Stacy's Vocal Advent Calendar

  "Suo Gan" is a well known Welsh lullaby. The title literally means "lull song" or lullaby. You may recognize it from the movie "Empire of the Sun." This simple yet beautiful tune has also been set to many hymns. I first heard it on a Christmas album and always wanted to sing it, but I never learned its original name until this year. While searching for a musical number to sing in church, I found it in sacredsheetmusic.org set to the words of the hymn "God is in His Holy Temple." I sang it with those lyrics in church two months ago, accompanied by the lovely Shauntell Carol. This month I found a Christmas setting online, and Shauntell was kind enough to play it for me again.  Below are the lyrics for these setting. They remind me of the hymn "Jesus Once of Humble Birth" as both compare His greatness and glory with the simplicity of His coming. Lyrics: Holy saviour, yet so tiny, Mighty ruler, yet so small. Infant lowly, born so humbly, ...

  When I first found this song, I assumed it was a lullaby to Jesus because it refers to it being cold out and calls the baby "God of love." Turns out it's just a regular lullaby that can be sung to any baby, but it is also common to use the song in a holiday program, so I thought I'd include it among my Christmas songs. I read one account that it's a Nicaraguan lullaby, one that it's a Mexican lullaby, and one that it's known throughout south and central America. Whereever it's from, it's lovely, and though I have an English version of the song, I think it sounds better in Spanish. Below I've listed the lyrics. I have to admit I was a bit confused by the first line - "precious baby, more so than the ermine." I wondered "why are we saying this baby is more precious than a weasel," but then I did a little research and discovered that fur coats made of ermine hair were rare, highly valued, and worn only by royalty and other hi...

This German carol is, according to wikipedia, "thought to have been written by the German mystic Heinrich Seuse. According to folklore, Seuse heard angels sing these words and joined them in a dance of worship." It's originally a mix of Latin and German with the English version "Good Christian Friends Rejoice" popularizing it among Americans. I like the original lyrics more, so I squeezed in a few for my performance. Below I'll list both the original lyrics and translation along with the English version I'm singing. Since this tune is so short, I often hear it mixed with a medley of other Christmas songs. My favorite is the one on Karl Jenkins "Stella Natalis" album which mixes it with "Joy to the World" and sets parts of it to African sounds and rhythms. Original: In dulci jubilo, Nun singet und seid froh! Unsers Herzens Wonne Leit in praesepio; Und leuchtet wie die Sonne Matris in gremio. Alpha es et O! English Translation: In sweet...

  This is a beautiful Italian Christmas song I first sang when we our ward boundaries changed, and we were moved from the Beverly Park Ward into the Harbour Pointe ward. Native Italian Sylvia Kemple asked those of us who'd served missions in Italy (which was a surprisingly high amount for a single ward. I think there were 7 of us) if we could all sing this at the ward Christmas party. I'd heard it before but had never paid close attention to the lyrics. Singing it helped me see how touching they are. I always have to hold back the tears when I sing "Ah, quanto ti costò l'avermi amato!" (oh how much did it cost you to have loved me!). I'll post both the Italian lyrics and English translation below. It's most typical to only sing two verses, which I've posted below, but there are actually 7 verses in total. You can find them all at this link . Speaking of Sylvia, I want to share my interesting history with her and the rest of the Bellini family. I served...

  Except for the occasional song my voice teacher assigned me, the only Christmas sheet music I had access to as a teenager was what was in the hymnbook and the primary songbook. Of all those, "The First Noel" was my favorite. I kept trying to learn it on the piano, but it's a fairly challenging hymn to play with a lot of unexpected chord progressions and accidentals, plus it's harder to play when you're trying to sing too. Back then I didn't have access to any of those "hymns made easy" books which would have made it much more doable. I can play the hymnbook version easily now and could certainly sing along with it too, but I never quite got the hang of it back then. Last November I found a book with sheet music for several of the songs I posted with Meledie last December. It just happened to come with prerecorded accompaniment for all of the songs in the book, including "The First Noel." I couldn't help but think about how much I woul...

This is a lovely Christmas carol, though it seems the only people who know it are those who've sung in choirs or listen to a lot of choral music. My favorite version is Dan Forrest's arrangement, which I sang with the Ensign symphony and chorus in 2016. I first heard the song when we sang it in college choir. A few years later I made it a song in a "name that tune" game we played at my ward Christmas party, and no one knew it besides me. I couldn't find a through composed version that would be more suitable for a vocal solo, so I made a few little changes to make it sound less hymn-like. Enjoy! There are 7 verses, but most arrangements don't use them all. I picked verses 1, 2, and 5, which is also what Forrest uses in his arrangement. Lyrics: See, amid the winter's snow, Born for us on Earth below, See, the tender Lamb appears, Promised from eternal years. Lo, within a manger lies He who built the starry skies; He who, throned in heights sublime, Sits amon...

This well known Christmas song is unique because, according to classicfm.com, "the distinctly biblical feel of the lyrics differ from the more overtly celebratory tone of most carols (there’s no herald angels harking nor flocks being watched by night, for example), and the actual nativity narrative doesn’t feature in any meaningful way." Because it's based on ancient Gregorian chant, there are a lot of dark, cryptic versions of it out there that sound really neat. I really like the one by Enya on her "And Winter Came" album. This version, however, takes a more joyous tone celebrating Emmanuel's deliverance of captive Israel. I have to say this song took on a more significant meaning for me this year after studying the Old Testament and gaining a deeper understanding of Israel's captivity, the prophets sent to declare God's word to them, and the prophecies that were delivered to them. There are many different translations of the original 5 Latin verse...