This is the first Christmas for 11 years that we will spend at home in Wales, so it seems appropriate to wish you all a very happy Christmas in Welsh. As it’s so long since I hosted the family for Christmas instead of being hosted by them, I’d forgotten how much work is involved. That must be why it’s taken me until the morning of Christmas Eve to gather my thoughts sufficiently to write my Christmas blog post. But now the house is quiet, with some visitors out, the younger generation busy with their own affairs, and DH en route bringing his mother to spend Christmas with us.
Searching for music was, as always, intensely pleasurable and also fraught with memories, conjured up by a few notes or bars of this carol or that. The carol I’ve chosen has been one of my favourites ever since I sang it as a first-year undergraduate in 1965, discovering the joys of choral singing as a member of the college chapel choir. The carol setting was still new and not yet well-known and I was young, which may be why it embedded itself in my heart and is still so powerfully evocative. The glorious rendering also dates from that era and it comes to you with my warmest wishes for a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.
Image: The Adoration of the Shepherds by Matthias Stom (c. 1600 – 1652)
Carol: There is no rose
Words: English traditional, circa 1420
Music: John Joubert – Opus 14, 1954
I've heard the choir sing this at Christ Church in Oxford on Christmas Eve. If there's a better way of starting off Christmas with loved ones than going to CCC on Christmas Eve, I have yet to find it. Harriet managed to get tickets for us three or four years back, and we could walk there and back as she was still living in Osney Lane then.
ReplyDeleteThat must have been wonderful, Marion. For me Christmas begins with the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's on Christmas Eve afternoon, followed, wherever possible, by Midnight Mass.
DeleteThank you for this absolutely beautiful version (not the one I know), I wish you and yours a truly happy Christmas 😃
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, Ray. I've loved it since I first got to know it all those years ago and always enjoy introducing people to it. I hope you had a lovely Christmas.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteIs it possible to apply the word 'lush' to such as this? I hope so &*> Blessed eve, dear lady. YAM xx
Indeed it is, Yam. It's a wonderful setting which raises the hairs on the back of my neck every time. I hope you had a very blessed Christmas.
DeleteAs I listen to this, peace descends.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful time with your family around you.
I'm glad, Helen. Peace is always a welcome gift at Christmas. We had a great (if tiring) time and I'm now quietly recovering back at home.
DeleteWell done you for getting a blog post done! We're not at home for Christmas, though I do set off for Edinburgh in the morning with a pudding, brandy butter, cranberry sauce and a Christmas cake in the car along with the presents. It's a tad stressful getting the ferry in the morning after not being in bed till 3am . We're singing a lovely new (to us) Russian carol tonight, among the clouds of incense..... Happy Christmas when it comes!
ReplyDeleteWell, I've been a pretty pathetic blogger during the past year, but couldn't let Christmas go unmarked. Your Christmas sounds splendid, especially the Russian carol and incense. :) I'm sure you all had a great time.
DeleteWish you Merry Christmas...
ReplyDeleteThank you, krishna.
DeleteSuch a beautiful carol sung beautifully. Have a special peaceful Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Molly. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Christmas was lovely, but very busy at times. I'm now recovering quietly from all the fun. :)
DeleteI echo Molly's words. I wish you a very Happy Christmas. (Christmas Day is almost over here).
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susan. I love the thought of Christmas and other celebrations moving round the world like an unstoppable wave. :)
DeleteSuch a beautiful carol. I hope you had plenty of help dishing up on Christmas day.
ReplyDeleteIt's now one of my favourites. Yes, I had plenty of help, thanks, both at Christmas and at New Year. Our family is good at pitching in when needed. :)
DeleteThis has been my first Christmas in 28 years when I have not been working. So I have enjoyed being looked after by my children & spending time with them, their spouses & my two grandchildren. I've also had the rare experience of sitting in the pew rather than being up front :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the beautiful rendition of 'There is no rose'. Nadolig llawen a blwyddyn newydd dda or Veselé Vánoce a Šťastný Nový Rok!
It's an odd but enjoyable feeling not to be up front any more on big occasions like Christmas. It took me a while to get used to it, but it's very restful. :) I'm sure you really enjoyed having the chance to spend Christmas with your children and their families.
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