The "Sussex Carol" is a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

popular in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, sometimes referred to by its first line "On Christmas night all Christians sing". Its words were first published by

Luke Wadding Luke Wadding, O.F.M. (16 October 158818 November 1657), was an Irish Franciscan friar and historian. Life Early life Wadding was born on 16 October 1588 in Waterford to Walter Wadding of Waterford, a wealthy merchant, and his wife, Anastasia ...

, a 17th-century Irish bishop, in a work called ''Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs'' (1684). It is unclear whether Wadding wrote the song or was recording an earlier composition.On Christmas Night
www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com Both the text and the tune to which it is now sung were discovered and written down by

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English-born collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was the pre-eminent activist in the development of t ...

in Buckland, Gloucestershire, and

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, who heard it being sung by a Harriet Verrall of

Monk's Gate Monk's Gate is a hamlet in the civil parish of Nuthurst, in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A281 road southeast from Horsham. Hymn tune Although it is a tiny settlement, its name is well known around the world as ...

, near

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

(hence "Sussex Carol").Cecil Sharp, '' English Folk-Carols'' (London: Novello & Co., 1911), pp. 24-25. The tune to which it is generally sung today is the one Vaughan Williams took down from Mrs. Verrall and published in 1919. An earlier version using a different tune and a variation on the first line, "On Christmas night true Christians sing", was published as early as 1878 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

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 ...

's ''Christmas Carols New and Old''. The carol has been arranged by a number of composers. Vaughan Williams' setting is found in his ''Eight Traditional English Carols''. Several years earlier, Vaughan Williams had included the carol in his ''

Fantasia on Christmas Carols Fantasia International Film Festival (also known as Fantasia-fest, FanTasia, and Fant-Asia) is a film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. Regularly held in July of each year, it is valued by both hardcore ...

'', first performed at the 1912

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester and Worcester) and originally featu ...

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Anglican Diocese of Hereford in Hereford, England. A place of worship has existed on the site of the present building since the 8th century or earlier. The present building was begun in 1079. S ...

Erik Routley Erik Reginald Routley (; 31 October 1917, Brighton, UK – 8 October 1982, Nashville TN) was an English Congregational churchman, theologian and musician and arguably the most significant hymnologist of the 20th century. His nearly 40 books on theo ...

's arrangement in the 1961 ''University Carol Book'' adds a modal inflection to the setting. The carol often appears at the King's College "

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The story of the fall of humanity, the ...

", where it is performed in arrangements by either

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambr ...

Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge in 1974–1982 and of the Royal Scot ...

, both former directors of music at the chapel.Order of Service 2002
''kings.cam.ac.uk'' Willcocks's arrangement appears in the first OUP ''

Carols for Choirs ''Carols for Choirs'' is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, and is a widely used source of ...

''.Willcocks, Jacques, ''Carols for Choirs'' (Oxford University Press)

Text

A number of variations on the text exist, although all feature the repetition of the first two stanzas. Below is a comparison between the text collected by Cecil Sharp in Gloucestershire, that of

in Sussex (the version used in his ''Fantasia'' and both the

and

arrangements). The version printed by Bramley and Stainer in 1878 is closer to the earliest known version by

from 1684, but it is clear that the original does not fit the modern tune.

References

External links

*
"Sussex Carol"
(arr.

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

) sung by the

Choir of King's College, Cambridge The Choir of King's College, Cambridge is an English Anglican choir. It is considered one of today's most accomplished and renowned representatives of the great English choral tradition. It was created by King Henry VI, who founded King's Coll ...

{{Authority control Christmas carols English folk songs 17th-century hymns Music in Sussex Songwriter unknown

Text

See also

References

External links