LULLABIES AND CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS Coventry Carol Adeste Fideles Il est né le divin enfant In Dulci Jubilo Away in a Manger Wexford Carol Monica Whicher, Soprano Judy Loman, Harp

Lullabies and Carols for Christmas 1

The Garden of Jesus (Trad. Dutch, arr. Judy Loman)

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In the Bleak Mid-Winter (Harold Darke (1888-1976), arr. Judy Loman) (Copyright Stainer and Bell, 1911)

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Balulalow (Peter Tiefenbach (b. 1960)) (© 1994 Augsburg Fortress)

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Lullay My Liking (Medieval, arr. Judy Loman) (from an arrangement by Gustav Holst, Oxford Book of Carols, Oxford University Press, London, 1964)

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Coventry Carol (Trad. English, arr. Judy Loman)

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Interlude from A Ceremony of Carols (Benjamin Britten (1913-76)) (Harp solo) (© Boosey and Company; Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers Limited)

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Noël Nouvelet (Trad. French, arr. Judy Loman)

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Avec les séraphins du ciel (Anon, arr. Judy Loman) (from collection Échos du Temps Passé, Volume 1; transcription for piano by J. B. Wekerlin; A. Durand et Fils, before 1912.)

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Entre le boeuf et l’âne gris (Trad. French, arr. Judy Loman)

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Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (Trad. French, arr. Judy Loman)

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Il est né le divin enfant (Trad. French, arr. Judy Loman)

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Six Noëls Pour la Harpe (Marcel Tournier (1879-1951)) (Harp solo) (© Henry Lemoine and Company)

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The Little Road to Bethlehem (Michael Head (1900-76), arr. Judy Loman) (© 1946 Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd)

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I Wonder as I Wander (Appalachian Carol, arr. Judy Loman from an arrangement by John Jacob Niles) (© 1990 G. Schirmer Inc. (ASCAP) New York; distributed by Hal Leonard Corporation)

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People, Look East! (James Whicher (b. 1931), arr. Judy Loman) (© 1994 Edmund Music)

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In Bethlehem Tonight (Norman Gabriel Nurmi (b. 1948)) (© 2000 NGN)

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Concert Variations on Adeste Fideles (Carlos Salzédo (1885-1961)) (Harp solo) (© Elkan-Vogel Co., Philadelphia)

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In Dulci Jubilo (Trad. German, arr. Judy Loman)

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Away in a Manger (Trad. Normandy, arr. Judy Loman)

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The Christ-Child’s Lullaby (Hebridean Folk Song, arr. Marjory Kennedy-Fraser; adapted for harp, Judy Loman) (© 1922 by Boosey and Company; Boosey and Hawkes Music Publishers Limited) 2:53

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Wexford Carol (Trad. Irish, arr. Judy Loman)

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Lullabies and Carols for Christmas The art of the Christmas carol extends back to the Middle Ages, producing a rich and complex tradition over the centuries which continues to the present day. The carol genre covers a variety of styles, often related to the secular dances of each epoch and involving poetic forms both popular and courtly. The international nature of the carol brings together a vast array of diverse characteristics, each expressing similar religious sentiments but created in a wide spectrum of musical idioms ranging from polyphony to simple straightforward melodies, from folk-song to the music of Britten or Holst. From the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, the French carole was a courtly dance song of great influence on the subsequent English development of the form. Thus it is entirely appropriate that this recording also includes a selection of traditional French carols. The Garden of Jesus was originally a traditional Dutch carol under the title Heer Jesus heft een Hofken, printed in a work called Spiritual Harmony, of 1633. A translation by the Reverend George R. Woodward (1848-1934) appeared in the third edition of Songs of Syon, published by Schott & Co. The flowers of the garden mentioned include lily, violet, damask–rose, marigold, and crown imperial, while dulcimers and lutes, harps and cymbals, ‘trumpets, pipes and gentle soothing flutes’ play in the background. It is not widely realised that Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), the acclaimed and prolific poet of both religious and secular verse in the nineteenth century, wrote the poignant words of In the Bleak Mid-Winter, published posthumously in Rossetti’s Poetic Works (1904). The music here is by Harold Edwin Darke (1888-1976), the English composer and organist who was briefly Director of Music at King’s College, Cambridge in the 1940s. His setting of the words is still performed at the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King’s College Chapel every Christmas Eve. Balulalow (Lullaby), from sixteenth century Scotland, is a translation by one of the Wedderburn family of Aberdeen of Martin Luther’s hymn for

