Scots Wha Hae

"Scots Wha Hae" is a poem written by Robert Burns that is supposed to approximate the speech Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, delivered to his troops prior to leading them into battle against the English under Edward II at Bannockburn. The poem was set to music and became one of Scotland's great anthems of national pride.

Scots, wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots, wham Bruce has aften led;
Welcome to your gory bed,
         Or to victory!

Now's the day, and now's the hour;
See the front o' battle lour;
See approach proud Edward's power—
         Chains and slavery!

Wha will be a traitor knave?
Wha can fill a coward's grave!
Wha sae base as be a slave?
         Let him turn and flee!

Wha for Scotland's king and law
Freedom's sword will strongly draw,
Freeman stand, or freeman fa',
         Let him follow me!

By oppression's woes and pains!
By your sons in servile chains!
We will drain our dearest veins,
         But they shall be free!

Lay the proud usurpers low!
Tyrants fall in every foe!
Liberty's in every blow!—
         Let us do or die!

Annual Christmas Music Recommendations - 2011: "Downe in Yon Forrest" and "Lighten the Dark"

The Feast of St. Nicholas seems as good a time as any to make my annual Christmas music recommendations for 2011. You can view recommendations from previous years at these links:

New Music Recommendations for the Season (2010)

Music Review: Sting's If On a Winter's Night (2009)

Tip of the Day: Buy Tydings Trew ... Cheap! (2008)

MUST BUY: A Christmas Recording to Celebrate All 12 Days of Christmas (2007)

Favorite Christmas Music (2007)

Tydings Trew (2007)

Favorite Christmas Recordings (2006)

First up for this year is a 2009 release that I recently purchased titled Downe In Yon Forrest (Christmas From The Middle Ages) by Kemper Crabb.


This musical offering contains live CD and DVD recordings of Crabb's 2008 PBS Christmas special. Here's the track list:

1. What Child Is This
2. Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent
3. The Song Of The Ship
4. Divinum Mysterium (Of The Father's Love Begotten)
5. Downe In Yon Forrest
6. The Coventry Carol
7. The Sussex Carol
8. Personent Hodie
9. Taladh Chrisosda (The Christ Child Lullabye)
10. I Saw Three Ships
11. Veni, Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come Emmanuel)
12. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

The best description I can provide of this recording comes from my wife, Sarah, who, upon hearing this for the first time, responded: "This sounds like 'Dead Can Dance Christmas'." But don't take her word for it, here's a sampling from Youtube:





Good stuff. Very Highly Recommended (must buy).


The next recording I wish to recommend is a 2009 release by the apparently now-defunct English folk group Kerfuffle, titled Lighten The Dark - A Midwinter Album.


The track list is as follows:

1. Three Ships
2. Cherry Tree Carol
3. The Truth From Above
4. Bransles
5. Lullay My Liking
6. Gallery Carol
7. Sussex Carol
8. Nowell, Nowell
9. The Holly & The Ivy
10. Gower Wassail
11. The Bitter Withy

I purchased this CD recently primarily because of the group's outstanding version of Sarah's favorite Christmas carol, "The Sussex Carol" (also known as "On Christmas Night"), but the rest of the recording is outstanding as well. Once again, here is a Youtube sampling of Kerfuffle's very English folk take on Christmas music:













Highly Recommended (you really should buy).

"Sweet Thing"

And I will stroll the merry way
And jump the hedges first
And I will drink the clear
Clean water for to quench my thirst
And I shall watch the ferry-boats
And they'll get high
On a bluer ocean
Against tomorrow's sky
And I will never grow so old again
And I will walk and talk
In gardens all wet with rain

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing

And I shall drive my chariot
Down your streets and cry
'Hey, it's me, I'm dynamite
And I don't know why'
And you shall take me strongly
In your arms again
And I will not remember
That I even felt the pain.
We shall walk and talk
In gardens all misty and wet with rain
And I will never, never, never
Grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
My, my, my, my, my sweet thing

And I will raise my hand up
Into the night time sky
And count the stars
That's shining in your eye
Just to dig it all an' not to wonder
That's just fine
And I'll be satisfied
Not to read in between the lines
And I will walk and talk
In gardens all wet with rain
And I will never, ever, ever, ever
Grow so old again.

Oh sweet thing, sweet thing
Sugar-baby with your champagne eyes
And your saint-like smile....


Thank you, Sarah, my "Sweet Thing", for the 10 happiest years of my life. Happy 10th Anniversary.

I love you!

