Christmas Carols: a Poll

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ProVobis said:
If you get the first verse down pat, you’re doing great.

*Adeste fideles laeti triumphantes,
Venite, venite in Bethlehem.
Natum videte Regem angelorum.
Venite adoremus (ter)
Dominum.

Deum de Deo, lumen de lumine
Gestant puellae viscera.
Deum verum, genitum non factum.
Venite adoremus (ter)
Dominum.

Cantet nunc ‘Io’, chorus angelorum;
Cantet nunc aula caelestium,
Gloria! Soli Deo Gloria!
Venite adoremus (ter)
Dominum.

Ergo qui natus die hodierna.
Jesu, tibi sit gloria,
Patris aeterni Verbum caro factum.
Venite adoremus (ter)
Dominum.

En grege relicto, humiles ad cunas,
Vocati pastores adproperant:
Et nos ovanti gradu festinemus,
Venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus Dominum.*
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adeste_Fideles#Lyrics
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uh…what about Joy to the World and the haunting Once in Royal David’s City?
 
TheRealJuliane said:
My husband grew up in England and went to a Catholic boys’ school…They used to sing, “While shepherds washed their socks at night, all seated on the ground…the angel of the Lord came down and gave 'em 'alf a crown.”

😃
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Having studied (for a year) in a school with a lot of British classmates, I remember that one! :D:D

Except that in our version, the angel “pushed them all around”. Maybe he didn’t think they should be washing socks at such an important time… 😉
 
“The First Noel” is a favorite to sing at Christmas, and I also love the “Carol of the Bells” and “Do you Hear What I Hear”.
 
garn9173 said:
Which is what? Sorry, i’m just an at heart Iowa farm boy who might know maybe 5 words of Spanish.

Sorry to derail the thread, but not everyone is a pre-Vatican II Catholic.
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I’m in my mid 20s, far from pre-Vatican II Catholic. You should take a look out of mid-western America, there’s a lot of beautiful art from all over the world in many different languages.
 
Phemie said:
I’m not fluent in Latin but I can sing Adeste Fideles, I learned it when I was 7, over 50 years ago.

I’d much rather sing it in Latin than sing “O Come, All Ye Faithful” or “Peuple fidèle”. Even my Protestant husband can sing it in Latin, he learned it in public school where he took Latin (which wasn’t taught in my Catholic school) and his United Church of Canada parish.
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Although I do like singing Adeste Fideles in English, I do prefer singing it in Latin. It was one of the few things we ever sang in Latin growing up in 80s and 90s. Even the little mountain, farming comunity I spent a lot of my life kn sang it in Latin.

I went to a public high school and we all looked foward to the “Winter” Concert because we would sing a beautiful four-part version of it in Latin with this wonderful descant during the the third verse. The Jewish, Protestant and athiest kids in our choir all loved singing it as well, because it was beautiful and it was well composed and that was how the music director could get away with doing it for many years. It became our school’s tradition to sing it and every chorister looked forward to it each year. (Of course, we did secular and Hannukah pieces as well, since it was a public school.). Unfortunately, the year after I graduated, the school board got involved and outlawed all religious music from the curriculum. The kids weren’t offended by the holiday music even if they didn’t practice the faith, but those adults were.
 
Phemie said:
I’m not fluent in Latin but I can sing Adeste Fideles, I learned it when I was 7, over 50 years ago.

I’d much rather sing it in Latin than sing “O Come, All Ye Faithful” or “Peuple fidèle”. Even my Protestant husband can sing it in Latin, he learned it in public school where he took Latin (which wasn’t taught in my Catholic school) and his United Church of Canada parish.
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“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is always the traditional Entrance song in my parish on Christmas Eve.
Whether one choses to sing all three Hymn translations in Latin, English or French is difficult to transcribe an exact rendition of either of these translations to look similar.

All in all its what your accustom to hearing. The Latin version seems more closer to the English version.

“Peuple fidèle”
  1. Ô peuple fidèle, Jésus vous appelle,
    Venez, triomphants, joyeux, venez en ces lieux !
    Ô peuple fidèle, venez voir le roi des cieux;

    Refrain:

    Que votre amour l’implore,
    Que votre foi l’adore
    Et qu’elle chante encore
    Ce don précieux !
  2. Là, dans l’humble étable, froide et misérable,
    Des bergers le grand amour lui forme une cour !
    Dans cette humble étable
    Accourez à votre tour.