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children ‘Vom Himmel hoch’. This setting of Balulalow is by Peter Tiefenbach, a performer, composer, and teacher from Regina, Saskatchewan, who studied music in Canada, the United States and England, before settling in Toronto in 1986. Lullay My Liking, an English traditional carol from the fifteenth century, is featured here in an arrangement by Gustav Holst (1874-1934). The homely simplicity and intimate personal tone of the verse have endeared this carol to countless generations. The Coventry Carol was first performed as part of a sixteenth century mystery play entitled The Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors, and refers in the second stanza to Herod’s attempt to kill the newborn Jesus by a massacre in Bethlehem of all babies under the age of two. The melody was written down by Robert Croo in 1534 and published in 1591. The only extant manuscript copy was destroyed by fire in 1875 causing problems in ascertaining the precise words of the text. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) wrote A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28, when returning by sea from the United States to England in 1942. The composer used a harp to accompany his carol sequence, aware that this would be acoustically resonant in a church context. His Interlude allows the solo harp to speak for itself in a lyrical mood appropriate to the entire work described by Britten’s biographer, Humphrey Carpenter, as radiating ‘relaxed joyfulness’. Noël nouvelet (New Christmas) urges the people to welcome a new Christmas by praise and thanks to the ‘new king’, making reference in later verses to the familiar ingredients of the biblical story, including the shepherds and the angels, the Holy Family in Bethlehem, and the visit of the kings led by the ‘bright star’. Avec les séraphins du ciel (With the heavenly seraphim) welcomes the advent of ‘hope in the heart’ and salutes the ‘divine Infant who wins our hope’. Entre le boeuf et l’âne gris (Between the Ox and the Grey Ass), speaks lyrically of the Holy Child surrounded by a thousand angels, in the arms of Mary.

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Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (What is that sweet fragrance?) takes a form characteristic of much medieval verse, that of question and answer. Thus the mysterious fragrance is defined as the ‘scent of heaven’s glory’. The second stanza asks ‘What is that light?’ and this turns out to be the bright star itself. Finally to the question, ‘Where can we find God’s holy glory?’ the response is that this will be found wherever people gather to worship God. The last of this group is the traditional carol Il est né le divin enfant (The Divine Infant is Born). The verse calls on musical instruments and choirs to ‘sing his accession’ and refers to the early prophecies, the stable and the patch of hay which is the Infant’s little bed, and the contrast between the humble circumstances of the Nativity and the infinite power of God. Marcel Lucien Tournier (1879-1951), a French composer and eminent harpist who taught at the Paris Conservatoire, wrote stage works, a cantata, chamber music, piano solos, and a number of pieces for harp. The six Noëls of the Christmas suite show his impressionist roots and a finely expressive use of the harp’s versatility. Margaret Rose (b. 1936) wrote The Little Road to Bethlehem, a carol inspired by the sight of lambs in the field at sunset in North Weald, Essex. Michael Head (1900-1976), the English composer and professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music, set the words to music. This piece is considered the most popular of the hundred songs he wrote. The composer, singer and folklorist from Louisville, Kentucky, John Jacob Niles (1892-1980), renowned as the ‘dean of the American balladeers’, first heard I Wonder as I Wander at a meeting of Evangelicals in Murphy, North Carolina: A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to the automobile. She began to sing. Her clothes were unbelievably dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ashblond hair hung down in long skeins... But, best of all, she was beautiful, and in her untutored

