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Christmas Night (opera)
''Christmas Night'' (subtitled ''Carols of the Nativity'') is a Christmas-themed album by The Cambridge Singers conducted by John Rutter. Most songs are sung a cappella, on others the choir is accompanied by The City of London Sinfonia. It was first released in 1987 on Rutter’s label Collegium Records, and remastered and re-released (with a new cover artwork) by John Rutter in 2020. The album The CD version of ''Christmas Night'' contains 22 Christmas carols spanning more than six centuries. Most of these have become well known thanks to the Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College in Cambridge. Some arrangements for the carols on the album were written by conductors or arrangers who have worked at King's College over the years. Most carols on the album were written centuries ago, although several are relatively young. For instance, "Candlelight Carol" was written in 1984 by Rutter. Others are a mix of old and new: "There is a Flower" was written by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cambridge Singers
The Cambridge Singers is an English mixed voice chamber choir formed in 1981 by their director John Rutter with the primary purpose of making recordings under their own label Collegium Records. The group initially comprised former singers from the Choir of Clare College, Cambridge, where Rutter had previously been the music director. They have been involved in the last four Fresh Aire albums (about "mankind's curiosities") of the Mannheim Steamroller band, by composer Chip Davis, but they are primarily a classical choral group. They have recorded several highly acclaimed Christmas albums, including ''Christmas Day in the Morning'', '' Christmas Night: Carols of the Nativity'', ''Christmas Star'', ''Christmas with the Cambridge Singers'', and ''The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album''. List of albums * ''Gloria'' (1983 and 2005) with Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and City of London Sinfonia * ''Fauré: Requiem and other sacred music'' (1984, 1988 and 2010) * ''Hurry to Bethl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold Darke
Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the respertoire of Anglican church music. Darke had a fifty-year association with the church of St Michael, Cornhill, in the City of London. Early life Darke was born in Highbury, London, the youngest son of Samuel Darke and Arundel Bourne. He and attended Dame Alice Owen's School in Islington, and studied organ with Walter Parratt in Oxford and composition with Charles Villiers Stanford at the Royal College of Music. He served in the Royal Air Force during World War I. During his RAF service he married Dora Garland, at St Michaels Church, Cornhill, on 25 July 1918. Dora was a violinist and was the first woman to lead the Queen's Hall Orchestra. Career His first organist post was at Emmanuel Church, West Hampstead from 1906 to 1911. He became organist at St Michael Cornhill in 1916, and stay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Away In A Manger
"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. Although it was long claimed to be the work of German religious reformer Martin Luther, the carol is now thought to be wholly American in origin. The two most common musical settings are by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and James Ramsey Murray (1887). Words The popularity of the carol has led to many variants in the words, which are discussed in detail below. The following are taken from Kirkpatrick (1895): Variants Almost every line in the carol has recorded variants. The most significant include the following: * Verse 1, line 1: The earliest sources have "no crib for his bed". "No crib for a bed" is found in Murray (1887). * Verse 1, line 2: The earliest sources have "lay down his sweet head." "Laid" is first found in "Little Children's Book ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Saw A Maiden
"Lullay, mine liking" is a Middle English lyric poem or carol of the 15th century which frames a narrative describing an encounter of the Nativity with a song sung by the Virgin Mary to the infant Christ. The refrain is an early example of an English lullaby; the term "lullaby" is thought to originate with the "lu lu" or "la la" sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and "by" or "bye bye", another lulling sound (for example in the similarly ancient Coventry Carol).H. Carpenter and M. Prichard, ''The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature'' (Oxford University Press, 1984), pp. 326. There are a number of surviving medieval English verses associated with the birth of Jesus which take the form of a lullaby, of which this is probably the most famous example. Written by an anonymous hand, the text is found uniquely in Sloane MS 2593, a collection of medieval lyrics now held in the British Library. Originally intended to be sung, no evidence of the work's musical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Scheidt
Samuel Scheidt (baptised 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with Sweelinck, the distinguished Dutch composer, whose work had a clear influence on Scheidt's style. On his return to Halle, Scheidt became court organist, and later Kapellmeister, to the Margrave of Brandenburg. Unlike many German musicians, for example Heinrich Schütz, he remained in Germany during the Thirty Years' War, managing to survive by teaching and by taking a succession of smaller jobs until the restoration of stability allowed him to resume his post as Kapellmeister. When Samuel Scheidt lost his job because of Wallenstein, he was appointed in 1628 as musical director of three churches in Halle, including the Market Church. Scheidt was the first internationally significant German composer for the organ, and represents the flowe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Terry (musicologist)
Sir Richard Runciman Terry (3 January 1864 – 18 April 1938) was an English organist, choir director and musicologist. He is noted for his pioneering revival of Tudor liturgical music. Early years Richard Terry was born in 1864 in Ellington, Northumberland. At the age of 11 he started playing the organ at the local church. Educated at various schools in South Shields, St Albans and London. In 1881 Terry was living in Jarrow and working as a Pupil Teacher. Terry then spent seventeen months as a non-collegiate person at Oxford (October 1887 to May 1889) and two years at Cambridge (1888–90), where he went as a non-collegiate student but became a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge. There he also became a music critic for ''The Cambridge Review''. At Cambridge, he was much influenced by the Professor of Music, Charles Villiers Stanford and the King's Chapel organist Arthur Henry Mann who taught him the techniques of choral singing and the training of boys' voices. Caree ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myn Lyking
