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I woke up last night remembering this song. I haven't sung it since eighth grade girls' chorus. Our choir teacher was a gifted pianist. It gave me chills to hear him play the exciting intro to this song, which we called "O Bambino". I think he took many of the songs we sang in the early seventies from the radio; The New Christy Minstrels covered it.
At the time I thought we were singing in Spanish, but when I took Spanish for four years in high school, the words didn't match up. I forgot about the song until this morning, when I found out I was singing in Italian.
Here it is:
This Italian folk carol has been recorded by a number of artists, including Sinatra.
"One cold and blessed winter
In ancient Bethelem,
A Child was born to save us;
Sing 'Halleluyah, amen.
Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del cielo,
E vieni in'una grotta,
Al freddo, al gielo.
O Bambino, mio divino,
Io ti vedo qui tremar.
O Dio beato,
O quanto ti costo la vermi amato."
The melody was written first, by Alphonsus Liguori, (1696-1787), and the lyrics were written by none other than Pope Pius IX, (1846-1878 )
The full four verses are:
Tu scendi dalle stelle
O Re del Cielo
E vieni in una grotta
Al freddo al gelo
O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ah, quanti ti costo
L'avermi amato
A te che sei del mondo,
Il creatore
Mancano panni e fuoco,
O mio Signore
Caro eletto, Pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà,
Piu m'innamora
Giacche ti fece
Amor povero ancora
Which translates as:
From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter's icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff'ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
Thou art the world's Creator,
God's own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire
For Thee, Divine Lord.
Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, o Love Divine,
Will'st now so poor to be.
Boy, I hope this works--I found an absolutely beautiful snippet of this song by Luciano Pavarotti and the Vienna Choir Boys!
I woke up last night remembering this song. I haven't sung it since eighth grade girls' chorus. Our choir teacher was a gifted pianist. It gave me chills to hear him play the exciting intro to this song, which we called "O Bambino". I think he took many of the songs we sang in the early seventies from the radio; The New Christy Minstrels covered it.
At the time I thought we were singing in Spanish, but when I took Spanish for four years in high school, the words didn't match up. I forgot about the song until this morning, when I found out I was singing in Italian.
Here it is:
This Italian folk carol has been recorded by a number of artists, including Sinatra.
"One cold and blessed winter
In ancient Bethelem,
A Child was born to save us;
Sing 'Halleluyah, amen.
Tu scendi dalle stelle,
O Re del cielo,
E vieni in'una grotta,
Al freddo, al gielo.
O Bambino, mio divino,
Io ti vedo qui tremar.
O Dio beato,
O quanto ti costo la vermi amato."
The melody was written first, by Alphonsus Liguori, (1696-1787), and the lyrics were written by none other than Pope Pius IX, (1846-1878 )
The full four verses are:
Tu scendi dalle stelle
O Re del Cielo
E vieni in una grotta
Al freddo al gelo
O Bambino mio Divino
Io ti vedo qui a tremar,
O Dio Beato
Ah, quanti ti costo
L'avermi amato
A te che sei del mondo,
Il creatore
Mancano panni e fuoco,
O mio Signore
Caro eletto, Pargoletto,
Quanto questa povertà,
Piu m'innamora
Giacche ti fece
Amor povero ancora
Which translates as:
From starry skies descending,
Thou comest, glorious King,
A manger low Thy bed,
In winter's icy sting;
O my dearest Child most holy,
Shudd'ring, trembling in the cold!
Great God, Thou lovest me!
What suff'ring Thou didst bear,
That I near Thee might be!
Thou art the world's Creator,
God's own and true Word,
Yet here no robe, no fire
For Thee, Divine Lord.
Dearest, fairest, sweetest Infant,
Dire this state of poverty.
The more I care for Thee,
Since Thou, o Love Divine,
Will'st now so poor to be.
Boy, I hope this works--I found an absolutely beautiful snippet of this song by Luciano Pavarotti and the Vienna Choir Boys!
When I was in fourth grade, our church worshipped in what would one day be my high school. My Sunday school class met in the teacher's lunchroom just off the cafeteria. Students called it the fishbowl. The little room had a glass wall from floor to ceiling. One day I would write an essay for a school writing contest in that room--didn't win. In 1967, though, it was my Sunday school room. I learned the definition of a new word in that class, a word which would one day figure in Across the Wide River: prejudice.
Elizabeth Reese was my teacher. When my brother was born December 14, 1967, we three older kids stayed with her family. She baked cookies! Little did I know that her husband Virgil, our song director, worked at the time with my future father-in-law, whom I didn't meet until 11 years later.
Mrs. Reese has a lovely alto voice. She wanted us to sing a Christmas carol one Sunday, but she was amazed that none of us had ever heard of it. She proceeded to sing "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" to us, a capella. Each time I hear that song, I hear Mrs. Reese, too.
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around,
And glory shone around.
The Rankins may have sung this carol. It was written in 1700 by Nahum Tate. The beautiful music was composed in 1728 by none other than Handel.