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way, she could sing. She smiled as she sang, smiled rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song. The girl, named Annie Morgan, sang the song several times, being paid for each repetition. From this impromptu performance Niles retrieved ‘three lines of verse, a garbled fragment of melodic material, and a magnificent idea’, and went on to compose the familiar version of I Wonder as I Wander popular today. Niles put together three stanzas of the carol and a refrain. The first performance of the piece took place on 19th December, 1933, at the John C. Campbell Folk School, in Brasstown, North Carolina. The carol was published in his anthology, Songs of the Hill Folk, the following year. Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965), the English author, poet, playwright, journalist, and broadcaster, was particularly esteemed for children’s stories, her best known book in this genre being Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard. She also wrote the words to the hymn Morning has Broken as well as the Advent carol, People, Look East! The carol mixes elements of the sublime narrative of Christmas with down-to-earth observations such as Make your house fair as you are able/Trim the hearth and set the table, a feature characteristic of seventeenth century religious verse. The music here is from the Christmas cantata, A Spotless Rose, by James Whicher (b. 1931), singer, teacher, and choir director. Norman Gabriel Nurmi (b. 1948), the Canadian writer, composer, singer, and teacher, also integrates the intimacies of the stable with the wider vision in his carol, In Bethlehem Tonight. Here ‘the bed of hay’ and the ‘tiny cradle’ are contrasted with the waiting world which evolves from being ‘darkened’ and ‘mourning’, then ‘angry’ and ‘raging’ towards ‘awe and wonder’ as the mystery is revealed and ‘love is born in Bethlehem’. Carlos Salzédo (1885-1961), American harpist and composer born in France, became first harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York, under Toscanini in 1909. He was extremely influential, in

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company with Varèse, in promoting contemporary music as well as becoming one of the foremost composers for the harp and an eminent teacher at the Curtis Institute and the Juilliard School of Music. The hymn tune of Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) was written by John Francis Wade (1711-1786), the English plainchant scribe and publisher, whose superb melody was printed in his Cantus Diversi (1751). The text of the carol is believed to have originated in the thirteenth century. With the famous carol In Dulci Jubilo (In Sweet Rejoicing) we move back into the musical and literary art of the Middle Ages. Here German and Latin verse were united to create a powerful message believed by some scholars to have been written by the German mystic poet, Heinrich Seuse. The theme attracted J.S. Bach who wrote a Chorale Prelude (BWV 729) founded on this melody as well as an organ solo (BWV 608). Dietrich Buxtehude also set the work in 1683 as a Chorale-Cantata and as an organ prelude in 1690. Another special favourite among traditional Christmas repertoire is Away in a Manger, which as an unaccompanied solo by a boy treble always opens the Festival of Nine Carols and Lessons at King’s College, Cambridge. This piece appeared in an anthology of hymns, The Little Children’s Book for Schools and Families, edited by James R. Murray (1841-1905), published in Philadelphia in 1885. It is not known who

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originally wrote the words though at one time it was believed that the carol was based on a hymn by Martin Luther. Father Allan MacDonald (1859-1905), priest and poet, was fascinated by the beauties of folkloric literature. Thus his version of the traditional Scottish Gaelic carol, Tàladh Chrìosda, rendered as The ChristChild’s Lullaby, combines religious faith with linguistic skill. The atmosphere of the poem is strongly reminiscent of the Spanish mystic, Juan de la Cruz, and speaks in immediate, intimate tones, leading climactically to the final triumphant Hallelujah. Wexford Carol, from the Irish Carúl Loch Garman, dates from the twelfth century, originating in Enniscorthy, County Wexford. The author of the English version is unknown, but the text exhorts the Good People at Christmas time to ‘Consider well and bear in mind/What our good God for us has done’. The four stanzas summarise on two particular aspects of the Nativity story, the lodging in the crude stable and the shepherds who visit the Holy Family ‘With thankful heart and joyful mind’. Graham Wade

