's. Can't get better than that.

      I, too, also inherited tools from my father. I got a complete Shopsmith set-up. That I use occasionally, but I really need to detail it and repair the one bandsaw wheel I bodged up from running it without the blade tensioned correctly and then I want to start replacing all the cheap Ikea-ish pressboard bookshelves with custom ones.

      Times like this, when I am communicating with you all on this blog, I feel him close to me, and I miss him so. Christmas is an emotional time of year, isn't it?

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  3. Music at Christmas: there are three carols which reduce me to tears every single time -

    1) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

    2) O Holy Night

    3) Do You Hear What I Hear (Has to be Bing Crosby for optimum results)

    Then there are O Come All Ye Faithful (Love Bing Crosby's version) and Silent Night - haunting, beautiful music.

    As God gave us beauty and love, yes, very religious.

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    1. Oh, most definitely, good selection on all 5. And I get teared up on "Coventry Carol" as I knew from an early age what that one was about. Sensitive child and all that.

      Good music transcends this plane of existence. Good Carols open a tunnel to Heaven itself.

      Ah, look at me, getting all schmaltzy. Oy vey, I'm getting a touch meshugas when I talk like this.

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  4. Nicely done Beans. Will echo "O Holy Night." Hearing it brings me back to the church I grew up in, the cool draftiness, the tall stone columns, the hushed candlelit processional, the swelling voices declaring the reason for the season.....always gives me a calmness and promise soon to be kept. Aaahhh.....difficult to put into words. Thanks Beans.

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    1. You're welcome, Nylon12. I grew up in southern or tropical climates all my life, and the closest I ever got to a 'White Christmas' was when singing carols at Mass. The joined voices just transported me from open air churches (at Kwajalein) or air conditioned churches (everywhere else) to that snowed in, stone church in England or that grand cathedral in Germany...

      Good music does that. And, yes, carols do calm me and what you said. Good word choice on your part. Very good words.

      By the way, Nylon12, referring to nylon stock 12 gauge shotgun?

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    2. Nylon12 is a variant of the Remington Nylon 66, 12 is the bolt-action tube fed .22LR, manufactured '63 thru '65 so maybe 30K total? The 66 ran '59 thru '89, over a million? After years of Dad using it to "disinvite" the rabbit population from his garden I'm still using it to do the same, still quite effective especially with Aquila Colibri .22LR,....... I.....uh.....fart louder than that shell's report. More that you wanted to know, neh? Thanks for asking.

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    3. I knew it referred to one of Big Green's (back when they were good) products. Nice. Actually have shot one. Sweet. Remy did stupid to not make it anymore, but stupid seems to be what Remy is all about these days.

      My favorite .22 is a Remington 510 Targetmaster, a single shot bolty that takes about every .22 cartridge ever made, except Magnum. Though the action is probably strong enough... The 510 and .22 Shorts are what I used to stay the RLA one summer at the house (the Racoon Liberation Army.) Quiet, generally one hit, one kill. Firing .22LR after that was just a tad louder...

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  5. Music is reason 9,467 that I believe in God. Music has no real, practical use, but it can move us emotionally. How does an ordered series a tones do that?

    One of my favourites is What Child Is This. It is hauntingly beautiful. It moves me deeply. I never hear the second verse with it's chorus....

    Why lies He in such mean estate
    Where ox and ass are feeding?
    Good Christian, fear, for sinners here
    The silent Word is pleading.
    Nails, spear shall pierce him through,
    The Cross be borne for me, for you,
    Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
    The Babe, the Son of Mary!

    Happy Christmas!

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    1. Oh, it's been so long since I heard "What Child is This" and as soon as I read it I heard it in my head and started to cry. Hauntingly beautiful is the perfect way to describe it.

      The priest I used to be an altar boy for back at Kwaj would sing that whole carol, and he had the most beautiful rumbly baritone, perfect for soulful song.

