Favourite carols

[joanbyers]

Anyone?

Advent Sunday today.

Here's one for starters:

In the Bleak Midwinter.

And Hey Little Bull (does that count as a carol?)

Oh! An IT was on a starry night. Love that one :)

It came upon a midnight clear

Once in Royal davids City is my favourite.
Then, in no particular order
away in a manger
o little town of bethlehem
hark the hearld angels sing

Coventry carol
In dulce jubilo
O holy night
Angels from the realms of glory
Hark the herald angels sing (with descant)
O little town of Bethlehem (also with descant)
O come o come Emmanuel
Silent night - gives me shivers if it has the right harmonies.

I have been practising playing some carols on the piano, it's very exciting especially as DD has started learning some at school and wants to sing along :)

In the Bleak Midwinter always makes me a bit teary, as does Silent Night.

And O Come All Ye Faithful - I love that extra version bit in the "Sing choirs of angels" verse.

I really like 'Good King Wenceslas' and the one that goes, 'Sing Choirs Of Angels' with a really, really high bit.

The Holly and the ivy
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
O little town of Bethlehem - less for itself than because it was my beloved grandfather's favourite

Oh yes, Hassled - that's the one!

Advent Carol service from St John's Cambridge on R3 at the moment (not live as it was recorded last week).

For the first of advent it really has to be Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel.

The Coventry Carol is another favourite once Christmas really gets going.

I like Three Kings From Persian Lands Afar, and Gabriel's Message.

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

And I love O Come All Ye Faithful, and refuse to sing the "Yea Lord we greet thee" verse until the beginning of Midnight Mass. It is the start of Christmas Day for me, as Jesus is put into the manger, and generally makes me well up a bit

In the bleak midwinter here too.
Little donkey also, I feel so sorry for that poor donkey.

For a happier carol, I like, while Shepards wash their socks watch their flock by night

Come all ye faithful

The first Noel.

O Holy Night. My mum had a record with French choirboys singing exquisitely. It was the first carol on the record and every time I hear it I am reminded of many happy childhood christmasses

Don't know it was on a starry night, or little bull.

Yes to all the others esp the Bach 8 part setting of in dulce. With one exception, see below.

Plus the linden tree, Jesus Christ the apple tree, quem pastores.

I hate, repeat hate, away in a manger. That's because I have a breathy soprano and always had to sing it as a solo and I loathe the words. I have hated it since I was 4 and don't intend to change now.

So there.

But the advent ones are lovely too.

And I love ding dong and lullay my liking, and that lovely Czech cradle song.

Sussex Carol
and GOd Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

I like also "In the bleak midwinter "

There are lots I love, both Advent and Christmas, but I think the one which I have the fondest memories of is Whike Shepherds Watched to the Cornish tune Lingham sung at midnight mass when DH stayed with his parents many years ago; it's sung with such gusto and everyone knows the tune there

Love Belle and Sebastian's version of 'Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel', except it has now become a longstanding family joke, since ds decided that an 'Emmanuel' was a willy, and a 'rejoice' must be ladyparts. How he came to that conclusion, I will never know but it's cracked us all up every year since...

I love In the Bleak Midwinter.

I'm also rather partial to the verse in We Three Kings that goes:
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

Cheerful bugger aren't I?

I love Christmas carols
Carol of the bells
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Come All ye Faithful
Ding Dong Merrily on High
The First Noel
Joy to the World