"Lullay, mine liking" is a Middle English lyric poem or carol of the 15th century which frames a narrative describing an encounter of the Nativity with a song sung by the Virgin Mary to the infant Christ. The refrain is an early example of an English lullaby; the term "lullaby" is thought to originate with the "lu lu" or "la la" sound made by mothers or nurses to calm children, and "by" or "bye bye", another lulling sound (for example in the similarly ancient Coventry Carol).H. Carpenter and M. Prichard, ''The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature'' (Oxford University Press, 1984), pp. 326. There are a number of surviving medieval English verses associated with the birth of Jesus which take the form of a lullaby, of which this is probably the most famous example. Written by an anonymous hand, the text is found uniquely in Sloane MS 2593, a collection of medieval lyrics now held in the British Library. Originally intended to be sung, no evidence of the work's musical setti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Cornelius
Carl August Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. Life He was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard (1793–1843) and Friederike (1789–1867) Cornelius, actors in Mainz and Wiesbaden. From an early age he played the violin and composed, eventually studying with Tekla Griebel-Wandall and composition with Heinrich Esser in 1841. He lived with his painter uncle Peter von Cornelius in Berlin from 1844 to 1852, and during this time he met prominent figures such as Alexander von Humboldt, the Brothers Grimm, Friedrich Rückert and Felix Mendelssohn. Cornelius's first mature works (including the opera ''Der Barbier von Bagdad'') were composed during his brief stay in Weimar (1852–1858). His next place of residence was Vienna, where he lived for five years. It was in Vienna that Cornelius began a friendship with Richard Wagner. At the latter's behest, Cornelius moved to Munich in 1864, where he mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patrick Hadley
Patrick Arthur Sheldon Hadley (5 March 1899 – 17 December 1973) was a British composer. Biography Patrick Sheldon Hadley was born on 5 March 1899 in Cambridge. His father, William Sheldon Hadley, was at that time a fellow of Pembroke College. His mother, Edith Jane, was the daughter of the Revd Robert Foster, chaplain to the Royal Hibernian Military School in Dublin. Patrick attended St Ronan's Preparatory School at Worthing, Sussex and Winchester College in Hampshire. However the First World War interrupted his education. He enlisted in the army and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery. He managed to survive unscathed until the last weeks of the war, when he received an injury necessitating the below-knee amputation of his right leg. This profoundly damaged his confidence and also caused him to perhaps drink more than was wise; he was in constant pain, for which alcohol provided some relief. Patrick's elder brother Peyton Sheldon Hadley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Sing Of A Maiden
"I syng of a mayden" (sometimes titled "As Dewe in Aprille") is a Middle English lyric poem or carol of the 15th century celebrating the Annunciation and the Virgin Birth of Jesus. It has been described as one of the most admired short vernacular English poems of the late Middle Ages.Laura Saetveit MilesThe Annunciation as Model of Meditation: Stillness, Speech and Transformation in Middle English Drama and Lyricin ''Marginalia'', Vol. 2 – 2004–2005 Cambridge Yearbook (Cambridge, 2005). Written by an anonymous hand, the text is now only to be found in British Library Sloane MS 2593, a collection of medieval lyrics now held in the British Library, although contemporary sources suggest it was well known in its day. Originally intended to be sung, no evidence of the work's musical setting survives, and since its rediscovery and popularisation it has formed the basis for a number of modern choral and vocal works. Analysis The work has been described by Laura Saetveit Miles, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
"Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing-day" is an English carol usually attributed as "traditional"; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandys' ''Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern'' of 1833. However, it is almost certainly of a much earlier date; Studwell (2006) places it in the 16th century.William Emmett Studwell, ''An Easy Guide to Christmas Carols: Their Past, Present and Future'', Lyre of Orpheus Press, 2006, p. 71. Cahill (2006) based on the phrase "to see the legend of my play" speculates that the text may be based on an earlier version associated with a mystery play of the late medieval period. It is most well known in John Gardner's adaptation (op. 75.2, 1965), but numerous other composers have made original settings of it or arranged the traditional tune, including Gustav Holst, Igor Stravinsky, David Willcocks, John Rutter, Philip Lawson, James Burton, Ronald Corp, Philip Stopford, Andrew Carter, Jamie W. Hall and Jack Gibbons. The verses of the hymn progress t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O Tannenbaum
"" (; "O fir tree", English: O Christmas Tree) is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song which was unrelated to Christmas, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree. History The modern lyrics were written in 1824 by the Leipzig organist, teacher and composer Ernst Anschütz. A '' Tannenbaum'' is a fir tree. The lyrics do not actually refer to Christmas, or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Instead, they refer to the fir's evergreen quality as a symbol of constancy and faithfulness. Anschütz based his text on a 16th-century Silesian folk song by Melchior Franck, "". August Zarnack in 1819 wrote a tragic love song inspired by this folk song, taking the evergreen, "faithful" fir tree as contrasting with a faithless lover. The folk song first became associated with Christmas with Anschütz, who added two verses of his own to the first, traditional verse. The custom of the Christmas tree developed in the course of the 19th century, and the song c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
