MY CHRISTMAS PAGE
December 2009 Magazine article
The word carol is derived from the old French word carole meaning a festive song or mediaeval dance. These were very popular during the middle ages and were often used as processional songs sung during festivals or to accompany religious plays. One such example is the Coventry Carol, written in the sixteenth century. This famous carol, telling the story of Herod’s massacre of the innocents, was written for The Shearman and Tailors’ Pageant as part of the Coventry mystery plays. These were a cycle of mediaeval plays from the West Midlands city, the earliest recorded dating from 1393. The cycle comprised of at least ten plays although only two have survived to the present day. They continued for nearly two centuries before being suppressed in 1579 following the Protestant Reformation.
In 1956, Kenneth Leighton set these words for solo soprano and unaccompanied chorus. Leighton was born in Wakefield in 1929 and was a Chorister at the Cathedral there. He studied music at Oxford University and later returned as a Fellow and Music Lecturer. Two years ago in this magazine, this carol - Lullay, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child - was chosen as one of my ten favourite Christmas carols. Here is the full list:
The Coventry Carol also forms the third movement of one of my favourite pieces of Christmas instrumental music – the Carol Symphony by Victor Hely-Hutchinson. He was born in South Africa on Boxing Day, 1901, the son of the governor of Cape Colony. He was educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford and the Royal College of Music. After a spell working at the University of Cape Town, Hely-Hutchinson joined the BBC, working as conductor, pianist, accompanist and, after a spell as Professor of Music at the University of Birmingham, Director of Music. He died of pneumonia at the premature age of 45 during the exceptionally harsh winter of 1947. His Carol Symphony was written in 1927 and consists of four movements. The outer sections of the third movement are based on the Coventry Carol with a central interlude based on The First Nowell featuring a solo harp. This was used as the theme tune for BBC TV’s 1984 adaptation of John Masefield’s The Box of Delights. Interestingly, Masefield’s book had been adapted for radio on the BBC’s Children’s Hour during the Second World War when Hely-Hutchinson’s music was also used.
May I take this opportunity to wish all of you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. If you have any comments or questions I would be very pleased to hear from you – my email address is organist@stedmundschurch.org.uk.
Miscellaneous Christmas Audio and Video
Hammond - I Sing of a Maiden
Performed by the Highcliffe Junior Choir in the mid-eighties
Hammond - The Holy Star
Audio recording of my interview with Jenny Hanley and performance on Thames TV's "Magpie"
Warlock - Bethlehem Down (King's College, Cambridge)