Assumpta Est Maria

Motet, "Assumpta Est Maria", by Palestrina


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Feast of the Assumption - 15 August

It's Fourth of July Weekend

Some modern songs about the 4th of July to help you enjoy the weekend:

Music Recommendations: Some Revolutionary Sounds for the 4th of July

(Originally posted July 2, 2008, and updated June 30, 2011)

If you're tired of hearing the same old Sousa/Copeland/Berlin-as-performed-by-the-Boston Pops/National Symphony fare that is generally offered up on the 4th of July (and I won't even mention the more cheezy patriotic offerings that have come out within the last 30 years), I have some CD recommendations that will go a long way toward curing what musically ails you.

First up is Liberty Tree by The Boston Camerata.

The Boston Camerata are favorites of mine whenever it comes to early music. And this selection of early American music is no exception. From the program notes:

Our view of the American past is shaped by many things -- dimly remembered history lessons from our earliest school days; the posturings of present-day public people; and, perhaps most importantly, by the popular media -- radio, television, and the movies. Talk about static! Can we ever, then, experience our collective past as it "really" was? Hardly -- those days are gone forever. But, on the other hand, can we get closer to our roots than heretofore? Can we eliminate some of the distortion and noise? At least as far as music goes, I am convinced that a cleaner, truer approach is possible.

The partsongs, marches, anthems, jigs, and ballads we perform for you here were all part of American life during the early decades of the country's existence: between the founding of the Republic and the Civil War. This, the everyday music of villages and towns, represents a hybrid tradition. Notated and harmonised in a rough, pragmatic way by musicians of the time, these pieces are not learned or complex enough to be taken seriously as "high" art by most music historians. Yet, since they managed nonetheless to make their way onto paper and into "polite" society, they are surely a bit more refined and worldy-wise than the folk song of the truly rural settlers. It is in this neglected, between-two-worlds repertoire, I maintain, that we can find much of the soul of early America.

A few of our works have retained popularity since those earlest times; some tunes, once secular "hits", now survive, spiritualised, in the still-vital shapenote hymn tradition. But many of these pieces, once beloved in their day, have not been heard in generations, and have been transcribed and edited specially for this recording from original sources.

You will hear in our performances the kinds of musical instruments that were played a century and a half ago; softer and more rounded in tone than their modern counterparts. Though we don't know with any certainty how "art" music may have been sung in nineteenth-century America, the timbres of the musical instruments provide important parallel clues as to how the human voice may have sounded before the age of roaring tenors and the Boeing 747.

The result? You will experience a lighter, less aggresive tonal pallette than the one we tend to associate with patriotic fervour, or with history with a capital H. Yankee Doodle can be heard as the perky, disrespectful teenage piece it originally was. On the Road to Boston makes one visualise the road, perhaps the old one from Quincy and Dorchester; much narrower than the commuter-clogged Southeast Expressway, unpaved, with horse and foot traffic only -- and no billboards. And the untutored harmonies in a piece like Clovergreen give a truer, sharper sense of life on the (cultural) frontier than the sugary sweetness of the same tune played b y saxophones (as Auld Lang Syne) on New Year's Eve from coast to coast. True it is that we can't go back to those places, but fragments of what they once were do illumine and enrich our contemporary imagination.

[More]

Program includes:

I. Liberty Tree
1 Yankee Doodle 2'56
2 Chester 2'11
3 Liberty Tree 2'34
4 The Boston March 1'11
5 David's Lamentation 1'45
6 Jefferson and Liberty 2'39
7 Rights of Woman 1'12
8 The Appletree 1'12

II. Dormant
9 Dormant 2'29
10 Hero and Leander 2'13
11 Mary's dream 3'59

III. Jolly Soldier
12 On the Road to Boston 0'49
13 Jolly Soldier 3'23
14 Jefferson and Liberty 1'03
15 Abraham's Daughter 2'19
16 Brave Wolfe 4'49
17 Irish air 1'22
18 The Blue Bells of Scotland 2'00

IV. The Working Boy
19 The Working boy 2'03
20 Poor old Maids 0'57
21 Bob in the Bed 0'32
22 Old Tare River 1'53
23 The Rose Tree (The Knoxville Harmony) 2'06

V. Parting Friends
24 Clovergreen 3'41
25 Parting Friends 3'46
26 Ode to Science


Other outstanding offerings by The Boston Camerata in this genre (although focusing more on Early American folk hymnody), and well-deserving of a listen, include:

Trav'ling Home - American Spirituals 1770-1870

Program includes:

1. Hatfield
2. Invocation
3. The Pilgrims
4. Ballon
5. Richmond
6. Harvest Hymn
7. Calvary
8. Pennsylvania
9. While Angels Strike
10. Cusseta
11. Confidence
12. Something New
13. The Young Convert
14. Scots, Wha Ha'e
15. Bruce's Address
16. Saw You My Hero
17. Crucifixion
18. Fare Well Ye Green Fields
19. Greenfields
20. Prince William's March
21. The Paralytic
22. The Three Gypsies
23. Christian Race
24. Liberty
25. Ontario
26. Scotland
27. Warren
28. Weeping Pilgrim

