"The First Nowell", also known as "The First Noel (or Noël)", is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier.The First Nowell
''Hymns and Carols of Christmas''. "carol of the 16th or 17th century, but possibly dating from as early as the 13th Century." Barrie Jones (ed.), ''The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music'', Routledge, 2014, s.v. "carol", "Christmas carols were common as early as the 15th century. ..Many carols, such as '

God Rest You Merry Gentlemen "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection (iii. 452), and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy", and by other varia ...

' and 'The First Nowell', date from the 16th century or earlier." It is listed as number 682 in the

Roud Folk Song Index The Roud Folk Song Index is a database of around 250,000 references to nearly 25,000 songs collected from oral tradition in the English language from all over the world. It is compiled by Steve Roud (born 1949), a former librarian in the London ...

Origin

"The First Nowell" is of Cornish origin. Its current form was first published in ''Carols Ancient and Modern'' (1823) and ''Gilbert and Sandys Carols'' (1833), both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged and edited by Davies Gilbert (who also wrote extra lyrics) for ''Hymns and Carols of God''. ''Nowell'' is an Early Modern English synonym of " Christmas" from French ''Noël'' "the Christmas season", ultimately from Latin ''natalis

ies The initialism IES may refer to: Government organizations * Indian Economic Service * Indian Education Service, in British India * Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the European Commission * Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S ...

' " ayof birth". The word was regularly used in the

burden Burden or burthen may refer to: People * Burden (surname), people with the surname Burden Places * Burden, Kansas, United States * Burden, Luxembourg Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Burden'' (2018 film), an American drama film * ' ...

of carols in the Middle Ages towards the early modern period; Sir Christèmas (

Ritson Manuscript The Ritson Manuscript (London, British Library, Add.5665) is a late fifteenth-century English choirbook, that is a major source for English carols. In addition to 44 carols, it includes three masses, 23 motets, several other sacred pieces, and se ...

), "Nowell sing we now all and some" ( Trinity Carol Roll) and "Nowel - out of youre slepe arise and wake" (

Selden Carol Book The ''Selden Carol Book'' is a medieval carol manuscript held by the Bodleian Library in Oxford (MS Selden B.26). Along with the Trinity Carol Roll, with which it shares five contemporaneous carols and texts (for example the Agincourt Carol), it ...

) being 15th century examples. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. Writing in the '' Journal of the Folk-Song Society'' in 1915, Anne Gilchrist notes it was not recorded prior to Sandys' publication. She speculated based on a set of church gallery parts discovered in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

that the tune may have had its origin as a

treble Treble may refer to: In music: *Treble (sound), tones of high frequency or range, the counterpart of bass *Treble voice, a choirboy or choirgirl singing in the soprano range *Treble (musical group), a three-piece girl group from the Netherlands *T ...

part to another carol "Hark, hark what news the angels bring"; her suggestion was that the treble part was passed down

orally The word oral may refer to: Relating to the mouth * Relating to the mouth, the first portion of the alimentary canal that primarily receives food and liquid **Oral administration of medicines ** Oral examination (also known as an oral exam or oral ...

and was later remembered as the melody rather than a harmony. A conjectural reconstruction of this earlier version can be found in the ''

New Oxford Book of Carols ''The New Oxford Book of Carols'' is a collection of vocal scores of Christmas carols. It was first published in 1992 by Oxford University Press (OUP) and was edited by Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott. It is a widely used source of carols in amo ...

''. Today, "The First Nowell" is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer

John Stainer Sir John Stainer (6 June 1840 – 31 March 1901) was an English composer and organist whose music, though seldom performed today (with the exception of ''The Crucifixion'', still heard at Passiontide in some churches of the Anglican Communi ...

, first published in his ''Carols, New and Old'' in 1871. Variations of its theme are included in Victor Hely-Hutchinson's '' Carol Symphony''. American folklorist James Madison Carpenter made audio recordings of several traditional versions of the song in Cornwall in the early 1930s, which can be heard online via the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library.

Textual comparison

In common with many traditional songs and carols the lyrics vary across books. The versions compared below are taken from the '' New English Hymnal'' (1986) (which is the version used in

Henry Ramsden Bramley Henry Ramsden Bramley (4 June 1833 – February 1917) was an English clergyman and hymnologist perhaps best known for his collaborations with the composer Sir John Stainer.

and

's ''Carols, New and Old''),Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer
The First Nowell
in ''Carols New and Old'' (London: Novello, Ewer & Co., ca 1878).''New English Hymnal'', (Canterbury Press, 1986), No. 36.

Ralph Dunstan Ralph Dunstan (born 17 Nov 1857; died 2 Apr 1933) was born at Carnon Downs in the parish of Feock, Cornwall and is buried at Perranzabuloe. He is honoured now as one of the greatest song collectors in the Cornish musical tradition. Dunstan is be ...

's gallery version in the ''Cornish Songbook'' (1929)Ralph Dunstan, ''The Cornish Song Book'' (London: Reid Bros., Ltd., 1929), pp. 126. and Reverend Charles Lewis Hutchins's version in ''Carols Old and Carols New'' (1916).Rev. Charles Lewis Hutchins, ''Carols Old and Carols New'' (Boston: Parish Choir, 1916), No. 643. The Annunciation to the shepherds and the Adoration of the shepherds are episodes in the Nativity of Jesus described in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke ( Luke 2). The Star of Bethlehem appears in the story of the Magi (the Wise Men) in the Gospel of Matthew; it does not appear in the story of the shepherds.

Charts

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
version

Whitney Houston version

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Glee Cast ''Glee'' (stylized as ''glee'') is an American musical comedy-drama television series that aired on the Fox network in the United States from May 19, 2009, to March 20, 2015. It centers on the glee club called the New Directions at the fictional ...
version

Gabby Barrett version

References

External links

* Free arrangements fo
piano
an
voice
from ''Cantorion.org'' {{DEFAULTSORT:First Noel, The Christmas carols Cornish folk songs Crash Test Dummies songs Bob Dylan songs Elvis Presley songs Songs about Jesus Aly & AJ songs