When we moved back to Ohio in 1966, I was in third grade. We moved there in October, and my class was already getting ready for Christmas Around the World, a Christmas play. Each class was assigned a different country. I think we were Germany. Anyway, we practiced today's song many times. I'm sorry that I can't find a music file, but it's a very simple melody. Say it starts at the 'Do' at the end of the scale. The first line goes down: "Do, Ti, La, So," then back up, "So, La, Ti, Do," get it? Second line is the same. The refrain goes, "Do, Ti, Ti, So" then echoes, "Ti, Ti, So". Too complicated to continue! I wish I knew the real notes. But I did find the words:
While by my sheep I watched at night,
Glad tidings brought an angel bright:
[Refrain:]
How great my joy, great my joy,
Joy, joy joy,
Joy, joy joy,
Praise we the Lord in heav'n on high.
Praise we the Lord in heav'n on high.
There shall be born, so He did say,
In Bethlehem a Child today:
[Refrain]
There shall He lie in manger mean,
Who shall redeem the world from sin:
[Refrain]
This gift of God we'll cherish well,
That ever joy my heart shall fill.
[Refrain]
Lord, evermore to me be nigh,
Then shall my heart be filled with joy!
So the big night came, and we were so excited! Except we were a little jealous of another class, who got to do Christmas in America. They got to sing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree". They danced around a tree on stage. They wore their pajamas! It was so much fun to watch them. Uh-huh, I watched the whole thing from the audience. I had laryngitis! Since then, I've lost my voice right around Christmas more than once. Sigh.
Hooray! I found a link:
More baking for the church Christmas Bake and Craft Sale today. Tomorrow morning at nine is the deadline. I'm also donating some signed copies of Across the Wide River for the church to sell. It's not exactly a craft (I always say I'm craft-impaired), but I did write it myself. :-)
I had a beard when I was a little girl. Yes, when I was eight, I stood in my church's Living Nativity Scene. I was one of the three wise men that first year, and if you want to make an eight-year old girl look like a wise man, you need to apply a beard.
I stood in the nativity scene every year until I was out of high school. We held the display December 21 through Christmas Eve. We stood in half-hour shifts each night from seven to nine, then turned out the lights and switched places with the other crew. Cookies and hot chocolate waited for us inside the church during our break.
Here's the thing: our youth leader and Sunday school teachers solemnly cautioned us to think about the Christmas story as we stood. Christmas carols played over a loudspeaker, and our dear late pastor read (on tape) the Christmas story from the gospels of Matthew and Luke. He also read the prophecies about Jesus' birth from the book of Isaiah during the playing of today's song, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel".
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Refrain
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
We wise men, shepherds, angels, and Joseph and Mary were to keep our eyes on baby Jesus (a doll swaddled and laid in a manger--too cold for a real baby) and to pay no attention to the people who came to see the nativity scene. Many years a donkey and some sheep distracted us with sudden bleats and brays. Through it all, I kept my attention riveted on baby Jesus. That's about as far as I was able to see! I wasn't allowed to wear my glasses. Mary, Joseph, the wise men, and the shepherds wore no gloves! Wow, were those metal shepherd crooks cold! I learned to lean the crook against my shoulder to spare my poor fingers. Luckiest of all were the angels, who wore thin white gloves. The catch was, angels had to hold their arms and hands in the praying position. Ouch. The only time we were supposed to move was when no one was in the audience. We'd blow on our hands, shift around to get comfortable, and then freeze.
One of my best childhood friends came with her family every Christmas Eve to see our Nativity Scene before going to Midnight Mass at her church, but I never saw her. I only saw baby Jesus.
Today I'm baking cookies for our church bake and craft sale. I just made the cinnamon jumbles and the whole house smells good. I got the recipe from the "Just Among Friends" Ripley, Ohio cookbook. Back to work--more Christmas carols soon.
Okay, I can hardly sing this song without choking up. I've sung it in high school chorus and also in the youth choir at my church. I sang second soprano, and the midi file I chose to include clearly plays that part. Don't forget the echo after the "Do you..." questions. Have fun!
Do You Hear What I Hear
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
do you see what I see? (echo)
Way up in the sky, little lamb,
do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite!
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea!
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king,
do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold!
Said the king to the people everywhere,
listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people everywhere!
listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light! Bring us light!
I was in chorus for the first time in sixth grade. What a joy! I love to sing, and we harmonized. After trying to teach my brother and sister to harmonize when we sang in the car, it was wonderful to sing with people who already knew how. For our Christmas program, we sang "Mary's Boy Child.'' You can listen to the original Harry Belafonte recording here:
"Mary's Boy Child"
Long time ago in Bethlehem
So the Holy Bible say
Mary's boy child, Jesus Christ
Was born on Christmas day.
Hark, now hear the angels sing
A new King born today
And man will live forever more
Because of Christmas day.
We sang it bouncy, more in the calypso style. The melody and the words are beautiful. I can still hear us singing it. I went to a public school. Do you think kids would be allowed to sing this lovely song for a school program today?
The Rankin family held family worship at home. Johnny Rankin wrote of his joy when the family sang "those good old hymns" together.
