Love Came Down At Christmas came into my repertoire a bit late. I’d pegged it for something a bit higher up the candlestick than is my preference, but once I’d got the hang of the phrasing and melody it’s not bad at all. Deceptively simple sounding it has enough complexity to hold everyone’s interest. It …
I continue to be enchanted by Kate Rusby’s traditional folk renditions of Christmas songs. The lyrics to While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night have been sung to many tunes according to regional preference and custom. Last year at mgpc we sang the words to the tune Lyngham Extended (O For A Thousand Tongues). On …
I like listening to Bruce Cockburn’s Christmas album because of the range of songs he selected, including some non-English language material. I don’t imagine I’d use Mary Had A Baby, but it is a joyful spiritual. The call and response makes it easy to sing, and the simplicity of the melody invites embellishment. Maybe if …
In The Bleak Mid-Winter is a song that I only came to know a couple of years ago, but the artistry of Christina Rosetti’s poetry and Gustav Holst’s tune Cranham are both so winsome. Even with Mount Gambier’s fickle weather, our Christmases don’t really qualify as being mid-winter like, but this song evokes a feeling …
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