"Good King Wenceslas" is a song that I never heard until I was an adult. It was on a cassette tape of Christmas songs that I bought in England in 1985. That particular version is very similar to the one that I have here for you, with the one male voice very deep and strong and the other male voice, in a high child's voice. Listen to it and see if you think as I do, that it is most effective that way.
It is appropriate that I share this with you today as it is St. Stephen's Day! (Saint Stephen is the first martyr of Christianity.) In my generation, many of the guys had the name of Stephen, shortened to "Steve". Thinking back on my childhood, I am remembering that in one of my classes, we had four boys named "Steve"! (Also, in that very same class, we had four Michaels, all called Mike too!) I think those eight guys all liked it as the teacher tended to ask questions of the few boys who were not "Steve" or "Mike"!
Now, where was I before I got to thinking about all those STEVES and MIKES? Oh yes, music, of course!
I hope you all know that I love so much of the Christmas music! I love all the hymns and all the popular songs, and I love even the obscure strange ones that no one else knows!
Sometimes you might enjoy a song in a most unexpected place! We were watching an episode of "Eastenders" on TV. (It is a long running series on TV, and I remember seeing it when the very first one aired! Richard watches it with me, bless him, even though I think it is a struggle sometimes!) Anyway, I hope you can picture it, we are watching it, and Richard is trying his best to stay awake and appear interested when we hear a choir that began to sing "See, Amid the Winter's Snow". It was beautiful! It was a choir called "Somewhere 2 Sing" and it is an amateur choir! We both enjoyed the singing and thought they were very good. I don't have a video of this choir but I found a video of the song that I like very much. (It was also on that same cassette tape from 1985!)
THIS video is from the Cambridge Choir of King's College. Here are the lyrics:
Born for us on earth below
See the tender lamb appears
Promised from eternal years
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
He who built the starry skies
He who throned in height sublime
Sits amid the cherubim
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
What your joyful news today
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep?
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Lo, we saw a wondrous light
Angels singing "Peace on earth"
Told us of the Saviour's birth
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
By thy face so meek and mild
Teach us to resemble thee
In thy sweet humility
Hail, redemption's happy dawn
Sing through all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Both of these hymns seem very English to me. Therefore, I wanted to share them with you here since I am Georgia Girl with An English Heart!
And since I am from Georgia, did you know that the man who wrote "Jingle Bells" married a woman from Savannah, Georgia? Yes, indeed James Lord Pierpont was from Massachusetts but after he relocated to Savannah to be the organist and music director of the Unitarian Church of Savannah, he never returned North again! It is believed to have been written in 1857 so it is a very old Christmas tune for us Americans! (Although "Jingle Bells" is known all over the world.)
I really must visit Savannah again sometime; it is an interesting place to see!
No snowy photos for you but we have had some foggy days! All photos from the Monastery here in Rockdale County, Georgia.
Oh, and remember I told you I love touches of red! The amaryllis bloomed! Hope you all had a joyful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.
I'm familiar with both Christmas songs, probably because Canadian popular culture borrows a lot from Britain (at least decades ago when I was a kid, less so these days as we have become much more multicultural). I remember having to learn how to say "Wenceslas" in school so we could sing that line of the carol properly!
ReplyDeleteFunny you should mention how to pronounce "Wenceslas"! I notice that the very same songs that we sing here sound so much better with an English accent! Even, "Happy Birthday to you"!
DeleteI love red at Christmas, and how brilliant the amaryllis bloomed, just for you. Love the spooky, foggy pictures, very evocative. Both carols are familiar to me. In fact I learnt Good King Wenceslas very early, when I was about six it was a tune in my very first piano book! Yes, the English culture was alive and well in Australia in those days :) Merry Christmas to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteRichard said he enjoyed singing Good King Wenceslas when they went caroling as children. He was surprised that I didn't know it!
DeleteI remember "Good King Wenceslas" from elementary school. It's one of my favorites. Thanks for letting me enjoy it again.
ReplyDeleteHave a great new year!
Glad you like it too! Happy new year to you, John!
DeleteI like the mysterius atmosphere of a foggy day!
ReplyDeleteMy late husband was also a Stephen, but he called himself always Steve.
At school, we had many kids with same names. Usually, there were at least two Claudias, Monikas or Sabines in each class, as well as Andreas, Thomas, Michael or Frank. At our entire school, there was only one Meike (me) and my sister‘s name was equally unique.
Of course, I thought of your Beatle-loving lad from Yorkshire, Steve! There were not that many that used the name "Kay", although lots of girls had it as a middle name! There is only one you! (And your imaginary sister, LOL!!)
DeleteIt's funny you are watching Eastenders, a TV prog here I rarely look at ( which started with a murder and they are still bickering away in every episode almost 40 years later whenever I've been switching channels) while I've been watching Dakota Fanning over Christmas in The Alienist ( a Victorian crime drama) and listening/ watching blues rock group Larkin Poe. All three, as you know, from Georgia. By the way just watched 'Wallace and Gromit. Vengeance most Fowl' an animated cartoon series which you would really love, all about Yorkshire. Best thing on UK TV over Christmas by a mile.
ReplyDeleteOh my, not only is Dakota Fanning from Georgia, she is from CONYERS, Georgia!! (I really like her sister, Elle. She was in a film about Mary Shelley that I really liked.) Both girls moved to California at an early age to pursue acting careers. My sister used to work with their grandmother! Our younger sister knew their father in high school. (And Dakota had the same pediatrician as our son! LOL) I LOVE Wallace and Gromit!! I read that what you saw on TV over Christmas got RAVE reviews! (Also read that the mayor of Bristol was upset because it didn't mention that it was produced in Bristol!)
DeleteI love the Choir music but the first hymn could not be heard at all. Glitch, perhaps? My daughter Lisa visited Atlanta and Savannah several years ago. She liked the architecture.
ReplyDeleteI was so sad that neither of the videos would work this morning. I looked at it a few minutes later and both were okay! Not sure but maybe you can hear it now. I wonder what your daughter thought of the architecture in Atlanta? I live here and I'm not that impressed!
DeleteYou know I love Christmas music. O Holy Night sung by The Vienna Boys Choir is my absolute favorite.
ReplyDeleteOh, that sounds lovely. I will look that video up!! Happy New Year!!
DeleteMerry Christmas, Kay and to your loved ones. Take good care.
ReplyDeleteAnd all the very best for 2025...I hope it treats you well. :)
Lee! So good to see your comment here! Wishing you all the best "down under"!
DeleteI have to smile whenever I hear "Good King Wencelas" because it's the first song our son played on his guitar for us when he was just learning. We always asked him to play it at Christmas and he really didn't want to! Oh well, I still like the song! Your area looks beautiful even in the fog. Right now it's almost 60de! Snow and cold are coming for New Years day so I'll enjoy this for now. Have a Happy New Year Kay and many good blogging days ahead!
ReplyDeleteMy husband plays "Silent Night" and "What Child Is This" on the guitar. I love them on the guitar! Stay warm and happy 2025, right around the corner!
DeleteAhhh... your amaryllis brings back memories of our life in Chicago. We loved growing them every winter in the house and then transplanting them outside in spring to store energy to produce the flowers in winter.
ReplyDeleteOf course you have your own flowers in Hawaii! Aloha!
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