      Yep. Music done right, a pure transcendence of the soul to a higher place. And done for no simple reason like communicating need for food or protection. God is the answer I have always found, when faced with His music. That other stuff, well, not so much.

      Merry Christmastide to you, too!

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  6. I'm partial to the graceful French carol "Il est né". My favorite Christmas albums are "The Bells of Dublin" by The Chieftains and "Winter" by Steeleye Span. Good stuff.

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    1. "Il est né"? Oh, man, another one that I forgot, and now I remember the lines about "Le petite enfant." One of the few times I actually made my French teacher happy was me singing that beautiful carol.

      You people are making me cry for joy here. Thanks.

      And yes, more Chieftans and Steeleye Span. Less rap and hoopty-bop, more real music.

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  7. Carols--
    O Holy Night,
    Audeste Fideles,
    Angels, we have heard on High,
    Silent Night.

    Songs,
    White Christmas,
    Drummer Boy.

    Great Post, Beans. Fixin' to put on my headphones and listen to your two suggestions.

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    1. I did not preview "Ar Hyd y Nos" so the singer jazzed it up a bit. Go find one not jazzy and you'll understand why Welsh tenors used to be the best in the world. Dang it, distracted by a pretty face.

      Your carol selection is pretty much the standard Catholic Midnight Mass selection at every church I've ever gone to. "Audeste Fideles" is yet another one I need to listen to, and "Angels" also.

      See, this conversation is the collection of bright, shiny minds that attracted me like a moth to a flame to this blog.

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    2. Strong correlation between favorite Christmas Carols and Midnight Mass (like 1 to 1). For a long time I was in a kids choir at the various chapels on the bases we were assigned to. So....

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    3. Yes. Definitely. Knew the Church had moved away from me when I went to Christmas Mass and they didn't sing the Carols. I'm still Catholic, but are they?

      Will try Midnight Mass this year. Hope and pray for The Olde Reliables...

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  8. This always makes my muzzle soggy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iPeVIuRjUi4

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    1. Wow, just listened to that. Really beautiful.

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    2. You can't go wrong with Bach. Father of modern musical instruction, pretty much. Father of a lot of kids, too.

      And "Jesu" is angelic.

      The Celtic Women just transcend an already transcendental piece.

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    3. Ah, the Wurst of Bach. How can anyone be baroque and not have the wurst of it?

      Johann Sebastian Bach, father of so many music talents, CPE Bach, PDQ Bach and of an accountant, CPA Bach...

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  9. This version of Any Grant's Breath of Heaven always moved me. The song is so beautiful, and the images are so moving. At 50 seconds, when Mary accepts what The Angel Of The Lord has asked her to do, showing that the bravest human that ever lived was a 14 year old Jewish girl.
    I think that the scene at the end is magnificent. The Three Kings are presenting their gifts. I think of them as delivering the gifts in the order that we learned their names in Sunday School. Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar. The look of awe in Balthazar's face is so wonderful. He knows that he is in His presence. I love this video so much.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TOQRtYYERGo

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    1. That was beautiful. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. It's nice to know that the modern world still has some beauty left in it.

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  10. I agree with BadgerScott, in fact I love that whole album, especially the orchestral versions of Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring. The latter is an instrumental version so not really a carol per se, but I love it all the same.

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    1. Another album I will have to track down.

      As to instrumental pieces, well, instruments are just different voices. The way my funny mind works, I hear the singing as an instrument and it takes a lot of work on my part to separate out the words and understand what they are literally singing. Maybe it's the reason opera works so well for me, since I glean the meaning from the emotion, not the words. And why so many songs that sound beautiful the first two or ten times I hear them now completely stink once I know the actual words.

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    2. Look no further: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wukXvLzD6vs&list=PLYSThSv5I9fRW1BzNF0xhtmcEPMTjz9Fd

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  11. I may have said it before, but you readers are the best electronic family ever!

