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

This was another great find on Musescore. I've always loved this Irish carol and was happy to find a playable version. I actually completely messes up the final chord at the end, but thankfully, whatever I played still sounds pretty good. Typically when a strophic song has more than 3 verses, I don't sing them all. I made an exception for this one because I think it summarizes the Christmas story so nicely. Good people all, this Christmas time, Consider well and bear in mind What our good God for us has done In sending His beloved Son With Mary holy we should pray, To God with love this Christmas Day In Bethlehem upon that morn, There was a blessed Messiah born. The night before that happy tide, The noble virgin and her guide Were long time seeking up and down To find a lodging in the town. But mark how all things came to pass From every door repelled, alas, As was foretold, their refuge all Was but a humble ox's stall. Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep Their flocks of l

If you start listening to this and it's not the tune you're expecting, you're probably used to hearing the American version by Richard Storrs Willis (or as Latter Day Saints know it, the one in the hymnbook). This is the traditional English version based on a folk tune adapted by Arthur Sullivan of the famous duo Gilbert and Sullivan. Poet Edmund Sears wrote 5 verses, all of which I've listed below. This version has verses 1 and 3 while the Latter Day Saint hymnbook has verses 1, 2, and 5. Lyrics 1. It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold; "Peace on the earth, good will to men From heaven’s all-gracious King" – The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. 2. Still through the cloven skies they come With peaceful wings unfurled, And still their heavenly music floats O'er all the weary world; Above its sad and lowly plains They bend o

A lot of our well known Christmas carols are originally from Europe. German, French, and English carols are super common, and I've found plenty of good ones from Spain too. It surprises me that there aren't more Italian Christmas carols since so many great composers were Italian and so much great classical music originated in Italy. A couple years ago I put out a call to my Italian friends asking for more Italian Christmas songs. My friend Alba recommended this lovely song - "In Notte Placida." It was hard to find the sheet music for it. There's a well known opera aria called "Tacea La Notte Placida," and internet searches kept giving me that one instead of this one. However I was fortunate enough to find an arrangement in Musescore, a website where people can upload and post their own music.  I have a smart Christmas tree that allows us to put in different patterns and colors for the lights. You'll notice in this one I tried to make it look like a w

My bestie Amy has a birthday on December 14th. Usually I take requests or think of something special to sing for friends and family on their birthdays, but since Amy's is in December, I'd always had Christmas songs planned and hadn't thought to ask if she had any requests. This year I asked her if there was a Christmas song she'd like me to sing for her birthday, and she said her favorite was "Carol of the Bells."  Completely unaware of this request, Tyler decided he wanted to learn "Carol of the Bells" on the piano. He found a version by Aaron Garner in Piano Marvel, which was a bit beyond his current abilities, and he practiced it until he'd mastered it. It took him 30 times through (not counting all the stops and starts and slow practicing to learn notes) before he got his first 100%. When I saw how well he was playing it I figured he should play it for Amy. And since the song is really meant to be sung by a group ("gaily they ring while

I found this version of "Away in a Manger" by J. E. Spillman in a book called "Christmas Music Collection." I was familiar with the traditional English version by William J. Kirkpatrick (see video below), the traditional American version by James R Murray, and a variation of Murray's version by Charles Gabriel (Latter Day Saints know Kirkpatrick's version as the one in the hymnbook and Gabriel's version as the one in the primary book). I had never heard this one before, though it's been around just as long as the others. You can find countless recordings of all of those versions, but a Google "Search a Song" yielded only two recordings of this one - one by a group called The Statler Bros in 1978 and one by Andy Williams in 1963. I've found one other version with opera singer Frederica von Stade singing one verse of Spillman's tune followed by Kathleen Battle coming in with the 2nd verse of Murray's tune. Needless to say, it'

Habakkuk 2:20 Zechariah 2:13 We've been studying the minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament in the "Come Follow Me" study manual these past few weeks. Last week I was reading in Habakkuk and came upon chapter 2 verse 20, which states "But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him." Immediately I thought of the hymn/Christmas song "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence" and said to myself "it's too bad I don't have that song prepared to sing this week." I didn't put much thought into it, though, since I already have several other songs I'm preparing for Christmas, but then this past week I read something extremely similar in Zechariah 2:13 - "Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation." I took it as a sign that I needed to look more into the hymn. I'd only ever heard it as a choral arrangement, so I wasn't sure if I could even fin