Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone! I am so thankful for the Father's gift of his Son Jesus Christ. I love this time of year where we get to focus on Him and His gift to us; His ultimate sacrifice for all of us.

May we remember Him always, and especially on this day.

The final track on An M31 Christmas is Born on a New Day.

I first saw The King’s Singers in 2008 where they performed a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I was so blown away by their performance, particularly their performance of a song called Born On A New Day, that the next day I bought their album titled Christmas.

Born On A New Day was originally written in 1992 and titled You Are The New Day. This original version didn’t really have any connection to Christmas. In 2000, Philip Lawson, one of the baritones for The King’s Singers, rewrote the lyrics as a Christmas song, and it became one of the King’s Singers’ biggest successes.

When I started my tradition of doing Christmas songs back in 2011, I made a list of the dozen or so that I wanted to do, and this song was one of the first I added. In this arrangement, I wanted to preserve the tight harmonies that exist in the original version by the King’s Singers. And because of the ethereal nature of my arrangement, I slowed the tempo down from the original a bit so I could preserve the rich chord structure and progressions.

Born On A New Day has become one of my favorite modern-era Christmas songs. The lyrics capture the essence of what Christmas is and what Christ has done for humankind, and its all set on a wonderfully lush tonal foundation.

You are the new day,
You are the new day.
Meekness, love, humility
Come down to us this day:
Christ, your birth has proved to me
You are the new day.

Quiet in a stall you lie,
Angels watching in the sky
Whisper to you from on high
“You are the new day”.

When our life is darkest night,
Hope has burned away;
Love, your ray of guiding light,
Show us the new day.

Love of all things great and small
Leaving none, embracing all,
Fold around me where I fall,
Bring in the new day.

This new day will be
A turning point for everyone.
If we let the Christ-child in, and
Reach for the new day.

Christ the Way, the Truth, the Life;
Healing sadness, ending strife;
You we welcome, Lord of life,
Born on a new day.
You are the new day

An M31 Christmas Track 9: Christmas Dream

Back in 2006 when my oldest daughter was 13, she got on my computer, opened up Apple GarageBand, and using some Apple Loops, put together a song she called Christmas Dream. She wanted to add to it something that she played, so I helped her pick a sound and she recorded a string part to accompany parts of the track.

The song on this album is a respray of her track, but includes her original arrangement of the Apple Loops. Instead of using the Apple Loops though, I found the original synth sounds (they were MIDI loops), and played the various parts. And, I added a new bit at the end.

I love this one, not only because my daughter wrote it, but because to me it evokes images of family get-togethers indoors on cold December nights, fire in the fireplace, lights twinkling on the Christmas tree.

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 8: Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells (my title for Carol of the Bells), composed by Mykola Leontovych, is based on a Ukrainian folk chant called Shchedryk, and wasn’t originally a Christmas song.

In pre-Christian Ukraine, the chant was performed in the new year, which was in April, and tells a tale of a bird that comes to a family to tell them about the plentiful year they will have.

But with the introduction of Christianity and a change to the Julian calendar, the new year moved to January and the holiday in which the chant was used became the Feast of Epiphany. The chant is now performed on New Year’s Eve.

In the Western world, Leontovych’s composition was introduced at Carnegie Hall in 1921, and in 1930, Peter Wilhousky wrote English lyrics to accompany the song. Since then “Carol of the Bells” has been performed at Christmastime.

Hark! how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say,
“Throw cares away.”
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold

Ding, dong, ding, dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From ev’rywhere
Filling the air

Oh how they pound,
Raising the sound,
O’er hill and dale,
Telling their tale,
Gaily they ring
While people sing
Songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas

On without end
Their joyful tone
To ev’ry home

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 7: Silent Night

Everyone knows the story of how the Austrian carol Stille Nacht came to be. It is probably one of the most revered and popular carols sung at Christmastime.