(Program Notes and reviews can be read here)


The American Vocalist - Spirituals and Folk Hymns, 1850-1870

Program includes:

I. The Warning
1. Warning, spiritual
2. Windham, folk song
3. Judgement Day, spiritual
4. Greenwich, folk hymn
II. Great Comforter, descend
5. Wrestle, spiritual
6. Canterbury New Spiritual
7. Edom Spiritual
8. I Shall Be Satisfied, spiritual
III. The Star of Bethlehem
9. Milford, folk song
10. Star in the East (Council of Southern Mountain Workers' Songs of All Times, 1945)
11. Bonnie Doon, folk hymn
IV. The Gospel Feast:
12. O Come, Come Away, spiritual
13. School Hymn, folk hymn
14. Gospel Feast, folk hymn
15. Go Worship At Emmanuel's Feet, folk hymn
16. John Anderson, My Jo
17. Go When the Morning Shineth, spiritual
18. Captain Robert Kidd, folk song
19. How Precious Is the Name?, folk hymn
20. Roll Call, folk hymn
21. Glad Tidings, folk hymn
V. At the River
22. Deal Gently with Thy Servants, spiritual
23. Shall We Gather At the River?, folk hymn
24. Happy Land, folk hymn
25. Burst Ye Emerald Gates, folk hymn

(Program Notes and reviews can be read here)


New Britain - The Roots of American Folksong

Program includes:

I. Prélude
Anonymous (Southern Europe, 10th c.) -- Judicii Signum; The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia,1860) -- The Great Day; Provence, ca. 1200 -- Kalenda Maya; New Mexico, 1953 -- Cuando por el oriente
II. Old and New France/Vielle France et Nouvelle France
Québec, 1914 -- Rossignolet du bois joli; Borlet, ca. 1400 -- Rossignolet del bos jolin; Québec, 1914 -- Dans Paris y-a-t-un'barbière; Loyset Compère, ca. 1500 -- Allons nous faire faire la barbe; Québec, 1914 -- Mon père m'a mariée; Anonymous, ca. 1500 -- Mon père m'a mariée; Canada, ca. 1900 -- Gabriel Nazareth (sung in Huron); Jean Planson, 1587-- Unenymphe jolie; Québec, 1914-- C'est en passant par Varennes; Jacob Arcadelt, ca. 1568-- Margot labourés les vignes; Jean Baptiste Besard, 1603-- Bransles de village; Québec, 1914 -- Il était une cendrillon; Québec,1914-- C'est dans la ville de Bytown;
III. Wandering songs and Ballads/Chansons et ballades errantes
France, ca. 1475 -- Il est venu le petit oysillon; Germany, 1619 -- An jenem Tag, nach Davids sag; England, 1859 -- Barbara Allen; Tennessee, 1937 -- Barbara Allen; Georgia, 1855 -- Heavenly Dove ; Virginia, 1931 -- Chevy Chase ; England, ca. 1550-- The Kinges hunt is upp ; England, ca. 1590-- The English hunt's up ; Scotland, ca. 1650 -- My love gave me a cherry ; Nova Scotia, 1950 -- I gave my love a cherry ; Thomas Ravenscroft, 1611-- Hey ho, nobody at home ; Texas, 1950 -- There were three crows ; Thomas Ravenscroft, 1611 -- There were three ravens ; Scotland, ca. 1620-- Lady Cassilles Lilt ; Ohio, 1925 -- Gipsy Davy ; Scotland, 1790 -- The Jolly Beggar ; Taunton, Massachusetts, 1934-- Billy Boy ; Northern England, ca. 1920 -- Billy Boy ; Diego Ortiz, 1654 -- Ricercada premera ; North Carolina, 1916 - Betty Anne
IV. Singing School Folk Polyphony in the US/Polyphonie populaire aux Etats-Unis
The Social Harp (Georgia, 1855) -- Singing School ; William Billings (Boston, 1794) -- Thomas-Town ; The Sacred Harp (Philadelphia, 1860) -- New Britain (Amazing Grace) ; The Social Harp -- Parting Friends The Social Harp -- Hallelujah

(Program Notes and reviews can be read here)

_______________

Next up is Liberty! by fiddler Mark O'Connor (with Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, and James Taylor).


