Christmas Carols!

[kamikat]

What is your favorite (western) Christmas Carol?

For me, it's a toss up between O Holy Night and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

[gtsecc]

Good King Wenseslav,

[gtsecc]

and On This Day, Earth Shall Ring aka Personent Hodie

[Shubunkin]

Probably it is "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

[Tsarina]

The Drummer boy one.:D

[lsg03]

I guess for me it's a toss up between "O Holy Night" and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". I love the songs even without the lyrics. I have a greater appreciation for the instrumental versions of Christmas carols....especially on guitar :thumbsup:

[Mary of Bethany]

O Come, O Come Emmanuel . . . .

although technically, that's an Advent hymn. :)

Mary

[eoe]

God rest ye merry gentlemen - specifically as performed by the barenaked ladies and Sarah McLachlan

[Divinah]

My favorite is O Holy Night. Next would be O Come all ye Faithful.

[Greg the byzantine]

I will put them in order

1)O Come Emmanuel

2)The Little Drummer Boy

3)I wonder as I wander

4)The cherry Tree Carol

[Tsarina]

What's the Emmanuel one? Never heard of it and a lot of you guys are mentioning it.

[kamikat]

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

[Matrona]

God rest ye merry gentlemen - specifically as performed by the barenaked ladies and Sarah McLachlan

I LOVE that one!!! It has We Three Kings in it too. :clap:

[Tsarina]

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan's tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o'er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Thou Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes, on Sinai's height,
In ancient times did'st give the Law,
In cloud, and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O that's pretty! Thanks Kamikat. :D

[choirfiend]

It's ancient, too. You should hear it in Latin!!
It's Gregorian chant, if Im not mistaken.
I LOVE this one.

VENI, veni, Emmanuel
captivum solve Israel,
qui gemit in exsilio,
privatus Dei Filio.
Gaude! Gaude! Emmanuel,
nascetur pro te Israel!

I love most of them. Yup.

[Questor]

Almost all of them. But it is impressive to me to hear Perry Como sing "Ave Maria"

He sings it with such reverence, although he was Jewish. There is something about knowing that which seems to give so much grace to listening.

[Eusebios]

My favorite is O Holy Night. Next would be O Come all ye Faithful.
my sentiments exactly
:thumbsup:
Eusebios

[NyssaTheHobbit]

1) O Come, O Come Emmanuel--properly done by a men's choir with no instruments. :) The monk-style is haunting and beautiful. The best version I found on iTunes was by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

2) What Child Is This--and the alternate Greensleeves. My son has the first few notes on his Alphabet Pal toy. I love it! :)

3) Little Drummer Boy

[Oblio]

Tony the Tiger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurl_Ravenscroft) singing the immortal:

You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch ... (http://members.aol.com/allthurl/ram/grinch2.ram)

[The Prokeimenon!]

Hark! the Herald Angels Sing:

"Second Adam from above, reinstate us in Thy love"

Good stuff!

I also like the Coventry Carol. I don't know the words, but somebody once told me it's a song about the Holy Innocents. Don't know if this is true, but it's a neat tune.

Rdr Moses

[The Prokeimenon!]

Did you ever notice that you can sing "O Danny Boy" to the tune of "O Holy Night" and it fits perfectly. :)

O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
from glen to glen, and down the mountainside.
The sun is gone and all the roses fallen.
It's you, it's you, must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
or when the valley's hushed, and white with snow
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
O Danny Boy, O Danny Boy, I love you so

Rdr Moses

[Tsarina]

Did you ever notice that you can sing "O Danny Boy" to the tune of "O Holy Night" and it fits perfectly. :)

O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling,
from glen to glen, and down the mountainside.
The sun is gone and all the roses fallen.
It's you, it's you, must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
or when the valley's hushed, and white with snow
It's I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
O Danny Boy, O Danny Boy, I love you so

Rdr Moses

Ya, it does fit perfectly... and it sounds better. :P

[Oblio]

Konevets Quartet did the Carol of the Bells (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_of_the_Bells) which I like.

[choirfiend]

It is named after the city of Coventry, England, where the 15th Century Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors depicted Herod's slaughter of the innocents, told in the lyrics.
1. Lullay, Thou little tiny Child,
By, by, lully, lullay.
Lullay, Thou little tiny Child.
By, by, lully, lullay.
2. O sisters, too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day;
This poor Youngling for whom we sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.
3. Herod the King, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day;
His men of might, in his own sight,
All children young, to slay.
4. Then woe is me, poor Child, for Thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For Thy parting, nor say nor sing,
By, by, lully, lullay.

