Christ's Birth in Humble Circumstances: Song #16 "Petite Noel"
Christ's Birth in Humble Circumstances
This is a delightful little gem I discovered in one of my Christmas songbooks last year. It's probably the least well known of any of the songs I've posted, but it's incredibly charming. Meledie and I both loved it instantly after our first sing through. I've posted plenty of lesser known Christmas carols so far, but all of them are at least known enough that you can find a professional recording of them somewhere. As far as I can tell there is no professional recording of this piece.
Though the song is originally written in French, I sing it in English and probably always will because the English version is absolutely superb. I mentioned in a previous song that translated versions often can't get across the intent of the original poetry because they have to be modified to fit the musical composition. Even if they get the message across, the phrasing can sound a little strange because it has to adapt to the rhythm and accents of the already existing music (ex. in one French art song "if my heart had wings" turns into "if my heart were with wings provided"). Fortunately this text does not suffer from that issue. I've read a literal translation of the French lyrics, and this version is spot on accurate. If I hadn't known better I would have guessed the music was originally written for the English text, not the French. Here are the English lyrics:
"The night is dark with snow descending. Bells gayly chime a festal song! The Christ is born! His mother bending o'er him smiles upon his face sublime. No warm, white cov'ring in the manger to keep the Babe from bitter cold; Only the cobwebs for the stranger from rafters high they hang gray and old. He on the fragrant hay is sleeping, warmed by the breath of friendly cow. The oxen gentle watch are keeping around the little child divine. The snow upon the roof piles higher, but Heaven opened where it fell. Hark! All in white the angel choir to shepherds sing, Noel! Noel!"
Song #16 "Petite Noel"
This is a delightful little gem I discovered in one of my Christmas songbooks last year. It's probably the least well known of any of the songs I've posted, but it's incredibly charming. Meledie and I both loved it instantly after our first sing through. I've posted plenty of lesser known Christmas carols so far, but all of them are at least known enough that you can find a professional recording of them somewhere. As far as I can tell there is no professional recording of this piece.
Though the song is originally written in French, I sing it in English and probably always will because the English version is absolutely superb. I mentioned in a previous song that translated versions often can't get across the intent of the original poetry because they have to be modified to fit the musical composition. Even if they get the message across, the phrasing can sound a little strange because it has to adapt to the rhythm and accents of the already existing music (ex. in one French art song "if my heart had wings" turns into "if my heart were with wings provided"). Fortunately this text does not suffer from that issue. I've read a literal translation of the French lyrics, and this version is spot on accurate. If I hadn't known better I would have guessed the music was originally written for the English text, not the French. Here are the English lyrics:
"The night is dark with snow descending. Bells gayly chime a festal song! The Christ is born! His mother bending o'er him smiles upon his face sublime. No warm, white cov'ring in the manger to keep the Babe from bitter cold; Only the cobwebs for the stranger from rafters high they hang gray and old. He on the fragrant hay is sleeping, warmed by the breath of friendly cow. The oxen gentle watch are keeping around the little child divine. The snow upon the roof piles higher, but Heaven opened where it fell. Hark! All in white the angel choir to shepherds sing, Noel! Noel!"
Fun fact, "Noel," which these days means "Christmas" in French (ie. "Joyeux Noel"), linguistically comes from "he is born."
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