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Photo: Micheal De Sadlier

Monica Whicher Monica Whicher has been heard with orchestras and opera companies in Europe, the United Kingdom, Asia, the United States and Canada. Her concerts and recitals are broadcast frequently by CBC radio, and her recordings of Bach, Schubert, Hatzis, Lysenko, Greer and the Juno-nominated Singing Somers Theatre can be found on CentreDiscs, Marquis and other labels. Recent performances include Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder, the rôle of Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, the Female Chorus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia and the title rôle in Massenet’s Thaïs. Her critically acclaimed performance of Mérope in Lully’s Persée can be seen on the EuroArts DVD, and she appears on the Naxos recording of Rameau’s Castor et Pollux (8.660118-19) and is a guest performer on Bottesini: Music for Double Bass and Piano 2 (8.557042). She is on the Faculty at the University of Toronto and the Glenn Gould Professional School of the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Photo: Tricia Koning

Judy Loman

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Judy Loman studied with Carlo Salzedo at The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and was principal harpist of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra until 2002. She often appeared as a soloist with this orchestra in Canada, the United States and Europe. She has also performed with major orchestras internationally, as well as in recitals and master-classes. Many works have been composed for her by leading Canadian composers and she has featured them in her numerous recordings and recitals. She has received the Canadian Juno Award for best classical recording and the Canada Council’s Grand Prix du Disque. In addition to her international career as a performer, Judy Loman has held the Mary Jane Barton Chair in harp studies at the Curtis Institute of Music, becoming Visiting Artist from 2011. She is Professor of Harp at the University of Toronto and teaches at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. She has served on the juries of several international competitions in the United States, Russia and Israel.

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1 THE GARDEN OF JESUS

(trad. Dutch)

Lord Jesus hath a garden full of flowers gay, Where you and I can gather nosegays all the day: There angels sing in jubilant ring, With dulcimers and lutes, And harps and cymbals, trumpets, pipes, And gentle, soothing flutes. There bloometh white the lily, flower of Purity; The fragrant violet hides there, sweet Humility: And one thing fairest is in all that lovely maze, The gardener, Jesus Christ, whom all the flowers praise: O Jesus all my good and all my bliss! Ah me! Thy garden make my heart, which ready is for thee! 2 IN THE BLEAK MID-WINTER

(Christina Rossetti, 1830-1894)

In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone: Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter, Long ago. Our God, heaven cannot hold him Nor earth sustain: Heaven and earth shall flee away When He comes to reign: In the bleak mid-winter A stable-place sufficed The Lord God almighty Jesus Christ. Enough for Him whom cherubim Worship night and day, A breastful of milk And a mangerful of hay: Enough for Him, whom angels Fall down before, The ox and ass and camel Which adore.

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What can I give Him, Poor as I am? If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb; If I were a wise man I would do my part; Yet what I can I give Him Give my heart. 3 BALULALOW

(translation: Wedderburn, 1567)

O my dear heart, young Jesus sweet, Prepare they cradle in my spreit. And I sall rock thee in my heart And never mair from thee depart. But I sall praise thee evermore, With sangis sweet unto thy gloir: The knees of my heart sall I bow, And sing that richt Balulalow. 4 LULLAY MY LIKING

(trad. English)

Lullay my liking, my dear son, my sweeting; Lullay my dear heart, mine own dear darling. I saw a fair maiden Sitten and sing: She lulled a little child, A sweete lording: Lullay, etc. That eternal lord is he That made alle thing; Of alle lordes he is Lord, Of alle kinges king: Lullay, etc. There was mickle melody At that childes birth: Although they were in heaven’s bliss They made mickle mirth: Lullay, etc.

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Angels bright they sang that night And saiden to that child: Blessed be thou and so be she That is both meeke and mild:

7 NOËL NOUVELET

(trad. French)

Lullay, etc.