[rusmeister]

Kind of funny how many said "O Holy Night'. It's my favorite, too, and seems to be the closest in spirit to DL-style worship. When they sing, "Fall on your knees!" I want to do exactly that! The Mormon (gasp!) Tabernacle Choir rocks, and Kenny Rogers gave a great performance of it.

For sentimentality, "What Child is this?" and "God rest ye merry, gentlemen" are runners-up.

[ufonium2]

I second, "You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch."

You see, there's this thing called "Merry Tuba Christmas." It's just as ridiculous as it sounds. Tuba players, many of whom haven't practiced since last year's Tuba Christmas, congregate in some public place and play Christmas carols for about 90 minutes. Every group in the whole country plays out of the same songbook. I've had to do at least one of these a year since I was 17. Most years three or four. Every time I hear a carol that is in that songbook (which is almost all of them--90 minutes is a whole lot of Christmas carols) I hear the Tuba Christmas version in my head and want to cry. UGH!

[The Prokeimenon!]

I never had the pleasure of participating in tuba Christmas. I was always the dream, but alas, I haven't picked up a tuba in 10 years. Maybe someday...

Rdr Moses, former tubist

[cobweb]

The Coventry Carol and O Come, Emmanuel are two of my absolute favorites. I also like Do you see what I see?, Adeste Fideles, and Carol of the Bells.

No matter how many Christmas carols I hears it still doesn't feel like Christmas until I hear And He Shall Purify the Sons of Levi on Christmas morning. It was tradition growing up to listen to Handel's Messiah every year... and for some reason that one song sticks out in my mind the most.

[cobweb]

AACK! How could I forget What Child is This? I can remember my mother, sister, and I singing that in impromptu 3 part harmony while cooking Christmas dinner many a year.

:cry: I feel homesick.

[Orthocat]

"Little Drummer Boy" by Whiteheart rocks!

Also, the song the Whos in Whoville sing while standing around the Christmas tree...

[Sothron]

O Holy Night, Little Drummer Boy, What Child is This, Do you hear what I hear...there's almost no Christmas hymn that I do not love and to love to sing.

[rainbowbright]

oh goody!!!!

Lets see. I love O Holy Night, 'Hodie Christus Natus est' and my absolute favorite is 'Magnum Mysterium' both by Victoria.
I got to sing the Coventry carol and 'there is a rose of Switch vertu' in the Rennaissance choir I sang in at college and 'O come Emannual' in Latin in the women's rennaissance chamber choir at my old Episcopal church that was in four parts.

[Orthocat]

oh goody!!!!

Lets see. I love O Holy Night, 'Hodie Christus Natus est' and my absolute favorite is 'Magnum Mysterium' both by Victoria.
I got to sing the Coventry carol and 'there is a rose of Switch vertu' in the Rennaissance choir I sang in at college and 'O come Emannual' in Latin in the women's rennaissance chamber choir at my old Episcopal church that was in four parts.


well, ya lost me at the "Hodie" thing. :)
I'm assuming it's all good though.

"Mary, did you know?" is one of my favs.

But if anyone mentions Clay Aiken singing it they will be terminated.

[Mary of Bethany]

"The Messiah" - I love the opening words of "Comfort ye . . . and these parts especially:

For Unto Us a Child is Born
Glory to God, Glory to God in the Highest
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd . . . . is really pretty

but my favorite part is towards the end, an aria for soprano -

I know that my Redeemer liveth

Such an incredible work!!! I love to sing it, and I love to listen to it.

Mary

[Mary of Bethany]

There's a country/folk song that Kathy Mattea sings that I really like, too

"Mary, Did You Know"

It has great words.

Mary

[Komnenos]

1. God rest ye Merry Gentlemen
2.Adeste Fideles
3.The one with the 3 Ships

[rainbowbright]

well, ya lost me at the "Hodie" thing. :)
I'm assuming it's all good though.

"Mary, did you know?" is one of my favs.

But if anyone mentions Clay Aiken singing it they will be terminated.

Sorry, I'm a geek when it comes to 16th century sacred polyphony
Hodie Christus natus est, roughly translates into rejoice Christ is born- at least I think, maybe a Catholic will come here and refresh my memory. Magnum mysterium is the great mystery of Christ's birth and is basically a song about the Nativity

[Mary of Bethany]

well, ya lost me at the "Hodie" thing. :)
I'm assuming it's all good though.

"Mary, did you know?" is one of my favs.