This is the soundtrack from the excellent PBS series Liberty! The American Revolution. Here's a description of the recording from the PBS website:

The music for LIBERTY! The American Revolution features arrangements of traditional Revolutionary-era folk melodies by Mark O'Connor, as well as original compositions by Richard Einhorn and O'Connor. O'Connor, a Grammy Award-winning violinist, performs, along with: Grammy Award-winning cellist Yo-Yo Ma; Pulitizer Prize-winning composer and trumpet player Wynton Marsalis; David and Ginger Hildebrand; and the Nashville Symphony. O'Connor's "Song of the Liberty Bell" is the series' main theme. James Taylor and O'Connor perform the traditional song, "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier," over the closing credits... American music of the revolutionary era drew upon the cultural influences of the people of the new nation - English, Scottish, Irish, German and African - and blended into a sound of its own. Through the interest and involvement of a remarkable collection of artists, that music has been recreated for LIBERTY! in a memorable soundtrack and score, from Sony Classical.

Program includes:

1. Song Of The Liberty Bell
2. Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier
3. Surrender The Sword
4. Soldier's Joy
5. When Bidden To The Wake Or Fair
6. The World Turned Upside Down
7. Bunker Hill
8. Freedom
9. The Flowers Of Edinburgh
10. Brave Wolfe
11. Devil's Dream
12. Song Of The Liberty Bell

_______________

My third recommendation is a CD that I purchased a few years ago (and have practically worn out listening to in the intervening years) called Davy Crockett's Fiddle by Colonial Williamsburg musician Dean Shostak. It is definitely my favorite of the bunch and a MUST OWN for anyone interested in early American music.
This recording features the fiddle that purportedly belonged to Davy Crockett. All the instruments and music on this CD are from the time of Davy Crockett (1786-1836). From the program notes:

I first learned about Davy Crockett's fiddle when I saw its picture in the April 2001 issue of USAToday; an old well-worn violin. That was the beginning of a wonderful musical adventure. I contacted the good folks at the Witte Museum, who owned the fiddle, and proposed that we have it restored. I wanted to make a recording of music of Davy Crockett's time on his very own fiddle accompanied by period instruments.

They enthusiastically agreed, and we embarked on an remarkable historical journey; restoring the violin, researching and learning the music Davy Crockett would have played, and recording it right in San Antonio where he spent his final, heroic days.

When I returned to Williamsburg, VA, I assembled some of my favorite early American musicians together to create musical scenes from Davy's life using his own fiddle...

Program includes:

1. Perry's Victory
2. Yankee Doodle
3. Amazing Grace
4. Speed The Plow
5. Hunters of Kentucky
6. Shenandoah
7. Turkey In The Straw
8. Haste To The Wedding
9. German Waltz
10. The President's March (Hail Columbia)
11. Home Sweet Home
12. Durang's Hornpipe / College Hornpipe
13. Jefferson And Liberty
14. Soldier's Joy / Bonaparte's Retreat
15. Duke of Kent Waltz
16. Cindy
17. The Girl I Left Behind Me / Leather Breeches
18. Rock of Ages
19. Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes
20. Star Spangled Banner
21. The Legend Of Davy Crockett

_______________

My final reccomendation is The World Turned Upside Down by Barry Phillips and Friends.


Of my recommendations, I've owned this recording the longest - I bought it on cassette tape many years ago (while I was still in law school), and purchased it again on CD a few years ago. The title of the recording refers to the tune that tradition says the surrendering British troops played as they paraded by the victorious Continental and French Armies at Yorktown during the American Revolution - the tune is also known as the Cavalier (and later, Jacobite) ballad "When the King Enjoys His Own Again". (It's also the tune to which Sarah marched down the aisle at our wedding.)

Here's more about the recording:

Barry Phillips and Friends explore the colorful variety of music popular in late 18th and early 19th century America, from elegant Colonial drawing rooms to homely frontier hearths to rollicking waterside taverns. The title tune, according to legend, was played by Cornwallis' surrendering troops at Yorktown; the album also includes dances and folk songs (All The Pretty Little Horses, Rights of Man, Fisher's Hornpipe, Love in a Village) along with a suite of early American classical music by the Boston master William Billings. As always, liner notes provide colorful background history of the music and the times.

Go here for the complete liner notes. Program includes:

1. The World Turned Upside Down 2:42
2. Love in a Village / Love Forever 3:05
3. The Rights of Man 3:20
4. When Jesus Wept 3:46 (by William Billings)
5. Billings Suite 3:48 (by William Billings)
6. Dutchess of Brunswick 2:21 (Traditional)
7. Young Widow/Black Joke 2:22
8. New German Spa 3:59
9. All The Pretty Little Horses 3:13 (Traditional)
10. Sweet Richard 4:07
11. Fisher's Hornpipe / Patterson's Hornpipe 4:55 (by James A. Fisher)
12. Rights of Conscience 4:19 (by Issachar Bates)

_______________

Whether you're a history buff, a fan of early American music, or just want something different to listen to on Independence Day, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL of these recordings.

