Getcher “figgy pudding cannons and claymores” set up early to drive off the toxically tuneless carolers who won’t go away until they get some. Give it to ’em, but good.
O Helga Natt
Mary’s Boy-Child
(I have, as Perri noted in comments, now had the “video unavailable” error twice, while at other times it has loaded. *sigh*
This one, of several others, has loaded a few times for me. Let’s see how long it stays up, mmmK?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_t-rTbOOAI
“The stockings were hung from the chimney with care. . . “
Got one of these several years back at my fav “fell off the back of a truck” store for a tiny fraction of the cost I found the one at Amazon. Should have gotten several of them at the time, but I do know some folks for whom these might just make neat lil stocking stuffers now. *cough* Have to think about that. Quickly. *heh*
Harking Back. . .
. . .to decades past, we’ve decided to go a different direction this year than we’ve gone for Xmas decos for, oh, maybe 12 years or so. For a bit more than a deco, we’ve not had any sort of traditional Xmas tree, not even the artificial tree we purchased about 30-*mumble* years ago, One year we just decided to pull a lil 2′ tall artificial tree w/LED lights out from behind the TV where it generally serves as backlight, and then shove it back behind the TV for the rest of the year. That’s worked well for ~ a decade or so.
This year,
It’s a start, anyway. we have created a feeling of more room by eliminating a bit of furniture, so it was pretty easy to add an artificial tree back into the mix. *shrugs* Yeh, it lacks the presence of a real tree, but it’s less messy and doesn’t create yet more wood waste to process with out chipper-shredder. It also packs more compactly than our old artificial tree.
I need to donate old artificial tree to the local thrift shop. with a lil TLC, I imagine someone might benefit.
And no. Before you e ven ask or comment, it is not too early to put up decos inside. Outside is a different matter, but I think we’ll limit that to just a nice wreath on the door.
Is There Room?
“And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
. . .rendered as “inn” in Luke 2: 7, is – loosely – something like “a place to relax/rest,” and more likely referred to something more along the lines of places in private homes set aside to let out to travelers/visitors. So, the verse in the Christmas song,
Thou didst leave Thy throne and Thy kingly crown,
When Thou camest to earth for me;
But in Bethlehem’s home was there found no room
For Thy holy nativity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for Thee.
“Home” is, in my opinion, more in tune with scripture than the usual translation of Luke 2:7, “inn”. Is there room in your home?
Repost from 2007: Who Is He in Yonder Stall?
Benjamin Russell Hanby is probably best known in popular society, if at all, for the great yawner, “Up On the Housetop” (click, click, click…), that merry paean to “Old Saint Nick” often sung at the yuletide.
But Hanby had a deeper side. In fact, he wrote one of the clearest expositions of the life and work of Christ that is available in easily accessible song, “Who Is He in Yonder Stall.”
Who is He in yonder stall
At whose feet the shepherds fall?
Who is He, in deep distress,
Fasting in the wilderness?Refrain:
‘Tis the Lord, O wondrous story!
‘Tis the Lord, the King of glory;
At His feet, we humbly fall,
Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all!Who is He the people bless?
For His words of gentleness?
Who is He to whom they bring?
All the sick and sorrowing?(Refrain)
Who is He that stands and weeps
At the grave where Lazarus sleeps?
Who is He the gathering throng
Greet with loud triumphant song?(Refrain)
Lo, at midnight who is He
Prays in dark Gethsemane?
Who is He on yonder tree
Dies in grief and agony?(Refrain)
Who is He that from the grave
Comes to heal and help and save?
Who is He that from his throne
Rules through all the world alone?Refrain:
‘Tis the Lord, O wondrous story!
‘Tis the Lord, the King of glory;
At His feet, we humbly fall,
Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all!
I prefer hearing this sung as a series of questions posed by various choirs and soloists with the refrain sung once at the end in answer to all the questions posed, but that’s not how Hanby wrote it, so usually when I selected this hymn for use, I’d just have the congregation sing it as Hanby wrote it: one verse (question) and the answer repeated again and again in the refrain.