Noël nouvelet, Noël chantons ici Dévotes gens, disons a Dieu merci. Chantons Noël pour le roi nouvelet Noël nouvelet, Noël chantons ici.

Pray we now to that child, And to his mother dear, God grant them all his blessing That now maken cheer:

D’un oiselet après le chant ouïs Qui aux pasteurs disait: Partez d’ici En Bethléem trouverez l’agnelet Noël nouvelet, Noël chantons ici.

Lullay, etc.

L’étoile y vis qui la nuit éclaircit Et d’Orient d’où elle était sortie En Bethléem les trois rois amenait Noël nouvelet, Noël chantons ici.

5 COVENTRY CAROL

(Robert Croo, 1534)

Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child, By by, lully lullay. O sisters too, How may we do For to preserve this day This poor youngling, For whom we do sing, By by, lully lullay? Herod, the king, In his raging, Charged he hath this day His men of might, In his own sight, All young children to slay. That woe is me, Poor child for thee! And ever morn and day, For thy parting Neither say nor sing By by, lully lullay!

L’un portant l’or, l’autre la myrrhe aussi, L’autre l’encens qu’il faisait bon sentir. Du Paradis semblait le jardinet. Noël nouvelet, Noël chantons ici. A NEW NOËL Noël, here let us sing a new Noël, in our devotion, let us thank God. Let us sing Noël for a new-born king, Noël, here let us sing a new Noël. Then I heard the song of a little bird who bade the shepherds: Go from here, in Bethlehem you will find the new-born lamb, Noël, here let us sing a new Noël. There I saw the star which lit up the night, and from the East whence it came it led the three kings to Bethlehem. Noël, here let us sing a new Noël. One bearing gold, the second brought myrrh, the third bore fine-perfumed frankincense. The little garden seemed like paradise. Noël, here let us sing a new Noël.

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8 AVEC LES SÉRAPHINS DU CIEL

(M. Porchat)

Avec les séraphins du ciel, chantons le maître; Pasteurs, pour nous sauver, chez nous, il vient de naître; Sa gloire brille dans la nuit, Et vers sa couche nous conduit: Heureuse nouvelle! L’espérance est dans mon coeur, De l’ange rebelle L’homme enfin sera vainqueur. Salut enfant divin, notre espoir notre gage; Des pauvres, des petits reçois d’abord l’hommage: Que peuvent-ils pour t’honorer? T’aimer toujours et t’adorer. Heureuse nouvelle! L’espérance est dans mon coeur, Heureuse nouvelle! L’espérance est dans mon coeur! WITH THE HEAVENLY SERAPHIM With the heavenly seraphim let us sing to our Lord; shepherds, to save us he is born here on earth; his glory shines in the night, and leads us to his crib: Joyful tidings! Hope fills my heart, man will be victorious over the fallen angel. Hail, divine infant, our hope, our pledge; accept the homage of the poor and lowly first: what can they do to honour you? love you for ever and worship you. Joyful tidings! Hope fills my heart. Joyful tidings! Hope fills my heart!

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9 ENTRE LE BŒUF ET L’ÂNE GRIS

(trad. French)

Entre le bœuf et l’âne gris, Dort, dort, dort le petit fils; Mille anges divins, Mille séraphins Volent à l’entour de ce Dieu d’amour. Entre les deux bras de Marie, Dort, dort, dort le petit fils; Mille anges divins, Mille séraphins Volent à l’entour de ce Dieu d’amour. En ce beau jour si solennel, Dort, dort, dort le petit fils; Mille anges divins, Mille séraphins Volent à l’entour de ce Dieu d’amour. BETWEEN THE OX AND THE GREY ASS Between the ox and the grey ass, sleeps, sleeps, sleeps the little child; a thousand heavenly angels, a thousand seraphim fly to encircle this God of love. In Mary’s arms, sleeps, sleeps, sleeps the little child; a thousand heavenly angels, a thousand seraphim fly to encircle this God of love. On this fair and solemn day, sleeps, sleeps, sleeps the little child; a thousand heavenly angels, a thousand seraphim fly to encircle this God of love.

