More often than not at Christmas, I find myself reaching for “Sing lullaby,” a modern carol text by Sabine Baring-Gould. If that name is familar to you, it may be because you know his carol “Gabriel’s Message” or, perhaps, his book on were-wolves.
The Director of Music of St. James Cathedral, Chicago, writes that this carol has become a regular feature of Christmas in that cathedral.
Particularly as Christmastide nears its end, it is fitting to look ahead to the whole of Jesus’ saving work, including his death and resurrection. This carol does that beautifully beginning in the second stanza.
The juxtaposition of the infant Jesus with his death is an affecting one. It appears in various places: the gift of myrrh at Epiphany, one elaborated in Peter Warlock’s carol, “Bethlehem Down”
Sing lullaby. Lullaby baby, now reclining, sing lullaby. Hush, do not wake the infant King. Angels are watching, stars are shining over the place where He is lying: sing lullaby. Sing lullaby. Lullaby baby, now a-sleeping, sing lullaby. Hush, do not wake the infant King. Soon will come sorrow with the morning, soon will come bitter grief and weeping: sing lullaby. Sing lullaby. Lullaby baby, now a-dozing, sing lullaby. Hush, do not wake the infant King. Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing, then in the grave at last reposing: sing lullaby. Sing lullaby. Lullaby, is the babe awaking? Sing lullaby. Hush, do not stir the infant King. Dreaming of Easter, gladsome morning. Conquering death, its bondage breaking: sing lullaby.
I am more familiar with the Willcocks arrangement of this tune (as I suspect many of us are), but it’s very good to spend some time with the original, too.
Labels: 12 Carols for Christmas, Christmas, Edgar Pettman, St James Cathedral (Chicago), Stephen Buzard, Warlock, Willcocks
The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge is surely single most listened to regularly occurring church service in the world. Through live and delayed radio and web broadcasts, this service reaches millions of listeners annually.
It has reached that magical point of the year where it comes time to examine what we shall hear at this year's Festival.
We at sinden.org also made some predictions and we need to see how our crystal ball performed.
- The first carol will be "Once in Royal David's city" - Yes, it is. Obviously.
+1 Point; Score: 1 - Rutter's "What sweeter music" seems quite overdue - Well, it still is. We said it would be the Invitatory Carol, but that slot is occupied by "A Babe is Born" by William Mathias. This carol was last sung in 2007. Music by Rutter was last sung in 2012 ("All bells in paradise").
-1 Point; Score: 0 - We haven't heard the Warlock "Adam lay ybounden" in a long while - We hedged our bets in this instance, and said that if it wasn't the Warlock it would be the Ord. But, of course, it's neither. It's the setting by Philip Ledger, director of music at King's 1974-1982, who died in 2012.
-2 Points; Score: -2 - The second carol after the Third Lesson will be "God rest ye merry, gentlemen". - Wrong again! For the third year in a row, the hymn is "Unto us is born a Son". There have not been three consecutive years of the same hymn in this position (this same hymn was sung here in 2012 and 2013). HOWEVER, the hymn is sung later in the service.
-.5 Points; Score: -2.5 - Cleobury will put down his own "Joys Seven" after the Fifth Lesson - Yes, he did. This carol was last sung in 2009.
+7 Points, one for each joy; Score: 4.5 - "While shepherds watched their flocks by night" will be the second carol sung after the Seventh Lesson. It isn't. For the first time in the last six years, the carol has changed to God rest ye merry, Gentlemen.
-1 Point; Score: 3.5Final Score: 3.5 not a great showing this year.
A larger number of carols have not been addressed by our predictions. Here they are, in order.
After the first lesson we hear Remember, O thou man by Thomas Ravenscroft. This lovely, simple carol was last sung in 2011.
After the second lesson we hear the Peter Maxwell Davies carol "One Star, at Last". This carol, with words by George Mackay Brown was commissioned for this service in 1984. It was the second in the series of annually commissioned carols in Stephen Cleobury's tenure.
