"Personent hodie" 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 or ...

originally published in the 1582 Finnish song book ''

Piae Cantiones ''Piae Cantiones ecclesiasticae et scholasticae veterum episcoporum'' (in English ''Pious ecclesiastical and school songs of the ancient bishops'') is a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. It was compiled by Jacobus F ...

'', a volume of 74 Medieval songs with Latin texts collected by

Jacobus Finno Jacobus Petri Finno (about 1540–1588), sometimes known as Jaakko Finno or the proper Finnish form of his fake name Jaakko Suomalainen (James the Finn), was a Finnish priest and the rector (headmaster) of the Cathedral School of Turku. He was the ...

(Jaakko Suomalainen), a Swedish

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

cleric, and published by T.P. Rutha. The song book had its origins in the libraries of cathedral song schools, whose repertory had strong links with medieval

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

al students from Finland and Sweden had studied for generations. A melody found in a 1360 manuscript from the nearby

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

n city of

Moosburg Moosburg an der Isar (Central Bavarian: ''Mooschbuag on da Isa'') is a town in the ''Landkreis'' Freising of Bavaria, Germany. The oldest town between Regensburg and Italy, it lies on the river Isar at an altitude of 421 m (1381 ft). ...

in Germany is highly similar, and it is from this manuscript that the song is usually dated."On This Day Earth Shall Ring" a
hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
URL accessed 4 January 2009

Textual origins

The

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

text is probably a

musical parody Parody music, or musical parody, involves changing or copying existing (usually well known) musical ideas, and/or lyrics, or copying the particular style of a composer or performer, or even a general style of music. In music, parody has been us ...

of an earlier 12th century song beginning "", written in honour of

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Dem ...

, the patron saint of Russia, sailors and children – to whom he traditionally brings gifts on his feast day, 6 December. Hugh Keyte and

Andrew Parrott Andrew Parrott (born 10 March 1947) is a British conductor, perhaps best known for his pioneering "historically informed performances" of pre-classical music. He conducts a wide range of repertoire, including contemporary music. He conducted th ...

note that two of the verses have an unusual double repeat (", -', -' "; " '-, '-, '"). In "", these were used to illustrate the three boys and three girls saved by St Nicholas from drowning and prostitution, respectively. The text was probably re-written for the Feast of the Holy Innocents (28 December) when choristers and their " boy bishop" traditionally displaced the senior clergy from the choir stalls. The carol is still often associated with Holy Innocents' Day.Robert Cummings, "Personent hodie" at

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

URL accessed 4 January 2009 Songs from continued to be performed in Finland until the 19th century. The book became well known in Britain after a rare copy of owned by Peter of Nyland was given as a gift to the British Minister in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

. He subsequently gave it to John Mason Neale in 1852, and it was from this copy that Neale, in collaboration with Thomas Helmore published songs in two collections in 1853 and 1854 respectively.Ralph Vaughan Williams, Martin Shaw (ed.), note to J.M. Neale "January Carol" the '' Oxford Book of Carols'' (London: Oxford University Press, 1928), p.291.

Translations

The most common English translation of the text is by "James M. Joseph", a pseudonym of the composer Jane M. Joseph (1894–1929). She translates the title as "On this day earth shall ring", although there are several other English translations.Hugh Keyte, Andrew Parrott, "''Personent Hodie'', On This Day Earth Shall Ring" in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'', Vol. 133, No. 1795 (September 1992), pp. 1–4 Other versions include

Elizabeth Poston Elizabeth Poston (24 October 1905 – 18 March 1987) was an English composer, pianist and writer. Early life and career Poston was born in Highfield House in Pin Green, which is now the site of Hampson Park in Stevenage. In 1914, she moved w ...

's 1965 "Boys' Carol", which translates the first line of the text as "Let the boys' cheerful noise/Sing today none but joys" and John Mason Neale's "Let the Song be Begun", which uses the melody but not the text of the carol."Personent hodie" a
hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com
URL accessed 4 January 2009 Aidan Oliver's non-verse translation renders the text as "Today let the voices of children resound in joyful praise of Him who is born for us."

Arrangements

The carol became more prominent in England after being arranged for unison voices and orchestra in 1916 by

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

(1874–1934), where in its organ reduction it is often used as a

processional hymn A processional hymn is a chant, hymn or other music sung during the Procession, usually at the start of a Christian service, although occasionally during the service itself. The procession usually contains members of the clergy and the choir walki ...

in church and cathedral services. Holst's version often forms part of the

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 ...