    Que votre amour l’implore,
    Que votre foi l’adore
    Et qu’elle chante encore
    Sa gloire en ce jour !
  3. Esprits de lumière, messagers du Père,
    Et vous, peuples en tous lieux, entonnez, joyeux :
    Paix sur cette terre, et gloire à Dieu dans les cieux !

    Que votre amour l’implore,
    Que votre foi l’adore
    Et qu’elle chante encore
    Ce don précieux !
…
Translated to English

“Faithful people”
  1. O faithful, Jesus calls you,
    Come, triumphant, joyful, come in these places!
    O faithful people, come and see the King of heaven;

    Chorus:

    That your love implore
    That your faith in love
    And she still sings
    This precious gift!
  2. There, in the humble stable, cold and miserable,
    The shepherds love him as a court!
    In this humble stable
    Hasten your turn.

    That your love implore
    That your faith in love
    And she still sings
    In his glory days!
  3. Spirits of light, messengers of the Father,
    And you, people everywhere, sing, joyful
    Peace on earth and glory to God in heaven!

    That your love implore
    That your faith in love
    And she still sings
    This precious gift!
…
LATIN “Adeste Fideles”

Adeste fideles
laeti triumphantes
venite, venite in Bethlehem
Natum videte
Regem angelorum
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus
Dominum

En, grege relicto,
humiles ad cunas,
vocati pastores approperant;
et nos ovanti gradu festinemus.
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus
Dominum

Adeste fideles
laeti triumphantes
venite, venite in Bethlehem
Natum videte
Regem angelorum
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus,
Venite adoremus

Translated to English

Come All Ye Faithful
joyful and triumphant
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold
King of Angels
Come,
Come,
Come
Lord

Lo, leaving their flocks,
low for the cradles,
called shepherds come closer;
we triumphant step hurry.
Come,
Come,
Come
Lord

Come All Ye Faithful
joyful and triumphant
come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold
King of Angels
Come,
Come,
Come
 
Sarabande said:
Although I do like singing Adeste Fideles in English, I do prefer singing it in Latin. It was one of the few things we ever sang in Latin growing up in 80s and 90s. Even the little mountain, farming comunity I spent a lot of my life kn sang it in Latin.

I went to a public high school and we all looked foward to the “Winter” Concert because we would sing a beautiful four-part version of it in Latin with this wonderful descant during the the third verse. The Jewish, Protestant and athiest kids in our choir all loved singing it as well, because it was beautiful and it was well composed and that was how the music director could get away with doing it for many years. It became our school’s tradition to sing it and every chorister looked forward to it each year. (Of course, we did secular and Hannukah pieces as well, since it was a public school.). Unfortunately, the year after I graduated, the school board got involved and outlawed all religious music from the curriculum. The kids weren’t offended by the holiday music even if they didn’t practice the faith, but those adults were.
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That’s horrible, :eek: how does a choir function without some religious music. If you want any sort of historical musical education, you must study religious music. I went to public school, we sang everything from Orthodox Marian chants, to a Mass Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, to other religious works, and for our Winter concert we would sing hymns between choirs (we had 5 main choirs plus 3 smaller elective choirs), including Adeste Fideles, Stille Nacht in German, and many others as well as a Hannukah song. And then would end the concert with Haydn’s Hallelujah chorus. We would always invite the audience to join a long. Thank goodness, for conservative values combined with a classical education.
 
centurionguard said:
“O Come, All Ye Faithful” is always the traditional Entrance song in my parish on Christmas Eve.
Whether one choses to sing all three Hymn translations in Latin, English or French is difficult to transcribe an exact rendition of either of these translations to look similar.

All in all its what your accustom to hearing. The Latin version seems more closer to the English version.

“Peuple fidèle”
  1. Ô peuple fidèle, Jésus vous appelle,
    Venez, triomphants, joyeux, venez en ces lieux !
    Ô peuple fidèle, venez voir le roi des cieux;

    Refrain:

    Que votre amour l’implore,
    Que votre foi l’adore
    Et qu’elle chante encore
    Ce don précieux !
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O, come on, they changed that one too?!?!