And, finally, there are two more recordings that I'd like to mention, which I do not own, but which look promising. The first is titled Music of the American Revolution: The Birth of Liberty. This recording appears to cover some of the same ground as the recordings I've listed above, but is limited only to music of the American Revolution. Could be worth checking out. And the second one is 4th of July Concert by the Fifes and Drums of Colonnial Williamsburg. Although I do not own this recording, I was actually in attendance at this particular 4th of July concert in Colonial Williamsburg, and can recommend it on that basis alone.

Miley Cyrus Hates Rick Santorum, Hearts Same-Sex Nuptials

I'm no fan (at least not anymore) of Rick Santorum, but this is just pathetic:

Even Miley Cyrus is getting in on the 2012 action. In a reaction to a recent controversy over retailer Urban Outfitters allegedly copying jewelry designs, Cryus last night aired her criticism of UO President Richard Hayne’s campaign contributions to former Senator Rick Santorum.

“IF WE ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE NEXT THING U KNOW PEOPLE WILL BE MARRYING GOLD FISH’ – Rick Santorum UO contributed $13,000 to this mans campaign” the singer and Hannah Montana star tweeted, in an apparent reference to the former Senator’s famous “man on dog” remark. Santorum is known for his conservative and often controversial opinions on same-sex marriage...

My Comments:
Awwww. Isn't that sweet. Now that she's too old for her younger Disney audience, Achey Breaky's offshpring knows which Divah-worshipping cohort it is that's going to be buttering her bread. Can you say FAAAAAAAABULOUS?!?!

Yeah, whatever, Hannah Montana. You're only one or two more "Hey, look at me!" titty shots and an alcohol-induced binge away from being as completly irrelevant as your Disney predecessor, Lindsay Lohan.

Hat tip: Creative Minority Report

Hail Glorious St. Patrick

A hymn to Ireland's patron saint in quite distinctive styles. First, by the Wolfe Tones:



And next, by the Irish Tenors:

St. Patrick's Breastplate (The Deer's Cry)

From "The Pilgrim" composed by Shaun Davey.

This version of "The Deer's Cry" is sung by the artist Angelina and has appeared on EWTN:



I arise today through the strength of heaven
Light of sun, radiance of moon
Splendor of fire, speed of lightning
Swiftness of wind, depth of the sea
Stability of earth, firmness of rock

I arise today through God's strength to pilot me
God's eye to look before me
God's wisdom to guide me
God's way to lie before me
God's shield to protect me

From all who shall wish me ill
Afar and a-near
Alone and in a multitude
Against every cruel, merciless power
That may oppose my body and soul

Christ with me, Christ before me
Christ behind me, Christ in me
Christ beneath me, Christ above me
Christ on my right, Christ on my left
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down
Christ when I arise, Christ to shield me

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me

I arise today
Based on the Lorica of St. Patrick.

Lisa Kelly of Celtic Woman also did a very lovely version of "The Deer's Cry".

Deguello de Crockett

Recommended Music:
"The Alamo" Soundtrack by Carter Burwell

Davy Crockett's Fiddle by Dean Shostak

Davy Crockett Plays On: Live in the Alamo (Fathers of Texas Series) by K.R. Woods

"Johnny Cash is Dead and His House Burned Down"

The 12 Days of a Large Family Christmas

Check out this video at Faith & Family Live!, which puts all the comments that one large family receives from strangers on their 7 children to the tune of "The 12 Days of Christmas".

We only have 4 children, and we've received most if not all of the same comments.

(Hat tip: Matt Archbold at Creative Minority Report)

New Music Recommendations for the Season

Every year at this time, I make recommendations for seasonal music appropriate either to Advent, Christmas, or both. You can find past recommendations in the links below. I encourage you to check them out. (You'll notice that there are three ... count 'em ... THREE ... separate posts dedicated to, and a grand total of five ... count 'em ... FIVE ... posts in which I very highly recommend, a CD titled "Tydings Trew". This makes the sixth post in which I do so. If you haven't bought this recording yet, what ARE you waiting for?)

This year, I would like to suggest a couple of new music offerings that I recently purchased.

The first is one that my wife, Sarah, is just wild about. She says it is her new favorite recording of holiday music. It is "Welcome Yule: An English Christmas Revels".


Here is a description of the recording from the Revels website:

This joyous new holiday CD highlights the best of Revels' most popular English-themed Christmas productions and features stunning music, songs and holiday carols from Medieval, Renaissance and Victorian periods. The Christmas Revels Chorus and Children's Chorus are joined by a host of wind, string and brass instruments in a wide array of festive music for the season. Particularly moving is the thrilling live sound of 1,000 audience members filling Sanders Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with their voices on the peace round, "Dona Nobis Pacem," one of several live cuts found on this new recording. Other live cuts include "The Sussex Mummers' Carol" and The Christmas Revels' iconic signature piece, "The Lord of the Dance."