, and was last featured in the service broadcast by

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

from

King's College Chapel, Cambridge King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

in 2011 following the sixth lesson.Nine Lessons and Carols 2011
order of service at 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 ...

website, URL accessed 31 December 2011 This arrangement is sometimes referred to as "Theodoric" in reference to the composer's middle name (Theodore) and, in this setting, is the tune used for Percy Dearmer's hymn ''God is love, his the care''. In addition to Holst's version, there is a harmonised choral arrangement by Hugh Keyte and

in the '' New Oxford Book of Carols'', an arrangement by

Antony Pitts Antony Pitts (born 1969 in Farnborough, Kent) is an international composer, conductor, and producer. His compositions have been published by Faber Music, with CDs of choral music on Hyperion Records and other recordings on Harmonia Mundi, Naxos, ...

in the ''Naxos Book of Carols'' and two arrangements by

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

; one for choir and full orchestra which emulates percussive medieval instrumentation, and another in his anthology ''Dancing Day'' for female or boys voices with harp or piano accompaniment. The Retrover Ensemble's performance for

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

pairs the piece with '' Gaudete'', another carol from . A popular arrangement of the carol was written by Dr. Lara Hoggard as a Festival Procession that has been performed with full orchestra and organ and features a brass introduction and a climatic "Gloria in excelsis Deo". Several recorded versions are arranged in a more folk-oriented style: for example, a performance by Maddy Prior and The Carnival Band on their 1987 album ''

A Tapestry of Carols ''A Tapestry of Carols'' is an album by Maddy Prior. It is a collection of ancient carols from across Europe, played by The Carnival Band on replicas of medieval instruments. It was recorded at The Quaker Meeting House, Frenchay, near Bristol a ...

'', which utilises

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

. The female

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

quartet

Anonymous 4 Anonymous 4 was an American female ''a cappella'' quartet, founded in 1986 and based in New York City. Their main performance genre was medieval music, although later they also premiered works by recent composers such as John Tavener and Steve Re ...

have also recorded the song with its original "" text on their CD ''Legends of St. Nicholas''.Anonymous 4,
Legends of St. Nicholas
'. Harmonia Mundi HMU 907232 The contemporary English cross-disciplinary music ensemble

North Sea Radio Orchestra The North Sea Radio Orchestra (NSRO) is an English contemporary music ensemble and cross-disciplinary chamber orchestra (plus chorus). Formed in 2002, the NSRO was set up mainly as a vehicle for the compositions of its musical director, Craig F ...

have recorded a small-ensemble instrumental version of the piece arranged for two violins, cello, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, piano, vibraphone, chamber organ and guitar. This appears on their 2008 album ''

Birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

''. Jazz musician

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles D ...

recorded his arrangement of melody under the name ''12th Century Carol'' on his 2003 album '' Alegria''. Robert Cummings, writing in the ''

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Music ...

'' guide, states that the "melody is glorious and ebullient in its lively, triumphant manner. It largely consists of bright, resolute three-note phrases whose overall structure gradually rises, then descends." Bass guitarist/composer

Chris Squire Christopher Russell Edward Squire (4March 1948 – 27June 2015) was an English musician, singer and songwriter best known as the bassist and backing vocalist of the progressive rock band Yes. He was the longest-serving original member, having r ...

recorded his arrangement on the 2007 album

Chris Squire's Swiss Choir ''Chris Squire's Swiss Choir'' is the second and final solo album by Chris Squire. An album of traditional Christmas music, it was released in 2007 and includes former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, future King Crimson drummer and keyboardist Je ...

accompanied by guitarist

Steve Hackett Stephen Richard Hackett (born 12 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who gained prominence as the lead guitarist of the progressive rock band Genesis from 1971 to 1977. Hackett contributed to six Genesis ...

and the English Baroque Choir.

Text

In several versions, such as the

Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

arrangement, the third verse has "" in place of "."

References

External links

*
Personent hodie
' arranged by

at the

Choral Public Domain Library The Choral Public Domain Library (CPDL) is a sheet music archive which focuses on choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing (such as via permission from the copyright holder). It is a ...