I learned:
Peuple fidèle
  • 1 -
    Peuple fidèle le Seigneur t’appelle
    C’est fête sur terre, le Christ est né
    Viens à la crèche voir le roi du monde.
Refrain
En lui viens reconnaître (3)
Ton Dieu, ton Sauveur.
  • 2 -
    Verbe, lumière et splendeur du Père
    Il naît d’une mère, petit enfant
    Dieu véritable, le Seigneur fait homme.
  • 3 -
    Peuple acclame avec tous les anges
    Le Maître des hommes qui vient chez toi
    Dieu qui se donne à tous ceux qu’il aime.
  • 4 -
    Peuple fidèle, en ce jour de fête
    Proclame la gloire de ton Seigneur
    Dieu se fait homme pour montrer qu’il t’aime.
 
jilly4ski said:
That’s horrible, :eek: how does a choir function without some religious music. If you want any sort of historical musical education, you must study religious music. I went to public school, we sang everything from Orthodox Marian chants, to a Mass Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, to other religious works, and for our Winter concert we would sing hymns between choirs (we had 5 main choirs plus 3 smaller elective choirs), including Adeste Fideles, Stille Nacht in German, and many others as well as a Hannukah song. And then would end the concert with Haydn’s Hallelujah chorus. We would always invite the audience to join a long. Thank goodness, for conservative values combined with a classical education.
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I agree, too much actual *choral *music was written for the church (Catholic or Protestant). When you get rid of all that, you’ve gotten rid of much more than just religious music.

Thankfully this school district still allows (I think requires) some sacred music as part of the curriculum, because someone realizes how important it is to a choral program.
 
I voted for Silent Night, but my real favourite is not listed. It is In the Bleak Midwinter.
 
jilly4ski said:
That’s horrible, :eek: how does a choir function without some religious music. If you want any sort of historical musical education, you must study religious music. I went to public school, we sang everything from Orthodox Marian chants, to a Mass Haydn’s Little Organ Mass, to other religious works, and for our Winter concert we would sing hymns between choirs (we had 5 main choirs plus 3 smaller elective choirs), including Adeste Fideles, Stille Nacht in German, and many others as well as a Hannukah song. And then would end the concert with Haydn’s Hallelujah chorus. We would always invite the audience to join a long. Thank goodness, for conservative values combined with a classical education.
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I completely agree. You’re preaching to the choir. 😛 Even in the music programs at public/private universities and conservatories, most of the choral music you sing is sacred/religious. Anyone in music knows that for centuries the Church and other protestant denominations found the best composers to compose, so the majority of choral music was religious in nature. But the non-musician school board was more concerned about being p.c.🤷 I’ve always hoped that they got rid of that policy once they realized that you really can’t do a lot of good choral music without the great religious choral works. I graduated in the 90s, so it may have changed.

But back on track. Another one I love is this setting of “In the Bleak Mid-Winter”. (I like the Holst version as well, but this one is just so sweet.)

youtube.com/watch?v=LYAv8xvBK74&feature=related
 
I voted for Angels from the Reals of Glory, but before that my favourites are:

Oh Little Town of Bethlehem
Adeste Fidelis

Great poll! 😃
 
Sarabande said:
Although I do like singing Adeste Fideles in English, I do prefer singing it in Latin. It was one of the few things we ever sang in Latin growing up in 80s and 90s. Even the little mountain, farming comunity I spent a lot of my life kn sang it in Latin.
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I haven’t heard it done this way but I think the third Latin verse can easily fit into the descant version. What do you (and others) think?

This is what the descant sounds in English.

youtube.com/watch?v=pixwCEVm5ps

youtube.com/watch?v=BuvWSbJBJKY&feature=related
 
Actaeon said:
Another one that gets me is “The Gift” by Garth Brooks (listen to it if you’ve never heard it and even if you don’t like country music!). Another good one by Garth Brooks is “Belleau Wood”… and he positively does the best rendition of “God rest ye merry gentlemen” (which is what I selected for the poll)
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👍
 
I once heard that “Joy to the World” started as a regular hymn and got adopted as a Christmas hymn. Any truth to that?
 
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