The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #140608 Message #3232152
Posted By: Marje
01-Oct-11 - 08:48 AM
Thread Name: Tune Req: Pre-1700 winter & Christmas tunes, pls
Subject: RE: Tune Req: Pre-1700 winter & Christmas tunes, pls
If you can get hold of a copy of The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols (quite different from the other OBOC), it helpfully divides the "Composed Carols" into Middle Ages, pre-1700 etc. Possible ones include Angelus ad Virginem, Veni Veni Emmanuel, Personent Hodie, Unto us a boy is born, There is No Rose, Quem Pastores Laudavere, In Dulci Jubilo.(glorious melodies, those last two).
In the Traditional Carols section, the earliest dates given are usually the earliest published dates, whereas the carols may be centuries older than that. The Boars' Head Carol, for instance, appears in print in 1860 but the book tells us that by 1700 wild boars were extinct in England, which suggests that the carol must go back a long way. The words of the Sussex Carol were written by 1686, but the origins of the traditional tune are not dated. Others that are probably old enough include I Saw Three Ships, God Rest Ye Merry, and some of the wassail carols, but it's difficult to trace the origins of traditional melodies.
Oh, and there's Green Grow'th the Holly, which is in the OBOC and is 16th century. That can work as a duet, but is better with the third part added on voice or instrument. And don't forget Coventry Carol.
Marje