December 21, 201312 yr Author No. 6(a) "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" - music by Franz Xaver Gruber, lyrics by Joseph Mohr, performed by the Dresden Cathedral Childrens' Choir We'll start with the original. First performed at a midnight Christmas Mass at a small parish church in Obendorf, near Salzburg, Germany, the song has been translated into over 140 languages and is one of the most beloved carols in all Christendom. Earlier in this thread we already had a discussion of this song's place in history due to it's role in the Christmas Truce of 1914 during WWI. It was one of very few carols that German, French and English soldiers all would have known and they sung it together in a brief reprieve from a world gone mad.
December 21, 201312 yr Author No. 6(b) "Silent Night" - performed by Simon and Garfunkel The version we're familiar with here in the states was translated into English in 1859 by an Episcopalian bishop. Some hero of the internet -- a vigilante madman of the online holiday season -- used his own sound editing to remove the audio of the newsreader from Simon and Garfunkel's "Silent Night/7 O'Clock News". The original is a beautiful and profound statement, but they sang it so beautifully it's really a shame they never released a version without the news.
December 21, 201312 yr Author No. 5 "What Child Is This?" - music, English traditional; lyrics by William Chatterton Dix; performed by Mahalia Jackson So it turns out I forgot to post one yesterday, putting me behind by a day. For that reason, I'm adding this second post right now. The lyricist, William Chatterton Dix, was struck with a near-fatal illness at age 29. During the time he was ill, he wrote numerous hymns all set to the traditional English tune "Greensleeves." That particular tune is often attributed as being written by King Henry VIII himself, but that story is likely apocryphal and the tune was likely written during the reign of his daughter, Elizabeth I.
December 22, 201312 yr Author No. 4 "Adeste Fideles" - performed by Luciano Pavarotti For a song written relatively late -- in the scale of musical history at least -- there remain endless questions about it origins. Most in the English-speaking world attribute it to John Francis Wade, an English Catholic who fled to France after the failed rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie. Others have said it was written by John Reading, Georg Handel or Christoph Gluck; there are others who suggest the origins of the tune are Portuguese. The lyrics have an even more debated history, with all of the above being given credit along with groups of Cistercian monks, King John IV of Portugal and even St. Bonaventure in the 13th century. No matter where the song came from, to my mind there's no doubt which person excelled in its' performance greater than any other: Luciano Pavarotti. Truly, I believe he may have been born with the express mission to sing this piece. O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant! O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem; Come and behold him Born the King of Angels: O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation, Sing, all ye citizens of Heaven above! Glory to God, glory in the highest: O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. Yea, Lord, we greet thee, born this happy morning; Jesus, to thee be glory given! Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing! O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
December 23, 201312 yr No. 6(a) "Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht" - music by Franz Xaver Gruber, lyrics by Joseph Mohr, performed by the Dresden Cathedral Childrens' Choir We'll start with the original. First performed at a midnight Christmas Mass at a small parish church in Obendorf, near Salzburg, Germany, the song has been translated into over 140 languages and is one of the most beloved carols in all Christendom. Earlier in this thread we already had a discussion of this song's place in history due to it's role in the Christmas Truce of 1914 during WWI. It was one of very few carols that German, French and English soldiers all would have known and they sung it together in a brief reprieve from a world gone mad. Stunning Cathedral in Dresden. Wow!
December 23, 201312 yr Author No. 3 "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" - English traditional; performed by Mario Lanza Little is known about the origin of this carol, which first showed up in publication in 1833, but it's the lone Christmas carol to be specifically named in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." No version of this carol, to my mind, comes close to the one posted below. The singer, Mario Lanza, was born in Philadelphia in 1921. Skyrocketing to global fame in his early 20s, Lanza was "our tenor," a kid born in Philly to Italian immigrant parents. The conductor of the Boston Symphony, who awarded Lanza his scholarship to study at the Berkshire Music Center in Massachusetts at age 21, told him "Yours is a voice such as is heard once in a hundred years." Numerous talents from Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras to Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra all professed to being inspired by Lanza. Lanza died of unknown causes at the too-young age of 38. He left behind a reputation as "the new Caruso" along with numerous recordings -- including two Christmas albums I listen to all the time. He was -- and remains -- the greatest American tenor.
December 23, 201312 yr Author Quick break from the countdown to post about something near and dear to my heart. My alma mater, the University of Dayton, celebrated 50 years of a time-honored tradition: Christmas on Campus. Celebrated on or about the Feast of the Immaculate Conception each year, busloads of local kids from all over Dayton are brought to campus and paired up with students who escort them around to do numerous activities. After several hours of activities, the kids go home and there is a mass in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, a church built in 1869 right in the middle of campus. I'm active in the alumni association and every local alumni chapter has their own Christmas Off Campus celebration each December as well. Below is a video with some clips from this year's Christmas on Campus that ends with a nice shot of the university Christmas tree. So from me, the University of Dayton and the over 100,000 alumni around the world... Merry Christmas to you and yours.
December 24, 201312 yr Author No. 2(a) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - lyrics by Charles Wesley, music by Felix Mendelssohn, adapted by William H. Cummings, performed by Nat King Cole Cummings was the one who first combined Wesley's words and Mendelssohn's music into the beloved carol we know today. Mendelssohn's music was a secular piece commemorating the anniversary of Gutenberg's printing press. Wesley's lyrics were originally supposed to be sung to the same tune as his also-famous "Christ the Lord is Risen Today." By 1885, it was regarded as one of the "Great Four Anglican Hymns" and is performed the world over every Christmas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGqDGtFSJTw
December 24, 201312 yr Author No. 2(b) "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" - performed by the cast of "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown" Because... you know, I had to. Almost there, you guys. Twenty-four down, one to go.
December 25, 201312 yr Author No. 1(a) "Cantique de Noel" - words by Placide Cappeau; music by Adolphe Adam; performed by Enrico Caruso Here it is, BGP, the grand-daddy of them all, the unquestioned greatest Christmas Carol ever written. You know it by a different title... "O Holy Night". The original carol was written in French and is performed here by the most famous performer in the world at the turn of the 20th century, Enrico Caruso. His recording of "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci was the first piece of recorded music to sell one million copies. This version was recorded in 1916 and has surprising clarity. The original French lyrics are different and the English version we commonly know in the US is not a literal translation, but the concept is fundamentally similar: the story of humanity's redemption as it begins with the birth of Christ. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XPZRI4L5H8
December 25, 201312 yr Author No. 1(b) "O Helga Natt" - performed by Jussi Bjorling To my mind, Bjorling is on the short list with Pavarotti, Lanza and Caruso for the greatest tenor of all-time. I like this particular version because it's sung in his native Swedish and as we say in my house: "Swedish is close enough."
December 25, 201312 yr Author No. 1© "O Holy Night" - English lyrics by John Sullivan Dwight; performed by Mario Lanza Fun fact: the very first AM radio broadcast went out on December 24, 1904. The first recording that went out was Handel's "Ombra mai fu" but the second was the inventor of AM radio himself playing "O Holy Night" on his violin. Here's a spectacular version by Mario Lanza, who I've already expressed my great admiration for earlier in the thread.
December 25, 201312 yr Merry Christmas, Getslow. Thank you so much for giving us this threadful of great music and history.
December 25, 201312 yr Really love those versions of "O Holy Night"... Just Beautiful. Here's another "O Holy Night" done by Pavarotti as you can just never have too many of them...
December 25, 201312 yr Author Merry Christmas, Getslow. Thank you so much for giving us this threadful of great music and history. Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too. That goes for everyone else too.
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.