It’s a simple story, simply told and easily grasped.
‘Tis the Lord, O wondrous story!
‘Tis the Lord, the King of glory;
At His feet, we humbly fall,
Crown Him, crown Him Lord of all!
Is It Just Me?
Two things I dislike intensely: “gospel” used as a description of a style of pop music and “Christmas Carol” used to describe a song that has nothing whatsoever to do with the Advent of Christ.
It would take to long to explain, so as Inigo Montoya put it, let me sum up:
A gospel song is rightly (and only, as far as I am concerned) a song that relates the good news (euangelion, evengel, GOSPEL) of Christ. Period. A Christmas Carol is a song on the theme of Christ’s birth. Songs about “traditional” goings-on around the holiday of Christmas, as celebrated as a secular event, or songs that are about secular things surrounding traditions that are NOT about Christ’s birth, or simply “Winter songs” of some sort, are not Christmas carols, and in fact, most are only marginally about peripheral traditions that have come to be associated with the holiday, not the event the holiday supposedly celebrates.
Oh, and “Christmas magic” or “the magic of Christmas”? The terms are pure, unadulterated nonsense when used to refer to Christmas, which is ostensibly an observance of the LEAST MAGICAL but one of the two most miraculous events ever to occur. Magic =/= miraculous, and in fact, the two are in no way related.
But, maybe it’s just me. . .
Oh, and I find both real gospel music and real Xmas music appropriate any time of the year. Here:
Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
– English translation (my favorite of various translations)
My heart will always wander
To where our Lord was born,
My thoughts will always go there
And take on their true form.
My longing heart belongs there,
With the treasure of my faith;
I never shall forget you,
O blessed Christmas night!
I’ll willingly spread branches
Of palms around your bed.
For you and you alone
I will gladly live and die.
Come, let my soul find joy
In this moment of delight:
To see you born right here,
Inside my loving heart.
2019 Xmas Playlist Notes
Well, I used to start listening to Xmas music fairly soon after Easter (I had my reasons–good ones), but in recent years that has faded to somewhere around the end of September/into October, as I begin compiling playlists for the season. The other day, a review of and selections from Il Volo’s “Buon Natale” album. Nice stuff. Fun to hear young voices doing so well that I’m generally happy to ignore the surprising (for Italians) incidents of poor vowels–largely dipthongs that would, in Italian, be much purer vowel sounds. (“Ave Maria,” for but one example, with a beautiful initial vowel on “ave” that lapses to a seriously distracting “uh” at the end of “Maria”–but not consistently or with all three voices. *shrugs* I’m really baffled by that.)
All but two songs on the album are going on one of my Xmas 2019 playlists, although I might cut two more “not really Xmas” pop songs. No, not “might”–definitely will.
Oh, and although I am very familiar with the piece, I am aways a bit surprised that “Panis Angelicus” is in 4/4 time. Just one of those quirks of my mental ear. I have no idea why that is.
After this, a quick listen through (or three–ended up being more< *shrugs* ) to An Emmylou Harris Xmas album. I don’t know if I’ll get to include “Christmas Time’s A Comin'” in a playlist this year. Maybe in one that only I listen to, ‘cos my Wonder Woman really dislikes it for some reason. *heh* I’ll probably cut “Man Is an Island,” “Cherry Tree Carol,” and “Angel Eyes” for idiosyncratic reasons, but “Light in the Stable,” “Beautiful Star of Bethlehem” and the rest are pure gold, IMO. (I have NO idea why Emmylou Harris is so easy for me to listen to, since her vocal habits are a conglomeration of things that annoy my ear, and her musical style as a whole is one of my least favorites, but there it is: her singing appeals to me anyway)
That reminds me I need to also pick through a Christmas album from the George Shearing Quintet. Yeh, and I missed some YoYo Ma selections last year, so I need to find those, as well.
