Lyrics below.
Nowell: Dieu vous garde is found in in a late 15th century English choir-book known as the Ritson Manuscript that was compiled over a long time and is the product of five distinct hands. It is one of the most important archival sources for authentic medieval English carols. Although this song’s authorship is not given, many scholars of music from that time period, including the editors of the definitive New Oxford Book of Carols, believe that it was written by Rev. Richard Smart (or Smert or Smerte) who was rector of Plymtree in Devon from 1435-1477 and vicar-choral at Exeter Cathedral from 1428-1466.
The manuscript, with macaronic lyrics (English and French), is written in sometimes-two and sometimes-three parts. Like all medieval carols it has a refrain, in this case the single word Nowell. It is not clear whether this song was intended just for performance and/or sing-along, or if it was for a ceremony in which “Syre Christesmasse” is welcomed into the great hall.
This song is the earliest reference to a personification of Christmas, creating a character who is the forerunner to Father Christmas and Santa Claus. I haven’t seen it suggested elsewhere, but my guess is that it may have been an alternate title given to the Lord of Misrule – the court official who had been given the important job of organizing the Christmas festivities.
The song is performed here by Montreal-based performers: soprano Suzie Le Blanc, countertenor Daniel Taylor, and the cello duo of Les Voix Humaines comprised of Susie Napper & Margaret Little, accompanied by Francis Colprin (recorder), Sylvain Bergeron (lute) and Rafik Samman (percussion.) It is from the album Star of the Magi, released in 1999.
Their performance is an abbreviated version of the original six-verse carol. Here are they lyrics for this version:
Nowell. Who is there that singeth so: Nowell?
I am here, Sire Christësmas.
Welcome, my lord, Sire Christësmas!
Welcome to us all, both more and less!
Come near, Nowell.
Dieu vous garde, beau sire, tidingës I you bring:
A maid hath born a child full young,
The which causeth you for to sing:
Nowell. Nowell.
Buvez bien par toute la compagnie,
Make good cheer and be right merry,
And sing with us now joyfully:
Nowell. Nowell.
To hear and watch a beautiful performance the full carol from the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra check out this YouTube video.
Since this version of Nowell: Dieu vous garde is only 3:40 long I was of two minds as to whether to let it stand alone as a song-of-the-day or to accompany it with something. And if so, what? Another medieval carol? In the end I felt that this intricate performance needed a simple counter-balance.
This melody for Jesus Christ the Apple Tree was not originally something simple: It was written as the core of a 4-part choral arrangement by composer and music historian Elizabeth Poston, author of The Penguin Book of Carols. She had been trained at the Royal Academy of Music and was a professional composer, musiologist and writer. This is probably her most often-performed composition.
Throughout her career Poston didn’t need to have a day job, with one exception; during World War II she worked at the BBC. After her death it was revealed that she had been participating in a plan (that may have originated from Churchill) in which gramophone recordings were used to send coded messages to secret agents and resistance fighters in Europe.
Here, a layered version of her melody and arrangement for Jesus Christ the Apple Tree is performed as an instrumental by the three teenage Bigney brothers from Cape Breton who comprised the unfortunately short-lived group Kirkmount, featuring the youngest, Simeon, on the cello. It is from their 2001 CD Mittens for Christmas.
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