Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni

Subject: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:17 PM

RAISE UP YOUR VOICES
by Ann Magill

Come gather together and sing with glad hearts!
Sing for the sun's return back from the dark.
The wheel, it is turning, the dance, it goes on.
So raise up your voices. Fill the air with sweet song!

Oh, sing with the Goddess: "The world is reborn!
Shining as bright as the very first morn."
The old year has ended. Let go of old wrongs,
And raise up your voices. Fill the air with sweet song!

Though winter will bring us cold nights and fierce wind,
Know by this dawning that hardship will end,
And like the sun's rays, may our hearts all grow strong.
Come raise up your voices -- fill the air with sweet song!

Give thanks to the Goddess, the sweet, living Earth --
Thanks for the cycle of death and rebirth.
She lives in our hearts and the love that we share.
So raise up your voices. Let sweet songs fill the air!

MIDI file: RAISEUP.MID

Timebase: 192

Name: raiseup
Text: By Ann Magill
Copyright: Copyright © 2002 by Ann Magill
TimeSig: 3/4 24 8
Start
0000 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 65 110 0160 0 65 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 65 110 0160 0 65 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 62 110 0336 0 62 000 0048 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0160 0 67 000 0032 1 65 110 0160 0 65 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 65 110 0256 0 65 000 0032 1 67 110 0094 0 67 000 0002 1 69 110 0160 0 69 000 0032 1 67 110 0336 0 67 000 0048 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 65 110 0160 0 65 000 0032 1 64 110 0160 0 64 000 0032 1 64 110 0094 0 64 000 0002 1 62 110 0094 0 62 000 0002 1 60 110 0160 0 60 000 0032 1 62 110 0160 0 62 000 0032 1 59 110 0160 0 59 000 0032 1 60 110 0336 0 60 000
End

This program is worth the effort of learning it.

To download the latest version of MIDItext and get instructions on how to use it click here

ABC format:

X:1
T:raiseup
M:3/4
Q:1/4=120
K:C
E2G2C2|C2E2G2|G2A2G2|F2G4|C2D2E2|F2E2D2|C2D2E2|
D4E2|G2G2A2|G2F2E2|F3GA2|G4E2|D2C2D2|F2E2ED|
C2D2B,2|C7/2||

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeanie
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:30 PM

Capri, that is lovely !

- jeanie

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:31 PM

Beautiful, CU!! Thanks!!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:42 PM

Thanks, Jeanie!

Thanks, Kat!

I'm just getting in the Yule spirit a little early -- I'm almost as bad as the drug stores. ;-) Next thing you know, I'll be wrapping myself in blinking lights :-D

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 12:46 PM

Thats lovely Ann.

Cat

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: open mike
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:02 PM

thank you for putting into words these lovely sentiments--
i read your Samhain piece to a group or women gathered at
my house for our 20th annual wild women's gathering. This
year is co-incided with day of the dead and today would have
been my mother's 84th birthday. She passed away in April,
and your writing helped me feel close to her. thank you.
laurel

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:38 PM

Thanks for the compliment, Cats!

And thank you for the kind words, Laurel. My own mother died 11 years ago, this October, and while the shock and the pain have lessened, with time (while the love and the strength she gave me has endured), I still have vivid memories of what that shock and pain were like. I am glad that my words have helped you through that.

Ma you find at least a little joy every day, even in the midst of darkness.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Mudlark
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 02:53 PM

Thanks Capri, for a beautiful Carol....no harm in getting started early. Some of us are a little slower than we used to be about learning songs!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 05 Nov 02 - 03:23 PM

no harm in getting started early.

Well, that drugstore comment was made in jest... hence the winky face:

;-)

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 12:26 PM

but on the other thread there was a midi. Can you post that again so people can hear the tune...

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 03:13 PM

Here you go, Mary Garvey!

MIDI of Carol created through Concertina

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 04:27 PM

I clicked and said page can't be found.

Once this is straightened out, do we have your permission to forward this to friends etc.??

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 06 Nov 02 - 05:00 PM

I clicked and said page can't be found.

Funny, the same thing happened to me, just now... though when I clicked on it right after I made the blickie, it worked just fine... maybe there is a time limit on it... Oh, well.

But here is the Conertina site I used to make the midi that Katlaughing posted. To use it, cut n' paste the ABC format in my opening post (Starting with X:1 and ending with ||) into the message window on that site, and click [submit].

Hope this helps!

And yes, Please do forward and share this song with all your friends and family. My secret ambition is to take over the world with joyfulness, doncha know?

Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-HAAA!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: MMario
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 08:00 AM

I will be posting a midi of this on the Mudcat Midi site with CapriUni's permission asap - had not connection yesterday so couldn't do it.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Mary in Kentucky
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 08:07 AM

MMario, I posted a "temporary" midi at this site. I didn't have time to work out any harmony. here

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 08:56 AM

Mary.... interesting thing, on my computer at least, when your site first loads, there are two voices playing the song -- one in piano, the other, in panpipe, and the piano one comes in a little sooner, so they're slightly out of sync with each other...

hmmm... makes me think this might make a good round...

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 10:49 AM

Oh, and had another thought:

For those atheists out there, who are just as uncomfortable singing praises to "The Goddess" as they are to "God" and "Jesus": You can substitute "The Planet" or "all Nature" for the religious bits and it still works -- both in terms of scansion and meaning.

Just a thought.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: GUEST,CapriUni's Secret Santa
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 11:20 AM

Even better than "the Goddess" or "all Nature",you can sing "your Santa" and it sounds great.
HO HO Ho HO

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 01:21 PM

Even better than "the Goddess" or "all Nature",you can sing "your Santa" and it sounds great.

Hmmmm:

Give thanks to your Santa,
The sweet living Earth -- ...

Are you telling me that you are the Planet Herself???

Wow!!!

I didn't know Gaia was a Mudcat member...

Doesn't surprise me, though ;-)

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: MMario
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 01:25 PM

She's my great niece and I didn't know she was even online yet!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 07 Nov 02 - 01:30 PM

She's my great niece and I didn't know she was even online yet!

You're the planet's great uncle?!

Ho, ho, ho indeed!!

Don't tell me -- you've got a beard of Holly branches, instead of hair, right?

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Genie
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 11:13 AM

Ann, thanks for singing the song (enough to give me the melody) into my voice mail. Lovely tune and words.

Do you still need/want any input about arrangements or how to put the tune on the web? I might be able to do a simple sheet music for it using Finale NotePad, if you like.

Genie

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 12:44 PM

Do you still need/want any input about arrangements or how to put the tune on the web? I might be able to do a simple sheet music for it using Finale NotePad, if you like.

Well, actually, now that you mention it...

I have Noteworthty Composer (which is what I wrote this on), and that does very nice looking scores for print out.

I'm planning on submitting this to a Pagan Webzine called Scribes of the Goddess which will relaunch (we all hope) this coming Yule. I've already submitted "Magic is for Children", which is another song I wrote with Mudcatters' help, and the editor asked that I submit that one in the form of a jpeg of the score, and the lyrics... I scanned the printout of the score, and it came out looking very nice. So I'm planning on doing that with this one, too.

Howvever, I am curious about how others would arange this. Personally, I hear it only as a simple melody, sung a cappella. But if others hear it with harmonies and arangements, I'd be fascinated to know how that would sound, too... "The greatest gift that God hae gi' us" and all that.

Also, it might be fun to give this song a page of its own... especially if I can add an illustration of my own for the backdrop (I like to work with watercolor pencils, and I have a few images in my head when I sing this song, so....).

So thanks muchly for your kind offers.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 08 Nov 02 - 03:42 PM

yes...please get the sheet music...it was on one of the clickies but I don't know if ti is still there..the more people have to do in terms of cut and paste, finding web sites etc., the less likely they are to sing the song..so if MMario could do a midi and Geri could do a page, that would be great. I personally can sort of hear it as a loud drinking-type song..lots of people singing..

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Barry T
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 01:06 AM

How 'bout four part harmony, Ann? Here's my midi file.

I'll try to put my mind and mouse to create a full-blown sequence tomorrow. In the meantime sing along with the Mudcat String Ensemble!

- - -

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 08:19 AM

How 'bout four part harmony, Ann? Here's my midi file.

Heh, heh. The Yuletide Barbarshop. I love it! But the diagonal stripes on those red and white jackets look a little dodgey. I mean, I know you were going for the candy cane look, but...

(Sorry, just got the sillies this morning. It really is lovely.)

I'll try to put my mind and mouse to create a full-blown sequence tomorrow.

That's not a full-blown sequence? How many stops are left to pull out?

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 08:31 AM

Wow - you know it's good if Barry sequences a MIDI of it! You said at the outset you wanted to write a hymn. I think the tune you've written is a classic hymn tune. Not surprising people want to take off with it!

Barry, it sounds wonderful, except - and this is where I go into nit-picking mode - the B's in the 2nd track sound a bit odd when they come up against the C's in the 3rd. You've got to sneak some 'illegal' stuff in and most times the ear will be fooled into not hearing the naughty notes. It may just be me that's hearing it.