The lullaby- or pastorale-like music, written by Franz Xaver Gruber sets the proper mood for contemplating the Great Gift that is Jesus Christ. 

We are familiar with three of the six verses Josef Mohr wrote, and Franz Xaver Gruber set to the familiar tune. Here are the lesser known last three verses:

Silent Night! Holy Night!

Where on this day all power

of fatherly love poured forth

And like a brother lovingly embraced

Jesus the peoples of the world,

Jesus the peoples of the world.

Silent Night! Holy Night!

Already long ago planned for us,

When the Lord frees from wrath

Since the beginning of ancient times

A salvation promised for the whole world.

A salvation promised for the whole world.

Silent Night! Holy Night!

To shepherds it was first made known

By the angel, Alleluia;

Sounding forth loudly far and near:

Jesus the Savior is here!

Jesus the Savior is here!

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 6: Pat-A-Pan

My interest in this Christmas carol started when I heard Mannheim Steamroller’s version on their third Christmas Album Christmas in the Aire. The main melody is very catchy, and I love the renaissance feel of their arrangement, and in fact, I’ve included a bit of it as a tribute to their take.

Pat-A-Pan was composed and lyrics written by a French lawyer and poet named Bernard de la Monnoye, in 1720. Its story revolves around the nativity of Jesus Christ from the perspective of shepherds, playing flutes and drums, the lyrical sound of the latter being where this carol gets its name, Pat-A-Pan.
(There is another carol about drums, The Little Drummer Boy, which, I must confess, is not one of my favorites. However, since my mom does like “Drummer Boy,” I’ve included melodic motifs from it: see if you can find them.)

The original lyrics to Pat-A-Pan were written in Burgundian, a dialect of French. Here, I’ve included the English translation:

Willie, take your little drum, Robin take your flute and come!
When we hear the right we will sing Noel this night,
When we hear the fife and drum, Christmas should be frolicsome.

Thus the men of olden days for the King of Kings to praise,
When they heard the fifeand drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
When they hear the fife and drum, sure, our children won’t be dumb.

God and man are now become more at one than fife and drum.
When you hear the fife and drum, ture-lure-lu, pata-pata-pan,
When you hear the fife and drum, dance and make the village hum.

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 5: God Rest Ye

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is one of the oldest Christmas carols; the tune dating back to the 16th century, and the first recorded version of the lyrics around 1762.

There are several different versions of the lyrics, and if I’m not mistaken, many recordings mix verses and even lines from these different versions.

Here are my favorite verses:

God rest you merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan’s power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and Joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
The blessed angels came
Unto some certain shepherds
With tidings of the same
That he was born in Bethlehem
The Son of God by name
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and Joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 4: Wenceslaus

Good King Wenceslas has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs. It was the very first carol I learned to play on the piano when I was 6 years old.

Written in 1853 in England by John Mason Neale and Thomas Helmore, Neale’s lyrics take inspiration from a Bohemian legend of a wealthy duke known for his good works. After a Pope declared the legend fact, and a Roman Emperor posthumously conferred the title of King on the duke, both legend and song now refer to the pious duke as King Wenseslas.

Neale’s lyrics tell the story of the good king seeing a peasant trying to gather fuel in the snowy deep. The king calls his page and sets out to bring food and fuel to him.

The page falters, not being able to endure the frigid wind and deep snow.

The King encourages the page to follow closely in his footsteps, and so together they bring rescue to the helpless man.

The carol has five verses, here are the first two:

Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen,

When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even;

Brightly shone the moon that night, tho’ the frost was cruel,

When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring winter fuel.

“Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou know’st it, telling,

Yonder peasant, who is he?

Where and what his dwelling?”

“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain;

Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

(The traditional English spelling of the king’s name is “Wenceslaus”, and since Neale and Helmore were English, I decided to use their spelling.)

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 2: Meditation (Ave Maria)

An M31 Christmas Track 2 is Meditation or Ave Maria.