Featuring music from this year’s show at Sanders Theatre.

[...]

Songlist
1. On Christmas Night
2. Te Deum
3. All Hail to the Days
4. The Cries of London
5. Tomorrow the Fox Will Come to Town
6. Renaissance Dances
7. Salutation Carol/Bring Us In Good Ale
8. In the Bleak Midwinter
9. The Lord of the Dance
10. Ther Is No Rose of Swych Vertu
11. Holly and his Merry Men
12. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
13. English Country Dances
14. While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night
15. Dona Nobis Pacem
16. There Shall a Star from Jacob Come Forth
17. Come and I Will Sing You
18. Rejoice, Ye Tenants of the Earth
19. The Sussex Mummers' Carol

In the past, I have highly recommended other offerings from "The Christmas Revels" collection, and I give their latest recording an even stronger recommendation than I gave to their past efforts.

Very Highly Recommended (must buy).

The other new music offering I wish to recommend is "The Cherry Tree: Songs, Carols & Ballads for Christmas" by Anonymous 4.


Here is the product description from Amazon.com:

Back in the studio after a four year hiatus, Anonymous 4 returns with The Cherry Tree, an instant holiday music classic featuring medieval English carols and Anglo-American spiritual songs. It is the eighteenth original recording for the renowned vocal ensemble and their first since 2006's Gloryland, which debuted at number three on the Billboard classical chart. Anonymous 4 has been a perennial presence on Billboard s Top Classical Albums chart and hit number one with their folk-inspired American Angels in 2004. The Cherry Tree is named after the miracle ballad of Joseph and Mary, the earliest text of which survives from a Coventry Play from around 1400. The 'Cherry Tree' story persisted in many forms, making its way into medieval British carols of the mid-15th century and into British and American traditional ballads. In it, Joseph doubts the divine origin of Mary's pregnancy only to hear Jesus speak from within Mary's womb, causing a cherry tree to bend its branches and offer his mother its fruit. The 2011-12 season marks Anonymous 4's 25th anniversary and the group will be on tour in the US this fall.

You can read more about this recording at the Anonymous 4 website:

Track List
1 Prophetarum presignata
2 Nowel syng we bothe al and som
3 Alma redemptoris mater
4 The Shepherd's Star
5 Newell - Tydings trew
6 Mervele noght Iosep
7 Synge we to this mery cumpane
8 Qui creavit celum
9 A Virdin Unspotted
10 Now may we syngyn
11 Lullay my child - This ender nithgt
12 Star in the East
13 Veni redemptor gencium
14 The Cherry Tree Carol
15 Salve mater misericodie
16 Hail mary ful of grace
17 Bethlehem

[More]

This is the third Christmas recording by Anonymous 4 that I have recommended, having suggested both "On Yoolis Night: Medieval Carols & Motets" and "Wolcum Yule: Celtic and British Songs and Carols" in the past. "The Cherry Tree" definitely surpasses "Wolcum Yule", but no Anonymous 4 recording, in my view, comes close to the transcendant "On Yoolis Night", which , along with Nat King Cole's "The Christmas Song", is my choice for music on Christmas Eve at the Anderson household (although I usually get outvoted by those who'd rather hear Gene Autry or Burl Ives sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"). If you can only own one Anonymous 4 Christmas recording, buy "On Yoolis Night".

But fans of Anonymous 4 will obviously want to own "The Cherry Tree"; and I also recommend this recording for anyone who is interested (as I am) in listening to medieval and renaissance English and early-American Advent and Christmas carols and ballads.

Highly Recommended (you really should buy).


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Music Review: Sting's If On a Winter's Night

Tip of the Day: Buy Tydings Trew ... Cheap!

MUST BUY: A Christmas Recording to Celebrate All 12 Days of Christmas

Favorite Christmas Music

Tydings Trew

Favorite Christmas Recordings

Sleepers Awake

"Sleepers Awake" by Johann Sebastian Bach

Brothers and sisters: You know the time; it is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. For our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed; the night is advanced, the day is at hand.
~ Romans 13:11, 12


Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
~ Matthew 24:42-44

Texas Rangers Music: "I Like Texas" by Pat Green

Played after a Texas Rangers home win. I'm hoping we'll hear this a lot over the coming days.

John Dowland: "As I Went to Walsingham"

The Walsingham Ballads, Part 3: The Arundel Ballad ("The Wrecks of Walsingham")

In the wrackes of Walsingam
Whom should I chuse
But the Queene of Walsingam
To be guide to my muse?

