Christmas music

[Gene C]

(12-12-2013 05:53 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  "By gracious powers" ("Von guten Mächten") is THE hymn to be sung around the turn of the year and on New Year's Day - with a wonderful tune and a sad history. It was written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer in prison shortly before the turn of the year 1944/45 while he was awaiting his execution.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Feb. 4, 1906 - Apr. 9, 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, and member of the anti-nazi resistance movement. He was also involved in plans by members of the Abwehr (the German Military Intelligence Office) to assassinate Adolf Hitler. He was arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo and hanged in April 1945, just 23 days before the German surrender.

It's incredible how someone can have such peace of mind to write such a hopeful song under these circumstances!

I believe A. Lincoln could have related to it in the war years!


By gracious powers

By gracious powers so wonderfully sheltered,
and confidently waiting come what may,
we know that God is with us night and morning,
and never fails to greet us each new day.

Yet is this heart by its old foe tormented,
still evil days bring burdens hard to bear;
Oh, give our frightened souls the sure salvation
for which, O Lord, You taught us to prepare.

And when this cup You give is filled to brimming
with bitter suffering, hard to understand,
we take it thankfully and without trembling,
out of so good and so beloved a hand.

Yet when again in this same world You give us
the joy we had, the brightness of Your Sun,
we shall remember all the days we lived through,
and our whole life shall then be Yours alone.

I found a nice version in English
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_UWB5Zqv_o

Thanks again Eva for sharing this song and this mans story with us.
I would never had known this.

[Eva Elisabeth]

This is a BEAUTIFUL version, Gene - thanks for sharing! This song is one of my everlasting favorites.

[Thomas Kearney]

What about those spoofs Dave Taylor wrote and put on Boothie Barn? They are hilarious.

[Gene C]

On a serious note, here is a nice Christmas song that I heard for the first time 2 days ago, "Have You Heard ?".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXfaav-q...I&index=19

Merry Christmas!

[Eva Elisabeth]

(12-23-2021 10:19 AM)Gene C Wrote:  On a serious note, here is a nice Christmas song that I heard for the first time 2 days ago, "Have You Heard ?".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXfaav-q...I&index=19

Merry Christmas!

Gene - I once had that on a viny record! Merry Xmas to you and everyone!
I just heard this nice one for the first time on the radio - have you heard?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=f0qO04Y9Pwk

[Gene C]

I like that Eva.
Thanks for posting, it is a new one for me also.

[LincolnMan]

(12-07-2013 04:54 PM)Anita Wrote:  

(12-05-2013 09:06 PM)LincolnMan Wrote:  Maybe some on this Forum do not know this: President Grant is responsible for Christmas being a federal holiday in the USA. Back to Christmas music: Nat King Cole's 'Merry Christmas' is to me the definitive Chistmas recording.

Thanks Bill. I didn't know that.

And I recently found out that Mel Torme wrote the song. I didn’t know that!

[Gene C]

We haven't posted any Christmas Music in a while -
Ray Stevens "Mary, Joseph, and the Baby and Me"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-YRolqy8uQ

[Eva Elisabeth]

One song I like during this time of the year is "How shall I fitly greet thee" from Bach's Christmas Oratorio, based on Paul Gerhard's Advent hymn "Ah! Lord, how shall I meet Thee", which derived from "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded", a Christian Passion hymn composed by Hans Leo Hassler around 1600. The original lyrics were based on a Latin text by Bernard of Clairvaux, co-founder of the Knights Templar.

Bach used the melody on different words in his Christmas Oratorio, in the first part (# 5).

https://youtu.be/e_vG_9ecj5c?si=laogSRDWxHU9wF77

My favorite adaption however is the one by Paul Simon - not actually a Xmas song, but solemn and contemplative, which we use to be in Xmas season and towards the end of a year.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCmgKSUXH18

It was released in 1973, with Nixon plotting in the White House and the Vietnam War still two years from its end. The  LA Times wrote that "it does not ring with the loud anger that runs through our time. It is mournful, as if unspooling in the candlelight of a day’s end" and praised the song for its tender, timeless nature, being a "visceral [reminder] of our history."
(For sources please see the Wikipedia articles on both songs.)

Merry Xmas to everyone btw! I hope you are good, and if not, I wish that things will get better for you in 2024!! Sorry for my silence, the past two years have been challenging due to injuries, subsequent surgeries and profession, and I am not that multi-tasking...

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PS: My cat Friedrich sends best Season greetings to all Lincoln nerds out there, too!
   

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PPS: Great article by Dave Taylor on Lincoln-related Xmas history:
https://lincolnconspirators.com/2023/12/...tmas-1883/

[AussieMick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOq5ce6iii8

Sure on this shining night of star-made shadows round
Kindness must watch for me this side the ground
The late year lies down the north
All is healed, all is health
High summer holds the earth, hearts all whole
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder wand'ring far alone
Of shadows on the stars

[Rob Wick]

Given that Burl Ives and I share the same alma mater I have always liked "Holly Jolly Christmas." However, my favorite song is the "Christmas Canon" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, based on Pachabel's "Canon in G." The dulcet tones mesh very well with the vocals by the young choir. I'm on my phone and not smart enough to figure out how to link the video to here, but if you Google it, it will appear.

Oh, and Patsy wants me to mention the Barking Dogs version of "Jingle Bells."

Best
Rob

[Eva Elisabeth]

Here it is, Rob!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4cP26ndrmtg
Nice version of the Canon!
I found this cool dogs & cats version of "Jingle Bells" that my cat approves. I think the Beatles would have, too!
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbnohw
I hope Patsy likes it!

[Rob Wick]

Thanks Eva!

On the dog and cat video Patsy barks her approval.

Best
Rob

[Anita]

Merry Christmas everyone!


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) wrote the poem "Christmas Bells" on December 25, 1864 later set to music.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
 And wild and sweet
 The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

After “Paul Revere’s Ride,” “Christmas Bells” is probably Longfellow’s best-known poem today. Set to music early on, the poem became part of the Christmas carol canon. The words have been paired with both traditional melodies and new compositions too numerous to list, in styles ranging from sacred to pop. Two tunes are most familiar today: the hymnal version set to “Waltham,” first used in the 1870s, and the popular version written by Johnny Marks in the 1950s and recorded by artists from Bing Crosby to Harry Belafonte to The Carpenters (amongst many others).

Go here to read the history of the poem https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historycu...-bells.htm
Here's one of many recordings. This one is by the Irish Tenors https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=1FOI2OGZXjU