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0 QUELLE EST CETTE ODEUR AGRÉABLE?

(trad. French)

Quelle est cette odeur agréable, Bergers, qui ravit tous nos sens? S’exhale-t-il rien de semblable Au milieu des fleurs du printemps?

! IL EST NÉ LE DIVIN ENFANT

(trad. French)

Il est né le divin enfant, Jouez haut-bois, résonnez musettes: Il est né le divin enfant, Chantons tous son avènement!

Mais quelle éclatante lumière Dans la nuit vient frapper nos yeux! L’astre du jour, dans sa carrière, Fut-il jamais si radieux?

Depuis plus de quatre-mille ans, Nous le promettaient les prophètes, Depuis plus de quatre-mille ans, Nous attendions cet heureux temps. Il est né, etc.

A Bethléem dans une crèche, Il vient de vous naître un Sauveur; Allons, que rien ne vous empêche D’adorer votre Rédempteur.

Ah! Qu’il est beau, qu’il est charmant, Ah! Que ses grâces sont parfaites! Ah! Qu’il est beau, qu’il est charmant, Qu’il est doux, ce divin enfant!

Dieu tout-puissant, gloire éternelle Vous soit rendue jusqu’aux cieux; Que la paix soit universelle, Que la grâce abonde en tous lieux.

Il est né, etc.

WHAT IS THIS SWEET FRAGRANCE? What is this sweet fragrance, shepherds, that beguiles our senses? Do the flowers of spring give off any such perfume? And what dazzling light now strikes our eyes in the night-time! Did the day star on its heavenly flight ever shine with such radiance? At Bethlehem, in a manger, a Saviour is born to you tonight; go now, let nothing hinder you from worshipping your Redeemer. Almighty God, may eternal glory be yours in the heavens; may there be peace on earth, may grace abound in all places.

Ô Jesus, ô Roi tout-puissant, Si petit enfant que vous êtes, Ô Jesus, ô Roi tout-puissant, Regnez sur nous entièrement. Il est né, etc. HE IS BORN, THE DIVINE CHRIST-CHILD He is born, the divine Christ-child, play, you oboes and ring out, you pipes: he is born, the divine Christ-child, let us all sing to welcome his birth! For more than four thousand years, the prophets had promised him to us, for more than four thousand years, we had been awaiting this joyous time. He is born, etc. Ah! How fair he is, how lovely! Ah! How perfect his grace! Ah! How fair he is, how lovely, how gentle he is, the divine Christ-child. He is born, etc.

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O Jesus, o almighty King, though you are but a little babe, o Jesus, o almighty King, reign over us all for evermore. He is born, etc. ^ IN BETHLEHEM TONIGHT

(Norman Gabriel Nurmi, b. 1948))

A bed of hay inside a stable, On a night so cold and deep, A mother rocks a tiny cradle, Her baby lies asleep. Outside a darkened world is mourning, It has not seen the light, But hope is born in Bethlehem, In Bethlehem tonight. A sense of calm within the manger As the cattle murmur low, And there together friend and stranger, The eastern star aglow. Outside an angry world is raging, Prepared to show its might, But peace is born in Bethlehem, In Bethlehem tonight. A gift of hope for all the nations In a cloth of linen torn, A hope of peace and true salvation Within a stable born, Outside a world in awe and wonder Will share this glorious sight, For love is born in Bethlehem, In Bethlehem tonight.

* IN DULCI JUBILO

(trad. German)

In dulci jubilo Now sing with hearts aglow! Our delight and pleasure Lies in praesepio, Like sunshine is our treasure Matris in gremio Alpha es et O! O Jesu parvule, For thee I long alway; Comfort my heart’s blindness, O puer optime, With all thy loving-kindness, O princeps gloriae, Trahe me post te! O Patris caritas! O Nati lenitas! Deeply were we stained Per nostra crimina; But thou for us hast gained Coelorum gaudia. O that we were there! Ubi sunt gaudia In any place but there? There are angels singing Nova cantica, And there the bells are ringing In Regis curia. O that we were there!