My dad got us a Christmas album at a gas station one year. It was called Firestone Presents Your Christmas Favorites Volume 7. The record had a medley by the Vienna Choir Boys that included "Ding Dong Merrily on High", which was very pretty and intricate. The next one was "The Bells of Christmas". For some reason, this song really resonated with me. I couldn't find a link to the tune or the words, so I'll just write down the lyrics from memory. Hope I get it right:
The bells of Christmas are ringing
To tell of His triumphant birth
And all God's children are kneeling
To the child who brought peace to the earth!
Refrain
They ring (ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling), how they ring
To tell us that Christ is born!
They sing (ting-a-ling-a-ling, ting-a-ling-a-ling), how they sing
The bells of Christmas morn!
I wish you could hear it! It's a very joyful song.
We began attending one church when I was eight years old. At Christmastime, I heard a new carol (new to me, anyway) there. It was called "We Three Kings", and it was lovely, sung in a minor key. It's also very visual.
This carol was written in 1857 by John H. Hopkins, Jr. I have a hard time realizing that at the time of Across the Wide River, neither of these first two carols had been written!
Here's the first verse with refrain:
We three kings of Orient are;
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain, moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.
Refrain
O star of wonder, star of light,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.
When I was older, I learned that the three gifts the magi brought symbolized Jesus Christ's life, as shown in the succeeding verses. I appreciate the mini-sermons in hymns and carols.
Sing along here:
I think the line in today's title is my favorite of any Christmas carol. How I wish I could have seen the star that shone down on the place where Jesus lay! What unearthly beauty.
Here's the first verse of There's a Song in the Air:
There’s a song in the air! There’s a star in the sky!
There’s a mother’s deep prayer and a baby’s low cry!
And the star rains its fire while the beautiful sing,
For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a King!
The words were written by Josiah G. Holland in 1872. This tune was composed by Karl P. Harrington in 1904. I got the information and the link from The Cyber Hymnal:
The Cyber Hymnal. Thousands of Christian hymns & Gospel songs from many denominations—lyrics, MIDI files, scores, pictures, history & more. Searchable, advanced Autoplay feature, free downloads. New entries every week. User friendly. Biggest site of its kind on the Internet.
Two thumbs up! The link for the words and music is here:
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers has compiled a list of the 25 most-played holiday songs for the past five years. The top ten were in my local newspaper:
10. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Gene Autry
9. Sleigh Ride, the Ronettes
8. The Little Drummer Boy, the Harry Simone Chorale
7. Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms
6. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!, Andy Williams
5. White Christmas, Bing Crosby
4. Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Bruce Springsteen
3. Winter Wonderland, Eurythmics
2. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, the Pretenders
1. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire), Nat "King" Cole
I've sung and enjoyed them all, but only The Little Drummer Boy mentions the real reason I celebrate Christmas. Christmas is when Jesus Christ was born.
From now until Christmas, I'll post a different Christmas carol and link here every day. Let's treasure the real Christmas together.
I love my nieces and nephews. They are wonderful, and I love being their aunt. I have ten, and their age range is from 26 to 5 years old. Put me in a room with my peers and with kids and I'm over there with the kids, hands down.
Back in the time of Across the Wide River, people used 'aunt' and 'uncle' as terms of address for older people, even if one was not related to them. The Reverend John Rankin was called Uncle Johnny by many in Ripley. Elderly slaves were often addressed that way, especially to show respect for elders who were strangers: "May I help you with that bundle, Auntie?" You've probably heard of Uncle Tom's Cabin, which is another example of that form of address.
When I was young, we always addressed my mom's Kentucky sister and sisters-in-law as Aunt Hester, Aunt Margie, Aunt Janet, etc. Uncles were Uncle Edwin, Uncle Clayton, Uncle Junior (that's another story), etc. My cousins said the same of my mom and dad. Once, a group of at least ten cousins were playing 'Colored Eggs' at my grandma's house. My dad loves kids (I got this trait from him, I think), and he was playing, too. The wolf guessed his color and my dad zoomed away, running with exaggerated force around the big old house as he tried to stay one step ahead of the wolf. The air was so thick with screams of "Uncle Walt! Uncle Walt!" that we could hardly hear ourselves think. Imagine my surprise when I heard myself hollering "Uncle Walt!" at my own dad!
I'll be busy the next few days, so here are my daily thanks in advance:
Today I'm thankful for last night's sunset. I saw it while stopped in traffic on the way home from a hair appointment. While I waited through several cycles of a traffic light on a high bluff of the Scioto River, the cloud colors muted from glowing bright to swirled pastels. Don't know how God managed that, but glimpsed through the bare black branches and twigs of trees, the sky was spectacular.
Tomorrow I'll be thankful for family.
Friday I'll be thankful for good weather and a chance to be outside in late November in Ohio. Pssst--I've never done the 'Black Friday' shopping thing. I'd rather find my bargains online.
Saturday I'll be thankful for no alarm clock wake-up call at 5:30.
Sunday I'll remember Whom I'm thanking. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from above, and I'm grateful to God for all of them.
