Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Census at Bethlehem - WGA03379

O Kerstnacht, schoner dan de dagen ''(O Christmas Night, more beautiful than any day!)'' is a Dutch hymn that is usually referred to as a Christmas carol, although it does not refer to the birth of Jesus, but rather to the

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

. The poet and playwright

Joost van den Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

wrote it for the opening of the theatre

Schouwburg of Van Campen The Theatre of Van Campen ( nl, Schouwburg van Van Campen, ) was a theatre located at Keizersgracht 384 in Amsterdam. It was the first city theatre, based on the Teatro Olimpico in Italy. Since 1999 the building has been occupied by "" hotel. T ...

in Amsterdam, the stage work ''Gijsbrecht van Aemstel'', whose première was around Christmas 1637. It contains this song as a dance. Following the example of Greek choral singing, van Vondel completed the act with spoken or sung lyrical reflections, which are detached from the actual action. The third act ends with this song sung by nuns "Rey van Clarissen" (reydance of the

Poor Clares The Poor Clares, officially the Order of Saint Clare ( la, Ordo sanctae Clarae) – originally referred to as the Order of Poor Ladies, and later the Clarisses, the Minoresses, the Franciscan Clarist Order, and the Second Order of Saint Francis ...

). (Gijsbrecht, vs. 904 – 950) The dance later came to have a life of its own as a hymn in the Christmas environment. In 1644, it was included in the ''Livre Septième''. It is not clear who was the composer of the melody and the polyphonic phrase, but they were alternately attributed to

Cornelis Padbrué Cornelis is a Dutch form of the male given name Cornelius. Some common shortened versions of Cornelis in Dutch are Cees, Cor, Corné, Corneel, Crelis, Kees, Neel and Nelis. Cornelis (Kees) and Johannes (Jan) used to be the most common given na ...

or Dirk Janszoon Sweelinck. Also in the 20th century, there were still arrangements of the song, including one for four-part church choir by Gaston Feremans and an adaptation by the Dutch church musician Jan van Biezen. Because he did not appreciate the common version – he found the octave jump on "Kerstnacht" inappropriate – he wrote in 1973 a new version of the tune for the "Liedboek voor de Kerken".See the Dutch Wikipedia page: Liedboek voor de Kerken The song gained a degree of fame by the progressive rock band

Focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...

, who in 1974 incorporated the first two verses of the song in their composition

Hamburger Concerto ''Hamburger Concerto'' is the fourth studio album by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus, released in April 1974. It peaked at #20 on the UK charts. The title track is based on ''Variations on a Theme by Haydn'' by Johannes Brahms. The composi ...

, where it can be heard at around 15 minutes into the piece. The text of the first three stanzas – here reproduced in the original spelling of Joost van den Vondels – are: In the ''Liedboek voor de Kerken'' (church hymnal), five of the eight verses were recorded. The proposition ''Wat kan de blind staatzucht brouwen wanneer ze raast uit misvertrouwen'' ('What can lust for blind power do if it rages with mistrust') from the 7th stanza is regularly cited in Dutch to describe tyranny and brutal politics.

External links

*
O Kerstnacht by the Dutch band Focus

O, kerstnacht schoner dan de dagen
im rkk.nl (in Dutch)

References

{{reflist Christmas carols Dutch Christian hymns 1637 in music 17th-century hymns