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  12. A most excellent post. Some fine carols have been recalled here. Alas, I don't have any to add that haven't already been mentioned. But I will say that hearing 'Ave Maria' sung with a full orchestral accompaniment prior to midnight mass last year rendered me speechless with awe.

    "[B]eauty is kinda religious, isn't it?" It is indeed. Beauty is the breakthrough of the divine into the mortal realm. A foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Merry Christmas to you and yours.

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    1. My family and acquaintances during High Screwl thought I was weird for wanting to actually listen to the whole entirety of Handel's "Messiah." Which I found as profound and life-shaking as listening to a Saturn V launch from the 528 Causeway. Except in music.

      "Ave Maria" does that, too.

      So does actually being in a room next to a full 4 keyboard pipe organ cranking out just about any of Johan Sebastian Bach's Fugues and Toccatas.

      Music doth charm the savage beast, and transcend this mortal plane. Yes. Beauty is religious. Beauty is in the eyes of the Creator, and the eyes are the windows of the soul, therefore Beauty is in the Soul of the Creator and, therefore, since we have eyes, in us.

      And Merry Christmas to you and yours, too.

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  13. O Holy Night, Silent Night, O Come all Ye Faithful, Little Drummer Boy, O Tannebaum, Coventry Carol, Angels We Have Heard On High are all huge favorites. After having sung in every choir from age 3 til I was in my 30's between church, school and college, I love Christmas music, especially Christmas carols. And have been known to sing them in July, not just December.

    I totally agree on JS Bach! When I was in college the first time, (long story) I was a nursing major with a minor in music. As such I was in the women's fraternity for music, and got picked/assigned to help turn pages for on of the seniors who was graduating early in December. (I was a probie sister) Her performance piece was Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Was there turning pages during practice as well as the performance. Could hum that in my sleep by the time she performed it. Still love that organ piece.

    Another song that get played a lot this time of year, but I don't think of it as a Christmas song is "My Favorite Things". Maybe because the movie gets played on TV this time of year.

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    1. And Julie Andrews' rendition of O Holy Night is to die for, I dang near wept uncontrollably the first time I heard her sing that carol.

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    2. It's hard to find a Carol I don't like. I know people who don't like "I saw Three Ships" because they 'had' to sing it. So? Still a good carol.

      Supposedly, Mean old JSB wrote the Toccata part because he was frustrated that an organist was making fun of his pieces being too easy. His response is now something that tortures organists' fingers, especially on the big 4 manual organs, watching them flip from keyboard to keyboard and stop to stop.

      Don't know why "My Favorite Things" either. Not a Christmas song at all. Not even a Winter song. Heck, in the movie it's a Summer Storm...

      Though, shockingly, OldAFSarge is quite correct as to Julie being able to belt out Christmas Carols and especially "O Holy Night." That woman had some serious lung-power on her (still alive, but her voice isn't what it was.)

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  14. O Holy Night, for the melody but most especially when performed by a strong singer with a high range. The ending will almost always bring goosebumps, for me. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen - Love the words, but also because it was the first carol I taught myself to play on the bass guitar.

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    1. GRYMG on the Bass? Okay, color me very intrigued. And, dangit, yet another favorite. I seem to be losing my memory in my dotage.

      Okay, so it seems "O Holy Night" ranks in the top 10. Whoo-hoo!

      And I agree, strong singer, wide and high range, must be able to effectively and properly make the jump.

      Same with "Nom Nobis" (the song from the Kenneth Brannaugh "Henry V" movie where they start singing in the field covered by all the dead French.) As in "Sing a "Nom Nobis and Te Deum"." Done right, for celebration, will make the hair stand out, especially when the whole group joins the primary singer in shifting to the higher range.

      Y'all out there are one great group. Someone needs to win PCH Sweepstakes so we can start "Olde Fogey Radio" and play the good tunes again.

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  15. The Wexford Carol:
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZjg_Igoc

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    1. Well, that was obvious. :)

      Haven't heard that in ages.

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  16. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is a natural for the bass!

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