Blogmas Day 1

I have previously taken a look at Singing Together in a blog from earlier this year and I mentioned some of the Christmas songs I was introduced to over 6 years of fondly remembered singing in class. For these first two days of Blogmas I will be taking a song by song look at the Christmas songs that appeared in the Autumn issues. Some of these songs have disappeared from the face of the internet, but for those I will include pictures of the sheet music in the hope that those who are able to read it might be able to reconstruct the tune. Well, why not? I know an awful lot of talented people! So here goes with the carols and festive songs of Singing Together.

Autumn 1970

Potterspury Primary School 1st Year Infants

The Autumn 1970 Singing Together booklet contained 5 Christmas themed songs. The first one, The Child’s Carol is absolutely nowhere to be seen on any search term, so I can only assume that it has fallen completely from favour. So, below is the page with the accompanying music which I hope someone could reconstruct.

The Yodler’s Carol does, however, appear both on YouTube and also on music sites with lyrics that match perfectly. I can see why it appeared in Singing Together, because in many ways it’s an archetypal Singing Together choice, a brisk and cheerful tune together with lyrics that actually stretched a primary school child in terms of content. Having listened to it, I can say that I enjoyed it and that there were flashes of memory when I heard the chorus. Here it is from YouTube.

The next song, The Twelve Days of Christmas, is, of course, universally familiar and a great song to sing for all ages. It is also, a very good song to test your memory, although I remember getting geese, swans, lords and drummers mixed up for years! Here is my favourite version as a kid, from one of the few albums my parents owned. It’s English folk group, The Spinners.

The Huron Indian Carol is another carol, like The Yodeler’s Carol that definitely jogs memories over 50 years later. Here is an absolutely gorgeous rendition from Sarah McLachlan.

Finally we have the beautiful See Amid the Winter’s Snow that barely gets played or sung these days at carol services which is a real shame. It is a carol that simply needs to be heard and sung far more often. When I heard it as an adult I just knew it was familiar from somewhere. It’s another song from Singing Together that shaped my musical hinterland.

Autumn 1971

Bligh Way Primary School 2nd Year Infants

The 1971 Autumn Singing Together had five Christmas songs from the usual variety of backgrounds. First on the list was The Holly Tree (Y Gelynnen) a Welsh folk song that is perhaps more tangentially attached to the season. Once again, you look at the lyrics and realise that they were quite a stretch, content wise for the average 6 year old – as I was then – or even the average 11 year old. However, it was very common for children’s programmes to assume a wider vocabulary back then as you will see if you watch clips of 1970s television aimed at a younger audience. Well, I wandered around YouTube for a while listening to all the different versions, searching for one that gave the proper Singing Together vibe. The instant recognition of the tune really took me aback, because it was there in my long term memory just waiting for the synapses to be triggered again! The version I chose was from the YouTuber ‘threelegsoman’ who has recorded videos of the lyrics and tunes for a number of Singing Together songs. So here is The Holly Tree.

Next, is Lullaby for Baby Jesus. A Christmas carol from Brazil, to follow one from Wales. The compilers of each term’s songs had huge musical hinterlands, of the type that have perhaps changed beyond recognition over the years. In a sense, they were aural historians who were saving tunes and lyrics for posterity. It has beautiful, tender lyrics that make it perfect for Nativity plays. I wonder if it was used by schools for that purpose at the time? Whether it was or not, it is another carol that has been overlooked by the internet, so below you will find the sheet music in the hope that someone can reconstruct it.

The Linden Tree Carol is next, a song with a German tune. The words are traditional and full of references to the Virgin birth. I don’t remember this one, and even when hearing the tune, no memories were jogged. Anyway, here is a beautiful rendition from Max Thomas, a boy soprano.

The Zither Carol is a Czech folk song with lyrics by Malcolm Sargent and, once again, not one I recognise. The pace and the complexity of the words, however, indicate that it would have been very tricky to sing for primary school children, so perhaps I just didn’t take to it. In this version by St Albans Cathedral Choir, it sounds absolutely beautiful.

The final Christmas song from 1971 is one that I absolutely loved. Mary had a Baby is a carol from the West Indian island of St Helena and I remember singing it with gusto. We were encouraged to sing it in ‘the style of’ West Indians, a move that would definitely raise eyebrows now, but at the time cemented it in my affections. It’s a jaunty tune, and one you could learn very quickly, a carol just right for belting out! Here is a version that captures its energy and power.

Autumn 1972

Cobham Primary School 1st Year Juniors

So, on to 1972 where we had settled, temporarily into the village of Cobham in Kent. This year’s Christmas songs included a very famous carol from Wales, one song described in very 1970s terms (!) and three European carols. So, let’s start with Rise up, Shepherd. It’s based on a spiritual so in a sense the choral versions don’t really come close to reflecting the way that we would have sung it on Singing Together. Luckily, this version by John Gary is nearer to what we might have sung.

Fum! Fum! Fum! is not a Beach Boys misprint, but a Catalonian Carol. Singing Together lists it as a Spanish Carol, but I imagine your average Catalan might have something to say about that! It is bouncy and infectious, with a round sung in this recording, although I think it’s more likely that we would have sung it as a straightforward song. I could never get the hang of ’rounds’ because by the time you have three or more sets of voices joining in, I ended up getting confused which round I was supposed to be singing.

Now for the Welsh Carol, and I had forgotten that it came from Wales, the marvellous Deck the Halls. Strictly speaking, I suppose, it would be more associated with the traditional pagan celebrations of Yuletide given that there is no mention of Jesus, but plenty of mentions of feasting and drinking! Looking for versions of this Christmas staple I wanted to find something a bit different and The Muppets always are!

The Two Shepherds was a German song that split the singing into two parts. I have a very vague memory of the boys singing one part and the girls singing the other. Now, I can’t find anything on the net with the original lyrics but this version is clearly from the same stable (!) as the lines paraphrase the original that I would have sung. As before, no real memory of this exact song, but here is the version from Heidi Grant Murphy.

Finally, we visit Poland for the Lullaby Carol. There seem to be a number of different translations for the original Polish lyrics, so the words are often quite different to those in the book. It makes sense, therefore, to go back to those Polish words which sound absolutely beautiful.

Well, that’s the first three years of my Primary school journey. It has been a joy to revisit some songs that I remembered instantly and some that brought back strong memories of my childhood quite unexpectedly. If any of my talented friends would like to fill in the tunes for the two missing carols, that would be amazing. Join me tomorrow for 1973 – 1975.