"Sir Christèmas" (or Sir Christëmas) is a traditional British
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...
.
The song's lyrics and melody are by an unknown author, with the first record of the song in the
Ritson Manuscript, dating the song to some point before 1510.
Words
Unlike in modern English, "Christëmas" is pronounced in this carol with three syllables rather than two.
The following are the opening lyrics as attributed to Richard Smart, Rector of
Plymtree,
Devon
Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
between 1435 and 1477:
;1
:Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, Nowell,
:’Who is there that singeth so?’
:’I am here, Sir Christëmas.’
:’Welcome, my lord Christëmas,
:Welcome to us all, both more and less
:Come near, Nowell!’
Musical settings
An early contemporary setting is that of the Australian composer
Arthur Benjamin
Arthur Leslie Benjamin (18 September 1893 in Sydney – 10 April 1960 in London) was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of ''Jamaican Rumba'' (1938) and of the '' Storm Clouds Cantata'', fea ...
, published in 1941. His arrangement is for
SATB
In music, SATB is a scoring of compositions for choirs or consorts of instruments consisting of four voice types: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
Choral music
Four-part harmony using soprano, alto, tenor and bass is a common scoring in classic ...
without accompaniment.
A setting was made by the Welsh composer
William Mathias
William James Mathias CBE (1 November 1934 – 29 July 1992) was a Welsh composer noted for choral works.
Biography
William Mathias was born in Whitland, Carmarthenshire. A child prodigy, he started playing the piano at the age of three and b ...
in 1971 for SATB and organ/brass/orchestra.
Another setting was written by Thomas Yeakle in 1972 for SATB, harp and woodwind, advisedly a
krummhorn.
In 1990,
Derek Holman created an setting for sopranos and altos, flute, cello, harp, piano and optional percussion for the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus.
See also
*
List of Christmas carols
This list of Christmas carols is organized by language of origin. Originally, a "Christmas carol" referred to a piece of vocal music in carol form whose lyrics centre on the theme of Christmas or the Christmas season. The difference between a ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir Christèmas
Christmas carols
Santa Claus
Year of song unknown