O Little Town of Bethlehem: Difference between revisions
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==Words== |
==Words== |
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The text was written by [[Phillips Brooks]] (1835–1893), an [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] priest, rector of the [[Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia]]. He was inspired by visiting the village of [[Bethlehem]] in the [[Sanjak]] of [[Jerusalem Sanjak|Jerusalem]] in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, [[Lewis Redner]], added the music. |
The text was written by [[Phillips Brooks]] (1835–1893), an [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopal]] priest, rector of the [[Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia]]. He was inspired by visiting the village of [[Bethlehem]] in the [[Sanjak]] of [[Jerusalem Sanjak|Jerusalem]] in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, [[Lewis Redner]], added the music. |
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O little town of Bethlehem |
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How still we see thee lie |
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Above thy deep and dreamless sleep |
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The silent stars go by |
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Yet in thy dark streets shineth |
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The everlasting Light |
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The hopes and fears of all the years |
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Are met in thee tonight |
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For Christ is born of Mary |
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And gathered all above |
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While mortals sleep, the angels keep |
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Their watch of wondering love |
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O morning stars together |
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Proclaim the holy birth |
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And praises sing to God the King |
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And Peace to men on earth |
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How silently, how silently |
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The wondrous gift is given |
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So God imparts to human hearts |
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The blessings of His heaven |
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No ear may hear His coming |
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But in this world of sin |
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Where meek souls will receive him still |
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The dear Christ enters in |
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O holy Child of Bethlehem |
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Descend to us, we pray |
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Cast out our sin and enter in |
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Be born to us today |
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We hear the Christmas angels |
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The great glad tidings tell |
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O come to us, abide with us |
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Our Lord Emmanuel |
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O come to us, abide with us |
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Our Lord Emmanuel |
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==Music== |
==Music== |
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Revision as of 21:54, 6 December 2017
| "O Little Town of Bethlehem" | |
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| Song |
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol.
Words
The text was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), an Episcopal priest, rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting the village of Bethlehem in the Sanjak of Jerusalem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, Lewis Redner, added the music.
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
For Christ is born of Mary
And gathered all above
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love
O morning stars together
Proclaim the holy birth
And praises sing to God the King
And Peace to men on earth
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven
No ear may hear His coming
But in this world of sin
Where meek souls will receive him still
The dear Christ enters in
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
Music
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Redner's tune, simply titled "St. Louis", is the tune used most often for this carol in the United States.[1] Redner recounted the story of his composition in 1924:[1]
As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service, and he asked me to write the tune to it. The simple music was written in great haste and under great pressure. We were to practice it on the following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on Friday, and said, ‘Redner, have you ground out that music yet to "O Little Town of Bethlehem"? I replied, 'No,' but that he should have it by Sunday. On the Saturday night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. I thought more about my Sunday-school lesson than I did about the music. But I was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas of 1868.
My recollection is that Richard McCauley, who then had a bookstore on Chestnut Street west of Thirteenth Street, printed it on leaflets for sale. Rev. Dr. Huntington, rector of All Saints' Church, Worcester, Mass., asked permission to print it in his Sunday-school hymn and tune book, called The Church Porch,[2] and it was he who christened the music 'Saint Louis.'
In the Commonwealth, and sometimes in the U.S. (especially in the Episcopal Church), the English hymn tune "Forest Green" is used instead. "Forest Green" was adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams from an English folk ballad called "The Ploughboy's Dream" which he had collected from a Mr. Garman of Forest Green, Surrey in 1903.[3][4][5] Henry Garman was born in 1830 in Sussex, and in the 1901 census was living in Ockley, Surrey; Vaughan Williams' manuscript notes he was a "labourer of Forest Green near Ockley - Surrey. (Aged about 60?)", although Mr Garman would have been nearer 73 when he recited the tune.[6] The tune has a strophic verse structure and is in the form A-A-B-A. Adapted into a hymn tune harmonised by Vaughan Williams, it was first published in the English Hymnal of 1906.
Two versions also exist by H. Walford Davies, called "Wengen", and "Christmas carol".[7][8] "Wengen" was published in Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1922,[9] meanwhile "Christmas Carol" is usually performed only by choirs rather than as a congregational hymn. This is because the first two verses are for treble voices with organ accompaniment, with only the final verse as a chorale/refrain harmony. This setting includes a recitative from the Gospel of Luke at the beginning, and cuts verses 2 and 4 of the original 5-verse carol. This version is often performed at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Kings College, Cambridge.[10]
William Rhys-Herbert included a new hymn-tune and harmonization as part of his 1909 cantata, Bethany.
Renditions by popular singers
- Bing Crosby - included in the album A Christmas Sing with Bing Around the World (1956).