Then, thou Prince of Walsingam
Graunt me to frame
Bitter plaintes to rewe thy wronge
Bitter wo for thy name.

Bitter was it, oh to see
The sely sheepe
Murdred by the raveninge wolves
While the sheepharde did sleep.

Bitter was it, oh, to viewe
The sacred vyne
Whiles the gardiners plaied all close
Rooted up by the swine.

Bitter, bitter oh to behoulde
The grasse to growe
Where the walles of Walsingam
So stately did shewe.

Such were the worth of Walsingam
While she did stand
Such are the wrackes as now do shewe
Of that (so) holy lande.

Levell, levell with the ground
The Towres doe lye
Which with their golden, glitt'ring tops
Pearsed oute to the skye.

Where weare gates noe gates are nowe,
The waies unknowen,
Where the presse of freares did passe
While her fame far was blowen.

Oules do scrike where the sweetest himnes
Lately wear songe,
Toades and serpents hold their dennes
Where the palmers did throng.

Weep, weep O Walsingam,
Whose dayes are nightes,
Blessings turned to blasphemies,
Holy deedes to dispites.

Sinne is where our Ladye sate,
Heaven turned is to helle;
Sathan sitte where our Lord did swaye,
Walsingam, oh, farewell!

The Walsingham Ballads, Part 2: The Ralegh Ballad

As you came from the holy land
Of Walsinghame,
Met you not with my true love
By the way as you came ?

How shall I know your true love,
That have met many one,
As I went to the holy land,
That have come, that have gone ?

She is neither white nor brown,
But as the heavens fair ;
There is none hath a form so divine
In the earth or the air.

Such a one did I meet, good sir,
Such an angelic face,
Who like a queen, like a nymph, did appear,
By her gait, by her grace.

She hath left me here all alone,
All alone, as unknown,
Who sometimes did me lead with herself,
And me loved as her own.

What's the cause that she leaves you alone,
And a new way doth take,
Who loved you once as her own,
And her joy did you make ?

I have loved her all my youth,
But now old, as you see,
Love likes not the falling fruit
From the withered tree.

Know that Love is a careless child,
And forgets promise past ;
He is blind, he is deaf when he list,
And in faith never fast.

His desire is a dureless content,
And a trustless joy ;
He is won with a world of despair,
And is lost with a toy.

Of womankind such indeed is the love,
Or the word love abusèd,
Under which many childish desires
And conceits are excusèd.

But true love is a durable fire,
In the mind ever burning,
Never sick, never old, never dead,
From itself never turning.

The Walsingham Ballads, Part 1: The Pynson Ballad

Of this chapell se here the fundacyon,
Bylded the yere of crystes incarnacyon,
A thousande complete syxty and one,
The tyme of sent Edward kyng of this region.

Beholde and se, ye goostly folkes all,
Which to this place have devocyon
When ye to Our Lady askynge socoure call
Desyrynge here hir helpe in your trybulacyon:
Of this hir chapell ye may se the fundacyon.
If ye wyll this table overse and rede
Howe by myracle it was founded indede.

A noble wydowe, somtyme lady of this towne,
Called Rychold, in lyvynge full vertuous,
Desyred of Oure Lady a petycyowne
Hir to honoure with some werke bountyous,
This blyssed Virgyn and Lady most gracyous
Graunted hir petycyon, as I shall after tell,
Unto hir worschyp to edefye this chapell.

In spyryte Our Lady to Nazareth hir led
And shewed hir the place where Gabryel hir grette:
"Lo doughter, consyder" to hir Oure Lady sayde,
" Of thys place take thou suerly the mette,
Another lyke thys at Walsyngham thou sette
Unto my laude and synguler honoure;
All that me seke there shall fynde socoure,

Where shall be hadde in a memoryall
The great joy of my salutacyon.
Fyrste of my joys grounde and orygynall
Rote of mankyndes gracious redempcyon,
When Gabryell gave to me relacyon
To be a moder through humylyte.
And goddys sonne conceyve in virgynyte"

This visyon shewed thryse to this devout woman.
In mynde well she marked both length and brede;
She was full gladde and thanked Oure Lady than
Of hir great grace never destytute in nede.
This forsayd hous in haste she thought to spede,
Called to hir artyfycers full wyse,
This chapell to forge as Our Lady dyd devyse.

All this, a medewe wete with dropes celestyall
And with sylver dewe sent from hye adowne
Excepte tho tweyne places chosen above all
Where neyther moyster ne dewe myght be fowne.
This was the fyrste pronostycacyowne
Howe this our newe Nazareth here shold stande,
Bylded lyke the fyrste in the Holy Lande.

