To me Christmas means singing.
One of my earliest memorieswas taking part in a primary school (girls
only) nativity play, singing solo the first verse of "We Three Kings of Orient Are". I wore someone's velvet curtain as my cloak and a cardboard crown with jewels made from fancy sweetie papers. I have never wanted to sing solo since.
In
another Christmas concert, my role was to play the triangle in the
percussion band - a bit of a come down from the most desired instrument
that everyone longed to get - the sleigh bells.
One family get-together, after the meal, we children did our party pieces, with mine on the piano. My little brother (below) decided to plough his way through all 12 verses of "The Twelve Days of Christmas". He developed hiccups and his long socks kept falling down - this was the days of lads wearing short trousers until their teens - no matter if the weather was wintry,. But he was determined to finish singing the carol, kept pulling his socks up and by the end, we were all falling about laughing and we never allowed him to forget this occasion.
At High school, we always had a carol service where the tradition was
to sing some carols in foreign languages - so for French "It est ne le divin enfant"; German was "O Tannenbaum", "Es ist ein Rose entsprungen" or "Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht" and Latin always "Adeste Fideles" (O Come All Ye Faithful". )
There is something special about taking part in carol singing outdoors. wrapped up in our winter woolies. We went round local care homes and were warmly welcomed inside afterwards with more mince pies and shortbread - and at one location even sherry - no wonder we were happy! !
My own favourite carols have not changed much over the years "Silent Night", "In the Bleak Mid Winter", "Three Kings from Distant Lands Afar" and "O Holy Night". I like the simple unadorned arrangements best - nothing too fancy, but the descants of the standard choral classics such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", I find it so uplifting as the sopranos soar up to the high notes.
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I used to love going round the neighborhood with a group singing Christmas carols a few nights before Christmas. Sometimes the folks listening to us would dash back inside, grab a coat, and join us! I remember one time when my brother, my two sisters, and I went out to sing carols on our own which worked fine because my brother was a baritone, my sisters were altos, and I was a soprano so we were able to sing in harmony. :) My fav' carol is "Angels We Have Heard On High" because I love to sing the cascading "Glory" chorus. Also "The First Noel" for the soaring notes during the last "Noel" chorus. And then there's "Good King Wenceslas" & "O Come All Ye Faithful" . . .
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your wonderful memories of singing at Christmas. Many years ago I was asked by my then friend (but future wife) to join her at Christmas with friends at a cottage in Wearhead, a tiny village in remote County Durham. I arranged to travel up by myself from London before anyone else and arrived during a snowstorm. That night as I huddled around a coal fire, the only heating for the house, I heard the sound of Christmas music. Opening the door to a swirl of cold snowflakes I was given a jolly serenade by a group of carolers accompanied by a small brass band from the village. It was a brief but magical moment I'll never forget. The next day I hiked over the snow covered fells to cut a small Christmas tree and got chased by a large flock of sheep who believed the tree was some livestock treat. It became one of my favorite holiday memories.
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