Text reproduced with the author’s permission.

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( AWAY IN A MANGER

(words anon.)

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head. The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay, The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes, But little Lord Jesus no crying he makes. I love thee, Lord Jesus! Look down from the sky, And stay by my side until morning is nigh. Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay Close by me forever, and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in thy tender care, And fit us for heaven, to live with thee there. ) THE CHRIST-CHILD’S LULLABY

(collected in Eriskay, words from Father Allan MacDonald) My joy, my love, my darling thou! My treasure new, my rapture thou! My comely, beauteous babe-son thou, Unworthy I to tend to thee. Halleluia. White sun of hope and light art thou! Of love the heart and eye art thou! Tho’ but a tender babe, I bow In heav’nly rapture unto thee. Halleluia.

¡ WEXFORD CAROL

(trad. Irish)

Good people all, this Christmas-time, Consider well, and bear in mind What our good God for us has done, In sending his beloved Son. With Mary holy we should pray To God with love this Christmas day; In Bethlehem upon that morn There was a blessèd Messiah born. The night before that happy tide, The noble Virgin and her guide Were long time seeking up and down To find a lodging in that town. But mark how all things came to pass: From every door repelled, alas! As long foretold, their refuge all Was but an humble ox’s stall. Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep; To whom God’s angels did appear, Which put the shepherds in great fear. ‘Prepare and go’, the angel said, ‘To Bethlehem, be not afraid; For there you’ll find, this happy morn, A princely babe, sweet Jesus born.’ With thankful heart and joyful mind, The shepherds went the babe to find, And as God’s angel had foretold, They did our Saviour Christ behold. Within a manger he was laid, And by his side the virgin maid, Attending on the Lord of Life, Who came on earth to end all strife. English translations of the French texts by Susannah Howe

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Six Noëls Pour la Harpe The Little Road to Bethlehem I Wonder as I Wander People, Look East! In Bethlehem Tonight Concert Variations on Adeste Fideles In Dulci Jubilo Away in a Manger The Christ-Child’s Lullaby Wexford Carol

9:05 2:37 2:31 3:42 3:02 4:59 1:53 2:12 2:53 3:40

Monica Whicher, Soprano • Judy Loman, Harp

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A detailed track list can be found on page 2 of the booklet. The available sung texts can be found in the booklet, and may also be accessed at www.naxos.com/libretti/572510.htm Recorded at St. John Chrysostom Church, Newmarket, Ontario, Canada, from 27th to 30th May, 2010 Producers: Norbert Kraft and Bonnie Silver • Engineer: Norbert Kraft • Booklet notes: Graham Wade Cover: Dreamstime.com

Booklet notes in English

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2:25 3:27 2:45 4:00 3:58

69:46

Disc made in Canada. Printed and assembled in USA.

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The Garden of Jesus In the Bleak Mid-Winter Balulalow Lullay My Liking Coventry Carol Interlude from A Ceremony of Carols Noël Nouvelet Avec les séraphins du ciel Entre le boeuf et l’âne gris Quelle est cette odeur agréable? Il est né le divin enfant

Playing Time

LULLABIES AND CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS

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LULLABIES AND CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS

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LULLABIES AND CAROLS FOR CHRISTMAS

The richly fascinating history of the Christmas carol spans some nine centuries, from the 12th Century until today, bringing together courtly and popular words and music to contemplate and praise the Christ child. Acclaimed by The Guardian as ‘poignantly expressive’, soprano Monica Whicher joins one of the world’s foremost harp virtuosos and former Principal Harpist with the Toronto Symphony, Judy Loman, to interpret carols both old and new, beloved and unfamiliar, many in Ms. Loman’s expert arrangements.