In any case, I can't wait to hear the 'full-blown sequence' if this ain't it!!!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 08:46 AM

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 09:02 AM

OOPS! I meant to hit "make a link", and missed... anyway, the link (and even my bookmark) didn't work, because of all the damned popup ads, but there is a webpage called "Willow Firesong's Pagan Yule Carol Collection" that comes up fairly high on Google searches with keywords "Pagan", "Yule" and "Carol" (#2 or 3, I think)

And she asks for submissions of new songs. So I was thinking submitting to her site might be a good way to get more people to see the song, as Mary G. suggested.

But those popups really get up my nose!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 09:05 AM

You said at the outset you wanted to write a hymn.

Did I?

:::Scratches head:::

I don't remember "The outset", but then again, I haven't had my coffee, yet! ;-)

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeri
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 09:27 AM

Oops - "carol" not "hymn." I hadn't had any coffee either, but I'm better now.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 11:24 AM

That is just great...I kan hardly (no see key) wait until Genie komces up with the sheet musik.   Is ctherecc oh my a cccc just poppeccd back on..somcetimces whcere cI cdon't want it...

is there a cchane of gectting this onto its own wecb pagec now so that wec can refer people to it?

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 11:25 AM

I forgot to say it recminds me of those drinking songs like the Old Rose and Crown and Drink England Dry, which is why I an hear it with dozens of peoplce sincging it...

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 11:29 AM

I'm better now.

Me too. Coffee stirred into hot chocolate -- with extra milk powder for rich creaminess ...

Yummmmm!

As for the carol's tune... this first came into my head last year, so I don't remember exactly, but I think I was modeling it after "Joy to the World" -- the way it opens with a straight forward descending scale from high C to middle C, and uses that as the backbone for the rest of the melody.

But for some reason, the sequence of E, G, C just tickles my pleasure center... Perhaps because it reminds me of birdsong, particularly phoebes and chickadees, which were plentiful around my home when I was growing up...

I went back to listen to it again when the possibility of getting it published in a web zine came up, and realized that I had the rhythm all funkified, so I came here for help. And got it.

I love this place! Thanks, Max!

And thanks to all of you, who lent a helping hand, brain, and ear -- erm, pair of ears!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Barry T
Date: 09 Nov 02 - 11:47 PM

Jeri> this is where I go into nit-picking mode -
Jeri> the B's in the 2nd track sound a bit odd
Jeri> when they come up against the C's in the 3rd.

I prefer to think of those as 'unresolved chords' that I create after midnight! ;-)
(Good ear, Jeri!)

Here's the new improved version 2. 'Hope it does the tune justice!

- - -

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 12:35 AM

Great..now my next hope is that the midi and the words will appear on the same page.....but I have written it down for myself but I am just not sure how to transmit this..

I'm getting the tune down but I keep going into the pub with no beer and we'll drink England dry and 1 2 3 jolly lads all in one row??

Barry, are you coming to Lake Sasamat? It would be great to meet you in person....you live in BC don't you?

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 10:53 AM

Hang on Mary (Garvey) - will have something done today. Watch this space.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 12:05 PM

I'm getting the tune down but I keep going into the pub with no beer and we'll drink England dry and 1 2 3 jolly lads all in one row??

My sympathies, Mary.... I hate when that happens! I think it has more to do with muscle memory than anything else. Your diaphram, vocal folds, and tongue and lips are so used to teaming up to form a recoginized pattern, that they go ahead and finish it as soon as they see it starting...

I found "Old Rose and Crown" in the DT, and played the midi... you're right -- the two tunes are very similiar. As a matter of fact, I think the sequence of notes for "...fill the air with sweet song." is identical to "...as it sinks in the west." (pure coincidence, I assure you -- I'd never heard of "Old Rose and Crown" before you noted it).

Do you have any program like NoteWorthy Composer or Finale? If so, you could enter the score into that, and sing along as you watch the notes and words scroll across the screen... that might help.


Otherwise, if you pm me your email address, I could send you a .jpeg file to print out. Maybe it would help stick in your mind if you could get it through your eyes as well as your ear...

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 12:41 PM

my email address is [e-mail] for this purpose..I'll print it out at work....

I am having a great time singing along with Barry's symphony of it..

I was just going to set up a little web site with the words and let someone else add the music sheet and the midi (?) but it sounds like Jeri is taking care of that...then it will all be together...it is too hard to refer someone to a Mudcat thread that will disappear at some point...

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeri
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 01:42 PM

Here it is.

The words are there, the dots are there, Barry Taylor's MIDI and a wee simple MIDI are there. (Barry, I was presumptuous, but your MIDIs usually say it's ok to swipe them as long as folks keep the attribution.)

