A Christmas Carol

Today is Jack Frost day. I bet that a lot of you just thought of that line from The Christmas Song- "... Jack Frost nipping at your nose." didn't you?

Tell me about Christmas carols. Reindeer, talking snowmen, chestnuts roasting, riding in sleighs. Those, at least, are pretty easy for a kid to understand and sing. But the songs about Christ? Not so easy.

Last Sunday was our stake program, Christmas in the Grove. Brandi sang in the children's choir. (You know there will be video soon) She was reading a Christmas book to me a couple of days before that. At the end of the book were the words and music for the song, Oh Little Town of Bethlehem. She read me the words and then said that she would be singing it in the program. I asked her what the song was about. She didn't have a clue. So I explained it to her and that started me thinking about our Christmas carols.

I have a lot of thoughts rushing around in my head about my most beloved carols and their meaning. I also keep thinking of the way kids mess up the words that they don't know or understand so that they make sense. None of that is coming out of my keys in a way that I want to post. So I will let it stew a bit longer.

In the mean time, tell me two of your favorite Christmas songs

1. Your favorite kiddie Christmas song and why (you know, reindeer, talking snowmen, that sort)

2. Your favorite reverent hymn and why.

In the mean time, I'll leave you with my favorite reverent hymn, sung by Luciano Pavarotti

---

Indeed.

More Songs

When I began this month posting about the Christmas songs that I just love, I forgot how many of them there would be. I started out doing just one a day and then I wanted to post about something else and then I got sick and....

So today there will be more than one song.

I Saw Three Ships
Historians love to debate the symbolism found within the words of the Christmas hymn, "I Saw Three Ships." Do the seafaring vessels represent Columbus's voyage? Or are they indirect references to: the Holy Trinity, the three Wise Men, or I Corinthians 13:13 (King James Version, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity")? Whatever the intent of the song's lyricist, "I Saw Three Ships" has been a popular hymn since its publication in 1666. Notably, Cecil Sharp, an English collector of folk songs, discovered several versions of this melody throughout the British Isles. (taken from How Stuff Works)

I have no idea what this song is about, I just know that I really like the tune the way that Jon Schmidt plays it. It also reminds me of Donovan. That is one song that he learned (the Jon Schmidt version on the play list on this blog) and I miss him being home to play the piano for me.




Ok, I just realized that most of the songs I am picking today are my favorite when played by Jon Schmidt. The picture above is my favorite Christmas album by him, even though he has two out now. Click on the picture to go to his website, you can even listen to some of his music.

Bring a Torch Jeanette Isabella
Fourteenth-century French socials often included the ritournelle, a lively court dance. One ritournelle melody survives as the song that became the French Christmas carol "Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella." The central characters of the song might have served as inspiration for the two serving maids depicted at the nativity in a famous painting by Georges de La Tour. The lyrics are said to have originated in either Anjou or Burgundy. They were paired with the melody and first published in 1553 by a wealthy nobleman in Cantiques de Premiere Advenement de Jesus-Christ."Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella"


Lyrics


1. Bring a torch, Jeannette, Isabella!Bring a torch to the cradle run!
It is Jesus, good folks of the village;
Christ is born and Mary's calling:
Ah! ah! beautiful is the mother!
Ah! ah! beautiful is her Son!

2. It is wrong when the Child is sleeping
It is wrong to talk so loud;
Silence, all, as you gather around,Lest your noise should waken Jesus:
Hush! hush! see how fast He slumbers:
Hush! hush! see how fast He sleeps!

3. Softly to the little stable,Softly for the moment come;
Look and see how charming is Jesus,See how He smiles, Oh see how rosy!
Hush! hush! see how the Child is sleeping;
Hush! hush! see how He smiles in dreams.
(howstuffworks)

But again it is the Jon Schmidt version I like the best. His notes let me see Jeanette's feet running to greet the baby, her white linen dress flowing behind her as she scurries. Who is Jeanette? Is she the midwife hurrying to help the babe enter the mortal world? Or perhaps is she one that heard the joyous news from the shepherds and recognized the sign and is on her way to great her Lord and Savior?


Süsser de Glocken
The bell carol. I love listening to the music swell and fade and swell again. So sweet, so light, so beautiful, lilting and it carries me away.

We Three Kings
I remember learning this song for a Christmas program in elementary school and it has been one of my favorite every since then (but it took me a few years to figure out where orientare was located).

Silver Bells

I used to dance. On a dance floor, to music. But you knew that didn't you? I have even choreographed dances for plays and I loved every minute of it. There are times that I hear a song and my body just wants to move, I can feel the moves and have a hard time keeping my feet still and not moving, especially when I am in the car or even worse, at a public gathering.

Of all the dancing that I ever did, the waltz is my all time favorite dance. I find it smooth, glamorous, euretheural and very, very expressive. What can I say, I am a romantic at heart.

The Christmas song, "Silver Bells", is one of those songs. When I hear it, I can feel the steps with my body and see the choreography in my mind. I would be wearing a white formal with marabou at the hem and the sleeve cuffs. The material would be georgette and filmy. My partner would be in a black tux, tails of course. The dance floor would be rimmed with Christmas trees filled with sparkling white lights, the only light in the room. Magic.

There are many different versions of this song. I like the slower versions as they give the waltz feel as opposed to the faster versions that give the feel of the hustle and bustle of shopping and rushing home with presents. This video comes the closest to the feel that I like. (I didn't want to go to Alan Jackson again, though I really like his version)




(to watch the video without hearing the playlist songs, go to the playlist at the bottom of the page and turn down the volume on it with the sound icon on the right hand side)

Still, Still, Still

I love the quietness of this song. To me it is like a lullaby and I love that. The very title evokes a quietness. The stillness of a mother singing her baby back to sleep after a middle of the night feeding. This stillness reminds me that my Lord and Savior was once a child and had to learn line upon line, just as I do, He just learned it better and faster without the needed repeat lessons. It reminds me that He cried in the night, just as my babies did and Mary needed to love and comfort Him, just as He loves and comforts me in the long dark nights of my life.

This song's quietness also reminds me of the falling snow in the night, the snow that falls in large, sticky flakes that blanket the ground with white- pure and pristine in the morning. Just as we will be in the morning of the resurection, made possible by our Savior.

It also reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures, found in two different places:

Ps. 46: 10
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Doctorine & Covenants 101: 16
16 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God

My favorite rendition of this song is by Elise Adams. Elise gave me her CD the year it was released when I was a vendor at a booksellers convention. It was August, but the CD quickly became one of my favorite.

Listen to it here (open the song in another window and listen to it while you come back here and read the words)

Here are the words:

Still, Still, Still

Still, still, still
One can hear the falling snow.
For all is hushed,
The world is sleeping,
Holy Star its vigil keeping.
Still, still, still,
One can hear the falling snow.
Sleep, sleep, sleep,
'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth.
The night is peaceful all around you,
Close your eyes,
Let sleep surround you.
Sleep, sleep, sleep
'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth.

Dream, dream, dream,
Of the joyous day to come.
While guardian angels without number
Watch you as you sweetly slumber.
Dream, dream, dream,
Of the joyous day to come.