tiNE thiNG hElSEth - Naxos Music Library

1In the bleak midwinterIf you try to find this much-loved Christmascarol in Gustav Holst’s own list of hiscompositions, you will look in vain. Shortlyafter the turn of the previous century Holst’scomposer friend Ralph Vaughan Williamswas engaged to edit the musical material forthe English Hymnal, and asked his friendGustav Holst to contribute. Holst producedthree hymns, of which In the bleak midwinteris the first (no. 25 in the English Hymnal). Itwas subsequently published in a collection ofsix Christmas carols by Oxford UniversityPress and thus began its journey to becomingone of the most-loved carols of all times. Thebeautiful poem which inspired Gustav Holstwas written by Christina Rosetti, sister of thegreat Raphaelite Dante Gabriel Rosetti andone of the noblest woman poets of theVictorian age.2Et lite barn, så lysteligThis tune, which is usually associated withGrundtvig’s words, has deep roots in Nordicsoil. It was given Nordic words as early asduring the renaissance; the tune has thecharacter of a Norwegian folk melody.3Mitt hjerte alltid vankerWe take the most established hymns in thehymn-book for granted – words and melodyare part and parcel of the same entity. Often,however, they are the result of a fusing of verydifferent ages and spiritual climates – as is thecase with the wonderful ‘hand in glove’ tuneto Brorson’s hymn “Mitt hjerte alltid vanker”.The words were written during Brorson’speriod as pastor in southern Jutland in the1730s. The link-up with the present tune didnot, however, happen until 80-90 years laterafter Norway had parted with Denmark andentered into a union with Sweden. The editorsof the hymn-book gave the tune’s origins asbeing in Vestergotland, but the form in whichit exists with Brorson’s words is an adapted,Norwegian folk song version. Apart from itsdeeply pious mood, it is probably safest to saythat we know nothing for certain of the tune’sorigins; the index in the hymn-book gives theorigin as ‘unknown’ – which does not at alldetract from its qualities.4Maria WiegenliedMary’s song at the crib is the beloved subjectof a German folk song that has been set tomusic by both Brahms and Max Reger.Reger’s usual megalomania is totally absenthere, in what is perhaps his finest single Lied.5Angels from the realms of gloryAlmost a Christmas national anthem incertain parts of the English-speaking world,this carol is a product of Victorian England.The disparagement of this era in retrospect is06