If anyone has any problems at all with the page, please let me know.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 02:25 PM

A couple of weeks ago, a friend sent me this thanksgiving prayer, which, she'd been told, dates back to ancient Ireland:

In the presence of my people
back to the beginning of life,
In the witness of the gods
and the ungods,
in homage to the immense
generosity of the universe
I give thanks
before my portion.

Today, I am particularly thankful that I have such talented friends, who are willing and so able to support my own talents.

Barry, that's a beautiful midi -- I really like the chord changes!

Jeri, thankyouthankyouthankyou for the website -- simple and elegant.

It's a good day, today.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Genie
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 10:07 PM

OK, Ann, I did the sheet music for your song in Finale, with more syncopation (which differs a bit from verse to verse, depending on the lyric), to see what you think of it. Now I'm trying to remember how to send it to you. I know I did this before with "Goldmine In The Sky," which I sent to MMario, but I don't remember how I did it! Maybe he'll remember.

I can send the Finale Notepad file as an email attachment, and I think anyone who downloads the Finale freeware can read it, even if they have Windows (I have Mac). I'll try that, anyway.

To get the software, go to Codamusic.com (I think).

Genie

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 10 Nov 02 - 10:21 PM

Genie (and anyone else who may know) --

I have Finale Notepad... But is there a way to save Finale files as midis, the way you can with Noteworthy?

Just wondering...

I look foreward to your version, Genie!

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 07:18 PM

After some suggestions from Genie (with the aim of making this more singable by a choir), I have decided to make the following changes:

Throughout the whole song:

change Raise up your voices to Raise all your voices

And in the last line, change Let sweet songs fill the air to Let glad songs fill the air.

Thank you for your patience. We now return you to your regularly scheduled insanity.

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Genie
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 09:26 PM

Well, Ann, the Finale NotePad Sheet music should be in your email box by now. It has both the lyrics printed under the notes.

If there should be any need to do so, I can fax it to people. (I'm thinking of folks who don't have Finale.) But I won't do that without your permission (including any corrections you may make).

You should have my (not-so-hot quality) recording, with harmony, on your answering machine sometime this week.

I know my Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship folks will be delighted to hear it. They may even use it in their solstice celebration (as you have so graciously permitted).

Joy,

Genie

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:00 PM

mg:

I know I said I'd email you the jpeg of the score, but the file keeps coming out three times the size of normal printer paper... when I reduce it down to a managable size, the detail goes wonky, and bits of the staff and the stems of the notes disapear... :::Sigh:::: Do you have Adobe reader? maybe saving it as an .pdf file would work


Genie:

I hope you don't mind, I'm extending our pm conversation to the thread, so that others may see it (since the conclusions we draw may affect the final version of the song). A bit of background:

In anticipation of teaching this song to a group for a choral version (is that right?), Genie pointed out a hiccup in the last line of the song: the "tsw" sound blend in "let sweet" is just too durn hard to sing, or at least too hard to sing in a way that sounds good.

So we're trying to hammer out alternatives. One alternative is to change "Let sweet" to "May glad," another is to change the last line to "When we raise up our voices and sweet songs fill the air"... but that would mean inserting an extra note into the line...

And there are probably other alternatives neither of us have thought of yet. :-)

(And yes, Genie... you may fax this song to people... if I can't figure out how to make a clear file of it, perhaps you could fax a copy to me? ;-))

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:12 PM

don't worry about me. I have the web site. That is all I need.

I actually change voices to voice when singing because there is one too many syllables there and then sweet songs works..see what happens when you turn a song loose...

mg

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: Jeri
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:41 PM

She lives in our hearts and the love that we share.
Let her song fill the air ??

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: CapriUni
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:47 PM

I actually change voices to voice when singing because there is one too many syllables there and then sweet songs works

Funny, that's what Genie said, but when I cut the syllable from the lyrics, the words stop one note before the dots on the staff do...

If you've designated a staff to have lyrics, Noteworthy Composer simply won't put a note on the staff unless there is a syllable (or pause symbol) to go with it. So I know, in terms of simple counting, at least, that

"Raise all your voices, let sweet songs fill the air"

in the last verse has exactly the same number of syllables as

"Raise all your voices, fill the air with sweet song"

in the other three verses. Why do you suppose it sounds like there is one more? Perhaps what the ear is hearing is not the number of syllables in a line, but the number of stressed syllables in a line?

..see what happens when you turn a song loose...

Yeah. Just like a toddler: once it finds its legs and starts running, there's no keeping up with it!

:::Mahoosive grin:::

Subject: RE: Winter Solstice Carol from CapriUni
From: mg
Date: 11 Nov 02 - 11:54 PM

I think that you are right about the stressed syllables and perhaps why you have been frustrated by this program in the past... mg