Compiling Xmas playlists has become a standard (and much enjoyed) activity around this time of year. And since I don’t really “do” Halloween, it’s also a nice anodyne for all that, urm, stuff.
Oh, and it’s a kinda different exercise for other reasons, For one (two and three), I’m not concerning myself with making it “programatic”–that is, concerns of “storytelling” (lyrics of one song leading to the next), tone, key, and tempo, etc.–as all that is out the door for this. I’m simply arranging them willy-nilly (<i>or will he nil heWell, I used to start listening to Xmas music fairly soon after Easter (I had my reasons–good ones), but in recent years that has faded to somewhere around the end of September/into October, as I begin compiling playlists for the season. Today, a review of and selections from Il Volo’s “Buon Natale” album. Nice stuff. Fun to hear young voices doing so well that I’m generally happy to ignore the surprising (for Italians) incidents of poor vowels–largely dipthongs that would, in Italian, be much purer vowel sounds. (“Ave Maria,” for but one example, with a beautiful initial vowel on “ave” that lapses to a seriously distracting “uh” at the end of “Maria”–but not consistently or with all three voices. *shrugs* I’m really baffled by that.)
All but two songs on the album are going on one of my Xmas 2019 playlists, although I might cut two more “not really Xmas” pop songs. No, not “might”–definitely will.
Oh, and although I am very familiar with the piece, I am aways a bit surprised that “Panis Angelicus” is in 4/4 time. Just one of those quirks of my mental ear. I have no idea why that is.
After this, a quick listen through (or three–ended up being more *shrugs* ) to An Emmylou Harris Xmas album. I don’t know if I’ll get to include “Christmas Time’s A Comin'” in a playlist this year. Naybe in one that only I listen to, ‘cos my Wonder Woman really dislikes it for some reason. *heh* I’ll probably cut “Man Is an Island,” “Cherry Tree Carol,” and “Angel Eyes” for idiosyncratic reasons, but “Light in the Stable,” “Beautiful Star of bethlehem” and the rest are pure gold, IMO. (I have NO idea why Emmylou Harris is so easy for me to listen to, since her vocal habits are a conglomeration of things that annoy my ear, and her musical style as a whole is one of my least favorites, but there it is: her singing appeals to me anyway)
That reminds me I need to also pick through both an album by Pacido Domingo and a Christmas album from the George Shearing Quintet. Yeh, and I missed some YoYo Ma selections last year, so I need to include those, as well.
Compiling Xmas playlists has become a standard (and much enjoyed) activity around this time of year. And since I don’t really “do” Halloween, it’s also a nice anodyne for all that, urm, stuff.
Oh, and it’s a kinda different exercise for other reasons, For one )two and three), I’m not concerning myzself with making it “programatic”–that is, concerns of “storytelling” (lyrics of one song leading to the next), tone, key, and tempo, etc.–as all that is out the door for this. I’m simply arranging them willy-nilly (or will he nil he *heh*)
*huh* More than three hours on one playlist, so far. NO “pop” pseudo-Xmas songs, just songs in some was really related to Christmas.
And, as always for the last decade or more, my fav Xmas song, Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker, is on the main playlist in several instrumental renditions (yes, by the same artist–Tine Thing Helseth) and another time as performed by Sissel. And, of course, O Helga Natt (twice–different artists–Sissel and Jussi Bjorling) and Cantique Noel (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau). I’ve not found a performance in English that is as well-performed as those three in their respective languages (2-Swedish, one French–as originally written).
Mitt hjerte alltid vanker
– English translation (my favorite of various translations)
My heart will always wander
To where our Lord was born,
My thoughts will always go there
And take on their true form.
My longing heart belongs there,
With the treasure of my faith;
I never shall forget you,
O blessed Christmas night!
I’ll willingly spread branches
Of palms around your bed.
For you and you alone
I will gladly live and die.
Come, let my soul find joy
In this moment of delight:
To see you born right here,
Inside my loving heart. *heh*)
Christmas Isn’t Over, Yet
Christmas is just “prep time” for Easter.
That is all.