Sung much less often that the Pearsall setting, the older setting by Hieronymus Praetorius of In dulci jubilo follows. This eight part motet was last sung in 2008.
The unbeatable Sussex Carol arranged by David Willcocks follows the third lesson. It last appeared in 2011.
The immaculate A spotless rose of Herbert Howells follows fourth lesson. It is the only Howells carol to appear in the service (at least in recent memory*), and it has not been sung since 2008. As it's superb final cadence fades, the choir will take up the strains of the medieval "There is no rose", a carol that appears frequently in the service of the years, and was last sung in 2009.
The fifth lesson brings the simple Gabriel's Message by Edgar Pettman, last sung just a couple years ago.
Harrison Birtwistle's "Lullaby" comes up after the sixth lesson. Though it hasn't been sung before, Birtwistle's "The Gleam" was the commissioned carol in 2003. The Birtwistle is followed by the familiar Gustav Holst setting of In the bleak midwinter. This carol was last sung in . . . wait a minute. We think the choir has recorded this, but we can't find any indication that it has been sung in this service in recent memory*. The homophonic ease of this carol is probably need as a foil to (we presume) the polyphonic difficulty of the Birtwistle.
Similarly, Hector Berlioz's L'adieu des Bergers (The Shepherd's Farewell), has also been sung by the choir (see below) but never at this service -- note that Carols from Kings, pre-recorded for television broadcast, is not the same as the Christmas Eve service, which is broadcast live on the radio only.
Director Stephen Cleobury has commissioned a new carol every year since 1983. This year the commission goes to Swiss composer Carl Rütti. His setting of "I wonder as I wander" (see below) is familiar to listeners to this service. "I wonder" was last sung in 2011. We will update this paragraph with information about this year's commission De Maria Virgine as that information becomes available.
After the Rutti commission follows the rather saccharine setting of Ding! Dong! merrily on high by Mack Wilberg. Though previously sung in 2007, 2009, and 2010, many of us question whether this carol will really have a long tenure in this service.
The other traditional elements of the service are in place: the final two hymns are "O come, all ye faithful" and "Hark! the herald angels sing". The service concludes, as always with the Bach Organ Prelude on "In dulci jubilo," BWV 729. The final organ voluntary, which changes year to year, is the Final of the Sixth Organ Symphony by Charles-Marie Widor.
Our spreadsheet of all the carols since 1997 has been updated
*We have resorted to the phrase "in recent memory" when necessary because our records only go back to 1997. We very much wish to continue this research, in person, in Cambridge, in 2016/17. Surely a sabbatical is needed.
Labels: Bach, Berlioz, Birtwistle, Cleobury, Holst, Howells, Mackay Brown, Mathias, Maxwell Davies, Ord, Pearsall, Philip Ledger, Praetorius, Ravenscroft, Rutter, Rutti, Warlock, Widor, Wilberg, Willcocks
Please read this article closely. There are many puns and there are TWO (2) possible ways to earn a homemade fruitcake sent to you ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!!!
As it is our care and delight to await the coming of the PDF of the King's College service leaflet for this year's Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols, we must in heart and mind go to this webpage and refresh it endlessly until the document we seek is found.
OFFER OF FREE BAKED GOOD: If you find the 2014 service leaflet before I do I will send you a homemade fruitcake. You may email me at dsinden@gmail.com, tweet me @sinden, or even call me if you can figure out how. This offer is valid to the person who contacts me first, regardless of medium.
In the mean-time, I have some half-baked predictions (not like the fruitcake mentioned above, which will be fully-baked and delicious).
- The first carol will be "Once in Royal David's city" - this will not surprise anyone.
