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14th century German melody.
One rendition of the chorus includes these beautiful lines:
Jesus! Jesus!
Lo, he comes and
loves and saves and frees us.
Not a very
literal translation, but beautiful nonetheless. This arrangement is gentle
throughout.
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German folk song
of unknown date. The last stanza of the traditional lyric contains
this beautiful line: "Sleep, sleep, Little Son of Heaven, sleep."
Another gentle arrangement.
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Traditional Catalonian
carol. In its original language, the lyrics are full of charming echoes...
Quan en un jardi
d'amor
Neix una divina
flor
D'una ro ro ro
D'una sa sa sa
D'una ro
D'una sa
D'una rosa bella
Fecunda y poncella
Unfortunately,
since "rose" is only one syllable in English, it's difficult to maintain
the echo in a translation. This arrangement should be played quickly
and lightly.
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Traditional English
melody. This arrangement was first offered for Christmas 2000, but
I have included it in this collection as well. This is one of the easier
arrangements in the set.
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The traditional
Austrian carol "Still, Still, Still" is set to the "Salzburg Melody"
dating from around 1819. "Silent Night," with words by Joseph Mohr and
melody by Franz X. Gruber, is probably the most widely known and sung Christmas
hymn in the world. It has been translated into 300+ languages. There
are whole web sites devoted to the song, and even a "Society for the
Preservation of Silent Night." The melody with which we are familar
is somewhat different from the original--I have stayed with the modern
version.
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Traditional Czech
carol. I have yet to find a translation into English that I really
like for this one, but the melody is beautiful in any language.
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"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" is an 18th century English melody.
"Deck the Halls," is a traditional Welsh carol. These two are played
together on the CD, but are actually separate scores that were first
offered in 2000. These are fairly easy arrangements with a modern jazz
feel. (My 10-year-old son honored me by saying that this version of "Deck
the Halls" makes him think of the "Charlie Brown Christmas Special." I
don't deserve the compliment, but hey, coming from him I'll take it!)
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17th century French
carol. "Hush, hush..." the lyrics say, but the music said otherwise
to me as I was playing with this one, and it became one of the more
upbeat arrangements in the collection.
Here's a version of this piano solo, played by Bonnie Wixom that includes vocals (also by Bonnie) as well:
dialup
hi-speed
download
. This one will make you smile. :)
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16th century German
carol. The familiar harmonies were added by Praetorius in 1609, but
I've departed from them a bit. I've always been curious about the
reference to the Rose foretold by Isaiah... I can only find one reference
to a rose in Isaiah (35:1) in the KJV, and it doesn't seem to specifically
refer to Christ. However that may be, "She bore to men a Savior when half-spent
was the night..." is another of the most beautiful phrases in Christmas
music.
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Traditional Polish
carol. In English I have also seen this beautiful carol titled "Only
a Manger Bed"; "Wretched, Silent"; and "Welcome, O Stranger." Whatever
you prefer to call it, I think you'll enjoy its haunting minor melody.
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A traditional English
carol about a Bohemian king, this familiar melody is from
Piae Cantiones (16th century). This one has been on my favorites list since it was sung by the little bunny in the "Muppet's Christmas Carol." Whether or not the legend recounts an actual event, the message of the last verse is certainly true:
Therefore, Christian men be sure
Wealth or rank posessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing.
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19th century Austrian
carol. The familar translation into English includes a few more of
those lines that I just love...
All through the
night
Angels did sing
In carols so sweet
Of the birth of
a King.
and...
A King of such
beauty
Was ne'er before
seen
And Mary, His mother,
So like to a queen.
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This beautiful
melody, written by Rowland H. Pritchard in the 19th century, is also the
tune used for the LDS Sacrament hymn "In Humility, Our Savior." The lyrics
to this traditional Christmas hymn were written by Charles Wesley:
Come, thou long-expected
Jesus,
Born to set thy
people free;
From our fears
and sins release us;
Let us find our
rest in thee.
Israel’s strength
and consolation,
Hope of all the
earth thou art;
Dear desire of
every nation,
Joy of every longing
heart.
Born thy people
to deliver,
Born a child and
yet a King;
Born to reign in
us forever:
Now thy gracious
kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal
Spirit,
Rule in all our
hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient
merit,
Raise us to thy
glorious throne
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