Your story is hilarious - thank you! I loved the O Sapientia and it was nice to hear Maddy Prior. And the Russian vespers tune is "Joyous Songs Now Greet the Morning" which I sang as a child.
Thanks, Rosalind. And thanks for the info about the Russian vespers song. I did a bit of research. In 1944, British composer used the melody from this "Russian air" for a newly written hymn with words by Duncan Young.
She called it "Jubilate!" with the subtitle Joyous Songs Now Greet the Morning. The sheet music doesn't describe Young's words as being a translation. Unfortunately, I can't find a rendition of that hymn to see how she makes the verses, which in Russian sound pretty somber, sound joyous.
If I remember aright, the English hymn uses the melody of the Russian chorus and ignores the Russian verse part. Each English verse starts again with the Russian chorus line. In the English hymn the chorus starts with the Jubilate.
Thank you again for these daily seasonal gifts. It seems to me that the choruses to Angels We Have Heard On High and Ding Dong Merrily On High, from your sampler 3 days ago, are quite similar. Is there a connection between these two songs? Ray Viola
As far as I know, even though they both have that descending melisma (a long musical phrase on the same vowel), and they both have French melodies, they are not the same melodies and are not directly related. However there may be a relationship. George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) set his words for Ding Dong to a 16th century French dance tune after Angels was already popular in England, so the similarity may be a conscious or unconscious attempt to emulate that success. Another popular English carol, Angels from the Realms of Glory, also uses a melisma for its Gloria refrain.
All three of them are fun to sing, and a challenge to get all the way through the melisma without taking a breathe. As a bass, I can't do it.
I've long valued your 2006 Christmas Music Sampler because of what you've called the "liner notes" that you wrote to go with it. I always thought of that material as your original and creative short story or drama script. Of the musical selections with which you coorditnated the narrative, I will cite as highlights both "Angels We Have Heard on High," which appeared among the selections today as well as on the 2006 CD, and "The Friendly Beasts" which was just on the CD. In any case, well done, Bill!
That trick of featuring the harmonizing alto counter-melody for Angels We have Heard on High, and using the Soprano part as the harmony, is such a simple one, but it sure works! For others, the version of The Friendly Beasts that Greg is referring to can be listened to from this YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHdnJL8tNo
Your story is hilarious - thank you! I loved the O Sapientia and it was nice to hear Maddy Prior. And the Russian vespers tune is "Joyous Songs Now Greet the Morning" which I sang as a child.
Thanks, Rosalind. And thanks for the info about the Russian vespers song. I did a bit of research. In 1944, British composer used the melody from this "Russian air" for a newly written hymn with words by Duncan Young.
She called it "Jubilate!" with the subtitle Joyous Songs Now Greet the Morning. The sheet music doesn't describe Young's words as being a translation. Unfortunately, I can't find a rendition of that hymn to see how she makes the verses, which in Russian sound pretty somber, sound joyous.
If I remember aright, the English hymn uses the melody of the Russian chorus and ignores the Russian verse part. Each English verse starts again with the Russian chorus line. In the English hymn the chorus starts with the Jubilate.
Thank you again for these daily seasonal gifts. It seems to me that the choruses to Angels We Have Heard On High and Ding Dong Merrily On High, from your sampler 3 days ago, are quite similar. Is there a connection between these two songs? Ray Viola
As far as I know, even though they both have that descending melisma (a long musical phrase on the same vowel), and they both have French melodies, they are not the same melodies and are not directly related. However there may be a relationship. George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) set his words for Ding Dong to a 16th century French dance tune after Angels was already popular in England, so the similarity may be a conscious or unconscious attempt to emulate that success. Another popular English carol, Angels from the Realms of Glory, also uses a melisma for its Gloria refrain.
All three of them are fun to sing, and a challenge to get all the way through the melisma without taking a breathe. As a bass, I can't do it.
Dear Bill,
I've long valued your 2006 Christmas Music Sampler because of what you've called the "liner notes" that you wrote to go with it. I always thought of that material as your original and creative short story or drama script. Of the musical selections with which you coorditnated the narrative, I will cite as highlights both "Angels We Have Heard on High," which appeared among the selections today as well as on the 2006 CD, and "The Friendly Beasts" which was just on the CD. In any case, well done, Bill!
That trick of featuring the harmonizing alto counter-melody for Angels We have Heard on High, and using the Soprano part as the harmony, is such a simple one, but it sure works! For others, the version of The Friendly Beasts that Greg is referring to can be listened to from this YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZHdnJL8tNo