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BLENDED 9:30AM
"Joy To The World"
One of our most popular Christmas carols is the result of the efforts of Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason—and, some believe, George Frederick Handel. Watts was a frail, quiet man only five feet tall. Mason was an energetic publisher, choir director, and composer. Handel was a large, robust musical genius. Handel and Watts were contemporaries in London and one imagines they must have appreciated each other's talents. Mason lived 100 years later in Boston.
In 1719 Isaac Watts, already a notable scholar and author, sat down under a tree at the Abney Estate near London and began to compose poetry based on Psalm 98. Watts had begun writing verses as a small child. In his teen years he complained that the songs in church were hard to sing. His father said, "Well, you write some that are better." And so he did. For the next two years, young Isaac wrote a new hymn each week. (He would eventually write more than 600 of them, all based on Scripture.) Today, hymns like "Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" are hallmarks of the Christian church, and Watts is regarded as "the Father of English Hymnody."In 1741 George Frederick Handel, who was already famous as the composer of several operas and oratorios, decided that he wanted to do a truly great work. After spending time in prayer, he arose from his knees and for 23 days labored almost continuously day and night. The immortal Messiah, now a Christmas tradition, was the fruit of that incessant struggle.A nobleman once praised Handel for the "entertainment" he had furnished in one of his compositions. In no uncertain terms Handel let the nobleman know that his music was composed to make men better, not to entertain them.Almost a century later, Lowell Mason set Watts's poem of "joy" to music. For years it was assumed that Mason used tunes from Handel's Messiah for portions of the arrangement, but the veracity of that claim is now debated among scholars. Listeners can judge for themselves. But this we know: It was Mason who ultimately brought the pieces together to give us "Joy to the world"
Click here to listen to the acapella group Take 6:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=evywpq32Oa0
Click here if you like Michael Bolton:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXY8Vtnrsxc
Click here for the various recordings:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joy+to+the+world&search_type=&aq=f
"The First Noel"
The word Nowell comes from the French word Noël meaning "Christmas", from the Latin word natalis ("birth"). It may also be from the Gaulish words "noio" or "neu" meaning "new" and "helle" meaning "light" referring to the winter solstice when sunlight begins overtaking darkness.
Click here to read more about the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_First_No%C3%ABl#Animaniacs_parody
Click here to listen to Clay Aiken sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJhlB-CzCsc
Click here to hear Helmut Lotti sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=We4xRHMuCNg&feature=related**
Click here for an interesting arrangement - one person, two guitars:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cyWiw3cSOI
"Go Tell it on the Mountain"
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual dating back to at least 1865 that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity: "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born."
Like many carols, the precise history of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a bit fuzzy. Although generally considered an anonymous work, Studwell believes the piece was written by Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942), a black composer, teacher and scholar. Work was deeply involved in the collection, arrangement and dissemination of black spirituals, so it is possible, says Studwell, that Work only discovered and preserved the song. However, Studwell’s research has led him to believe that Work actually penned the piece, which was then arranged and disseminated by his nephew John Wesley Work. Studwell places its first publication in the early 1900s, but the piece gained little notice until the 1920s when the Fisk University Singers began performing the song. Even then, it did not make much of a splash.“I looked through hundreds of carol collections and other song books and I could not find it in any collection prior to the 1950s,” says Studwell. About that time the song steadily began to gain in popularity, winning over listeners with energetic beat and its enthusiastic call to action. “Most carols of the 20th century are not so enthusiastic. This is more like some of the older carols, like Joy to the World or Come All Ye Faithful in that regard,” says Studwell. “It shows some real enthusiasm for the Christmas holiday."
Click here to listen to James Taylor sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEUn1AxDYo
Click here to see the various arrangements available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=go+tell+it+on+the+mountain+&search_type=&aq=f
"Emmanuel"
In 1976, Robert McGee, then an associate pastor at The King's Temple Church in Seattle, Washington, wrote the chorus "Emmanuel." The chorus first appeared in a collection of 11 choruses entitled Choruses From The King's Temple, 1976 Book I and was used by the church in their worship services. In 1983, C.A. Music, Inc. acquired the copyright in "Emmanuel" and licensed the song to dozens of companies. Bob McGee was sued in 1999 by a former associate who claimed he stole the song from another popular song in the church. After a court battle, McGee was cleared of the charge of plagarism.
Click here to listen online:
www.imeem.com/flamzofice/music/eu_uev0E/bob_mcgee_emmanuel/
Click here for a piano arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBEG3U0N5aA
CONTEMPORARY 11:00AM
"O Come All Ye Faithful"
Also known in Latin as "Adeste Fidelis", this Christmas carol is credited to an English hymnist named John Francis Wade (1711-1786). Written originally in Latin, 'O Come All Ye Faithful', it was penned as a hymn by an Englishman called John Wade. In Latin, it is known as 'Adeste Fideles'. Another Englishman called John Reading composed its music in early 1700s, which was first published in 'Cantus Diversi' in 1751. Rev. Frederick Oakley translated it to English in 1841.
Click here to read more about the history of the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeste_Fideles
Click here to listen to Bianca Ryan sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I8XAf4Rwa4
Click here to hear a traditional setting:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZKp4npV47Q&feature=related
Click here for the various recordings of this Carol: www.youtube.com/results?search_query=o+come+all+ye+faithful&search_type=&aq=f
"O Little Town of Bethlehem"
Rector Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) of Philadelphia, wrote the words to O Little Town of Bethlehem in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine especially at night time hence the lyrics of O Little Town of Bethlehem. His church organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) wrote the melody to O Little Town of Bethlehem for the Sunday school children's choir.
Click here to listen to Sarah McLachlans's version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioStjMFOJZs
"Away in a Manger"
Away in a manager is always the first carol that children are taught. Away in a Manger was originally published in 1885. The publication of Away in a Manger was in a Lutheran Sunday school book and this created the misconception that the lyrics of Away in a Manger were actually written by Martin Luther himself. The author is unknown. The music to Away in a Manger was composed by William J. Kirkpatrick in 1895.
Click here to see the various versions available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=away+in+a+manger&search_type=&aq=f
Click here to hear celtic arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJb6uOF05Q
"Go Tell it on the Mountain"
"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual dating back to at least 1865 that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity: "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born." Like many carols, the precise history of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a bit fuzzy. Although generally considered an anonymous work, Studwell believes the piece was written by Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942), a black composer, teacher and scholar. Work was deeply involved in the collection, arrangement and dissemination of black spirituals, so it is possible, says Studwell, that Work only discovered and preserved the song. However, Studwell’s research has led him to believe that Work actually penned the piece, which was then arranged and disseminated by his nephew John Wesley Work. Studwell places its first publication in the early 1900s, but the piece gained little notice until the 1920s when the Fisk University Singers began performing the song. Even then, it did not make much of a splash.“I looked through hundreds of carol collections and other song books and I could not find it in any collection prior to the 1950s,” says Studwell. About that time the song steadily began to gain in popularity, winning over listeners with energetic beat and its enthusiastic call to action. “Most carols of the 20th century are not so enthusiastic. This is more like some of the older carols, like Joy to the World or Come All Ye Faithful in that regard,” says Studwell. “It shows some real enthusiasm for the Christmas holiday."
Click here to listen to James Taylor sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEUn1AxDYo
Click here to see the various arrangements available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=go+tell+it+on+the+mountain+&search_type=&aq=f
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