- Mahalia Jackson (1955 - w/ Sid Bass Orchestra)[11]
(1962 - Silent Night: Songs for Christmas)[12] (w/Johnny Williams' Orchestra & Chorus) - Elvis Presley (1957 - Elvis' Christmas Album)
- Nat King Cole (1960 - The Magic of Christmas)
- Phil Everly of The Everly Brothers
(1962 - Christmas with the Everly Brothers and the Boystown Choir) - Jim Reeves (1963 - Twelve Songs of Christmas)
- Patti Labelle & The Bluebelles (1963 - Sleigh Bells, Jingle Bells and Bluebelles)
- Jo Stafford (1964 - Joyful Season)
- The Supremes (1965 - Merry Christmas)
- Barbra Streisand (1967 - A Christmas Album)
- Nora Aunor (1972 - Christmas Songs)[13]
- Emmylou Harris (1979 - Light of the Stable)
- Johnny Cash (1980 - Classic Christmas)
- The Carpenters (1984 - An Old-Fashioned Christmas)
- Dolly Parton (1990 - Home for Christmas)
- The Young Fresh Fellows (1991 - A Lump of Coal)[14]
- Glen Campbell (1993 - Home for the Holidays)
- Bob Rivers (1993 - I Am Santa Claus)
(Samples "The House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals) - Neil Diamond (1994 - The Christmas Album, Volume II)
- Beegie Adair Trio (1999 - Jazz Piano Christmas)
(Medley with "When You Wish Upon a Star")[15] - Anne Murray (2001 - What a Wonderful Christmas)
- Chris Botti (2002 - December)
- Kenny Chesney (2003 - All I Want for Christmas Is a Real Good Tan)
- Sarah McLachlan (2006 - Wintersong)
- Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra (2007 - A Very Ping Pong Christmas)[16]
- Bob Dylan (2009 - Christmas in the Heart)
- Mariah Carey (2010 - Merry Christmas II You)
- Jeremy Camp (2012 - Christmas: God with Us)
- Emily West and K.S. Rhoads (2013 - North Star EP)[17]
- Darren Espanto (2014 - My Christmas Album All Stars)[18]
- David Bazan (2016 - Dark Sacred Night)[19]
References
- ^ a b Louis F. Benson, "O Little Town of Bethlehem". Studies Of Familiar Hymns, First Series (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press. 1924), 11
- ^ William Reed Huntington (ed.) The Church Porch: A Service Book and Hymnal for Sunday Schools (E.P. Dutton, 1882)
- ^ Vaughan Williams' Manuscript of "The Ploughboy's Dream" at the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library Full English collection, accessed 30 March 2014
- ^ Byron Adams, Robin Wells, "Hymn Tunes from Folk Songs" in Vaughan Williams essays, Volume 3; Volume 44, (Ashgate Publishing, 2003), ISBN 978-1-85928-387-5 p.111
- ^ "O Little Town of Bethlehem (Vaughan Williams)" English hymn.
- ^ Mark Browse, O Little Town, 141-142
- ^ http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?dc=W3446_GBAJY0110304&vw=dc
- ^ http://mander-organs-forum.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/3764-walford-davies-tune-for-o-little-town/
- ^ Hymns Ancient and Modern (London: William Clowes and Sons, Ltd., 1922)
- ^ Order of Service, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 1999, King's College Cambridge 1999.
- ^ Jackson, Mahalia. "Decca/Apollo...Columbia and Later Recordings". Archived 25 October 2009. https://www.webcitation.org/5kmnShZ4O
- ^ Mahalia Jackson Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/74279/Mahalia-Jackson-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Nora Aunor Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/450955/Nora-Aunor-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Young Fresh Fellows Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/275126/Young-Fresh-Fellows-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Beegie Adair Trio's "O Little Town/When You Wish Medley" Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/242913/Beegie-Adair-Trio-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-When-You-Wish-Upon-a-Star-Medley-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/244880/Shawn-Lee%27s-Ping-Pong-Orchestra-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Emily West and K.S. Rhoads Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/358336/Emily-West-K.S.-Rhoads-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ Darren Espanto Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/340578/Darren-Espanto-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
- ^ David Bazan Cover of Lewis H. Redner and Phillip Brooks' "O Little Town of Bethlehem". WhoSampled.com. http://www.whosampled.com/cover/473214/David-Bazan-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem-Lewis-H.-Redner-Phillips-Brooks-O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem/
External links
- Free arrangements for piano and SATB from Cantorion.org (PD, CPDL)
- Free arrangement for female choir (SSA) by Ulrich Kaiser
- Free hymn arrangement in the IMSLP Petrucci Music Library
- Free score
- Score of Wengen: (pt 1, pt 2)
- Score of Christmas Carol