The French composer Charles Gounod published what we now know as Ave Maria in 1853 as Méditation sur le Premier Prélude de Piano de S. Bach. Gounod composed the melody and superimposed it over Prelude #1 in C Major from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, written 137 years earlier.

The words that generally accompany the song are the complete Catholic prayer called Angelic Salutation, Hail Mary, or in Latin, Ave Maria.

Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum,
Benedicta tu in mulieribus Et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus.
Sancta Maria, sancta Maria, Maria, Ora pro nobis, nobis peccatoribus
Nunc et in hora, in hora mortis nostrae
Amen, amen.

And here is the English translation:

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death.
Amen, amen.

A few years ago, one of the songs I was learning was Bach’s Prelude #1 in C Major, right before I needed to start working on the next track for my musical Christmas card that I did every year. That, together with listening to the excellent Carpenter’s version of this song prompted me to choose it.

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 3: Some Children See Him

I heard Some Children See Him for the first time on George Winston’s album December. His version is without lyrics, so for years I was unaware that it actually had words, and unaware of this Christmas song’s history.

Some Children See Him was written in 1951 by Alfred Burt, with words by Wilha Hutson. Years earlier, Burt’s father, a pastor of an Episcopal church in Michigan, started a tradition of writing a musical Christmas card to family and friends, the words and music written by himself. Soon however, he asked his son to provide the musical settings for his words.

After Burt’s father died, Alfred asked friend Wilha Hutson to provide the words, and the tradition continued in his father’s honor, but the carols were unknown outside the Burt’s mailing list.

The carols were finally recorded in 1954. Some Children See Him appeared on that first recording, and since then, several musicians have recorded their own version. George Winston, Kenny Loggins, and James Taylor have all provided their renditions of this carol.

Here are the first two verses:

Some children see him
Lily white
The baby Jesus
Born this night
Some children see him
Lily white
With tresses soft
And fair

Some children see him
Bronzed and brown
The Lord of heav’n
To Earth come down
Some children see him
Bronzed and brown
With dark
And heavy hair

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.

An M31 Christmas Track 1: Gloucestershire Wassail

The first track on An M31 Christmas is Gloucestershire Wassail. I chose it as the opening track because I think it perfectly captures many of the elements of the Christmas season; the feelings of excitement and joy, the time to gather as family and friends to celebrate the joyous event that is the birth of Jesus Christ.

The English custom of “wassailing,” or visiting the leading households in the village on Christmas Eve with a decorated wooden bowl, and singing a wassailing song, apparently began in early 19th Century England. (The “wassail” custom actually has a much earlier origin, but doing it at Christmastime began in the 1800s.) Different villages in Gloucestershire used different tunes with various different lyrics. However, the most well-known version (the one we hear today) was popularized by Ralph Vaughn Williams in 1928. He used the tune from the version popular in Pembroke, Heretfordshire, and gathered the lyrics from William Bayless and Isaac Bennett, both residents of Gloucestershire. There are many variations to the lyrics, and traditionally there are ten verses. Here are the first four:

Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of the white maple tree; With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee. Here's to our horse, and to his right ear, God send our master a happy new year: A happy new year as e'er he did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

So here is to Cherry and to his right cheek Pray God send our master a good piece of beef And a good piece of beef that may we all see With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee. Here's to our mare, and to her right eye, God send our mistress a good Christmas pie; A good Christmas pie as e'er I did see, With my wassailing bowl I drink to thee.

(Note: You may notice that the official track name is misspelled as "Glouchestershire Wassail"; I spelled it correctly when I wrote this before distribution, but then misspelled it when preparing the distribution. D'oh!)

You can get (or hear) the album at:

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/42hKWTqaset9WdkZpMDnbX?si=7bS0UE2LQDyDw3DQyGZ51Q
• CDBaby: https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/m3138
• Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/an-m31-christmas/1442066188

It's also available on Amazon, Google Play, and other streaming/download services.