Whan it was al fourmed, than had she great doute
Where it shold be sette and in what maner place,
Inasmoche as tweyne places were founde oute
Tokened with myracle of Our Ladyes grace;
That is to say, tweyne quadrates of egall space
As the flees of Gedeon in the wete beynge drye,
Assygned by myracle of holy mayde Marye.

The wydowe thought it most lykly of congruence
This house on the fyrste soyle to bylde and arere.
Of this who lyste to have experyence,
A chapell of saynt Laurence standeth nowe there
Faste by tweyne wells, experyence doth thus lere,
There she thought to have set this chapell
Which was begonne by Our Ladyes counsell.

The carpenters began to set the fundamente
This hevenly house to arere up on hye,
But sone their werkes shewed inconvenyente.
For no pece with oder wolde agre with geometrye;
Than were they all sory and full of agonye
That they could nat ken neither mesure ne marke
To ioyne togyder their owne proper werke.

They went to reste and layde all thynge on syde,
As they on their maystresse had a commaundement;
She thought Our Lady, that fyrste was hir gyde,
Wold convey this worke aftyr hir owne entent;
Hir meyny to reste as for that nyght she sente
And prayed Our Lady with devoute exclamacyon,
And as she had begonne, to perfowrme that habytacion.

All nyghte the wydowe remayninge in this prayer,
Oure blyssed Lady, with hevenly mynystrys,
Hirsylfe beynge here chyef artyfycer,
Arerid this sayd house with aungellys handys,
And nat only reyrd it but set it there it is,
That is, two hundred fote and more in dystaunce
From the fyrste place bokes make remembraunce.

Erly whan the artyfycers cam to their travayle
Of this sayd chapell to have made an ende,
They founde eche parte conjoyned sauns fayle
Better than they coude conceyve it in mynde;
Thus eche man home agayne dyd wynde,
And this holy matrone thanked Oure Lady
Of hir great grace shewyd here specyally.

And syth here Our Lady hath shewyd many myracle
Innumerable, nowe here for to expresse
To suche as visyte thys hir habytacle.
Ever lyke newe to them that call hir in dystrsse.
Foure hundreth yere and more the cronacle to witnes
Hath endured this notable pylgrymage,
Where grace is dayly shewyd to men of every age.

Many seke ben here cured by Our Ladyes myghte
Dede agayne revyved, of this is no dought,
Lame made hole and blynde restored to syghte,
Maryners vexed with tempest safe to porte brought
Defe, wounded and lunatyke that hyder have sought
And also lepers here recovered have be
By Oure Ladyes grace of their infyrmyte.

Folke that of fendys have had acombraunce
And of wycked spyrytes also moche vexacyon
Have here be delyvered from every such chaunce,
And soules greatly vexed with gostely temptacion,
Lo. here the chyef solace agaynst all tribulacyon
To all that be seke, bodely or goostly,
Callynge to Oure Lady devoutly.

Therfore every pylgryme gyve your attendaunce
Our Lady here to serve with humble affeccyon.
Your sylfe ye applye to do hir plesaunce.
Remembrynge the great joye of hir Annunciacion.
Therwyth concevynge this brief complacyon.
Though it halte in meter and eloquence.
It is here wryten to do hyr reverence.

All lettred that wyll have more intellygence
Of the fundacyon of this chapell here,
If you wyll aske bokes shall you encence
More clerely to undersclnde this forsayd matere;
To you shall declare the cronyclere
All cyrcumstaunce by a noble processe
Howe olde cronyclers of thys bere wytnesse.

O Englonde, great cause thou haste glad for to be,
Compared to the londe of promys syon,
Thou atteynest my grace to stande in that degre
Through this gloryous Ladyes supportacyon,
To be called in every realme and regyon
The holy lande, Oure Ladyes dowre;
Thus arte thou named of olde antyquyte.

And this is the cause, as it apereth by lyklynesse,
In the is belded newe Nazareth, a mancyon
To the honoure of the hevenly empresse
And of hir moste gloryous salutacyon,
Chyef pryncypyll and grounde of oure salvacyon,
Whan Gabryell sayd at olde Nazereth 'Ave',
This joy here dayly remembred for to be.

O gracyous Lady, glory of Jerusalem,
Cypresse of Syon and Joye of Israel,
Rose of Jeryco and Sterre of Bethleem,
O gloryous Lady, our askynge nat repell,
In mercy all wymen ever thou doste excell,
Therfore, blissed Lady, graunt thou thy great grace
To all that the devoutly visyte in this place.

Goodbye Cleveland

For some reason, this song is stuck in my head today:

Goodbye Cleveland.
Turn down the rock and roll,
Turn out the light.
Goodbye Cleveland.
Goodbye, good luck and good night.

~ Robert Earl Keen

You can listen to an excerpt here.