- Rutter's "What sweeter music" seems quite overdue - In fact, last year's service was noticeably
RudderlessRutterless. Look for it as the Invitatory Carol after the Bidding Prayer. Or look for something else by Rutter somewhere else. - We haven't heard the Warlock "Adam lay ybounden" in a long while - not since 2006. So I would put good money on this -- but! There was no "Adam lay" setting at all last year, which was quite unusual. The carol text had been a staple of the service since at least 1997 (probably well before that, but further research is required*) A robust rendition of the Ord may be in ORDer to restore the balance. Oh dear, here we go with the puns.
- The second carol after the Third Lesson will be "God rest ye merry, gentlemen". - You can count on it. Let nothing you dismay.
- Cleobury will put down his own "Joys Seven" after the Fifth Lesson - I mean, if I keep predicting this it has to happen, right?
- "While shepherds watched their flocks by night" will be the second carol sung after the Seventh Lesson. Money in the bank. The Old Bank of Winchester. (Hymn tune joke - har har har)
I have no clues about the commissioned carol this year, so I'm not going to hazard a guess.
A final note or two or three (so, a chord, really) about another fruitcake offer: If you can provide me with an order of service prior to 1997 so I can fill in more boxes on my nifty spreadsheet, I will also bake and send you a delicious fruitcake ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. One homemade fruitcake per person, please. Don't be greedy. They don't keep well you know.
That is all. Happy Advent. Happy refreshing. Happy baking.
*I am eagerly awaiting a fully funded sabbatical to visit King's College and really research these and other questions. My sabbatical year should be 2016/17ish. Ahem, vestry in the parish where I currently serve...
Labels: Christmas, Cleobury, food and drink, hymns, John Rutter, King's College (Cambridge), Ord, Warlock
There is surely no blog on the internet that geeks out as much about the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge as this one.
Last year, we even reported that the King's website's claim that the service booklet would be available in the beginning of December was a little bit hasty. It wasn't available until slightly later.
This year, King's only goes so far as to say that the service booklet will be available "in December".
Thankfully, this once again gives Sinden.org the opportunity to make semi-educated guesses about what long-time music director Stephen Cleobury has put down for this year's service.
Open Source Liturgy Information: By the way, you may view a spreadsheet of music at previous years' services that we at Sinden.org have maintained. And see below about how you can earn your VERY OWN HOMEMADE FRUITCAKE.
The first carol will be "Once in Royal David's city" - this will not surprise anyone.
- Rutter's "What sweeter music" seems a bit overdue - We bet we'll hear it as the Invitatory Carol after the Bidding Prayer.
- We haven't heard the Warlock "Adam lay" in a while - but maybe that's just us.
- The second carol after the Third Lesson will be "God rest ye merry, gentlemen"
- A work by John Tavener will be heard either after the fourth or fifth lessons. We believe it will be either "A Hymn to the Mother", last heard in 1997 or "The Lamb". Actually, it will probably be "The Lamb", which was commissioned for the service in 1982. In that case it would be after the Fourth Lesson.
- Cleobury will put down his own "Joys Seven" after the Fifth Lesson - unless he surprises us with a new carol of his, that is.
- "While shepherds watched their flocks by night" will be the second carol sung after the Seventh Lesson.
- And might we hear some Britten? We haven't. And this certainly seems like a good year for it.
There's so much music to think about.
We haven't even mentioned the commissioned carol by Thea Musgrave. We're not sure where that will go. Probably later in the service.
In some ways the service is more unpredictable than it has been in years past. This is, in our judgement, a good thing.
Also, let it be stated that if you can email service information from earlier than 1997 we will gladly bake and send you a fruitcake ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
Labels: Britten, Christmas, Cleobury, John Rutter, King's College (Cambridge), Musgrave, Tavener, Warlock
Peter Warlock: Bethlehem Down
Labels: 12 Days of YouTube, Christmas, King's College (Cambridge), Warlock
Poor John. Always gets overlooked in the days following Christmas.
Here is the Choir of the Chapel of the College in Cambridge named after the disciple whom Jesus loved singing "Benedicamus Domino" by Peter Warlock.
Labels: 12 Days of YouTube, Christmas, St John's (Cambridge), Warlock
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