But if anyone mentions Clay Aiken singing it they will be terminated.


:doh: Totally missed that someone had already mentioned this one. I need to quit skimming through threads. :sorry:

Mary

[Greg the byzantine]

Sorry, I'm a geek when it comes to 16th century sacred polyphony
Hodie Christus natus est, roughly translates into rejoice Christ is born- at least I think, maybe a Catholic will come here and refresh my memory. Magnum mysterium is the great mystery of Christ's birth and is basically a song about the Nativity

Hodie Christus natus est literally translates to "Today Christ is born". (who says you need to be Catholic to know Latin ;) )

[rainbowbright]

Hodie Christus natus est literally translates to "Today Christ is born". (who says you need to be Catholic to know Latin ;) )


Oh yeah, I knew that- I've only got four kids, so I'm lucky enough to remember to breathe.

I found a recording of O magnum mysterium on Midi- it sounds horrible, but gives you an idea of what it sounds like.

http://www.upv.es/coro/victoria/mid/O_Magnum_Mysterium.mid

[choirfiend]

Victoria is great! There are some modern arrangments of O Magnum Mysterium that are wonderful, too. I sang Lauridsen's and it's a hoot.

[Sacrum Silentium]

This might sound Bah-Humbuggy of me, but now that I really think about it, I don't actually have a favorite carol. I couldn't tell you every lyric to a single one.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but, carols were never a big part of my family tradition.

[rusmeister]

This might sound Bah-Humbuggy of me, but now that I really think about it, I don't actually have a favorite carol. I couldn't tell you every lyric to a single one.

Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but, carols were never a big part of my family tradition.
I agree. That's pretty Bah-Humbuggy. :)

[Sacrum Silentium]

Ouch!

I set myself up for that one though, didn't I? :D

[kamikat]

So, do you not like them or just aren't familar with them? Did you church sing them at all?

[Sacrum Silentium]

I'm just not very familiar with them. I mean, they're familiar enough to hum them all, but I couldn't tell you all the lyrics. And yeah, the churches I went to did sing them. :)

[MichaelArchangelos]

My favourite carols are "Adeste, Fideles" (known in English as "O Come, all ye Faithful"), "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing", "Once in Royal David's City", "Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes" (Angels we have heard on High) and "Joy to the World".

I personally think that "Adeste, Fideles" should be sung in the original Latin, not English, just as I think that "Silent Night" should be sung in the original German and "Les Anges dans Nos Campagnes" should be sung in French (and Latin!)

I especially like the carols that speak about Christ's work on earth after He was born. For example, "ris'n with healing in His wings...born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth". And "We shall see Him, but in heaven, set at God's right hand on high".

And the verse in "Once in Royal David's City" that says "He was little, weak and helpless, tears and smiles like us He knew" reminds me of the scene in the Passion of the Christ where Our Lord stumbles and falls, and the Holy Theotokos picks him up and cuddles him, as if to say "I'll always be here for you", and then she sees Him struggling to carry the Cross, and she can't do anything to help Him. That part brings me to tears.

[Orthocat]

Anyone familiar with the TransSiberian Orchestra?

They put a little rock into some great Christmas music...

[cobweb]

Anyone familiar with the TransSiberian Orchestra?

They put a little rock into some great Christmas music...
Yep, in fact the kids and I were listening to the song A Mad Russian's Christmas while we were waiting for the school bus this morning.

[The Prokeimenon!]

Here's a famous Western Christmas carol in Greek with Byzantine notation :)

http://www1.christianforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91910&stc=1&d=1166196441

[rusmeister]

Saw "Agia" and thought it was "O Holy Night" until I saw Gruber. Is the translation of 'Silent Night' into Greek "Holy Night"?

[Greg the byzantine]

Here's a famous Western Christmas carol in Greek with Byzantine notation :)



:) That's the version we used to sing in Greek School. I love it.

It's not a literal translation at all, in fact it's totally different lyrics set to the same tune.

[Theophorus]

The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire)

[kamikat]

Tony Bennet does a great version of The Christmas Song.

[ByzantineDixie]

Hmmm...I love Ihr Kinderlein Kommet (Oh Come, Little Children).

Others on the short list include:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
The Coventry Carol
The Messiah...specifically "For Unto us a Child is Born"

And Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (auf Deutsch) is a must.

Edited to add: YIKES!!! How in the world could I have forgotten my favorite Bing tune--no, not White Christmas, but the song that warms a Northerner's heart

Meli Kalikimaka (http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000002QWD001012/103-2901475-0881437)