“Consciousness expresses itself through creation. This world we live in is the dance of the creator. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye but the dance lives on... The creator and creation merge into one wholeness of joy."
- Dancing the Dream, Michael Jackson
Joy calls to joy...
Music is one of the most powerful, mysterious forces we know. It can move us to tears, exultation, peace and triumph. It can "possess" the body through dance - it transcends language as a means of communication - it seems integral to the universe - yet we cannot truly comprehend what it is...
It is almost a force of magic - nay it is magic! For I have found that listening to music evokes images and fantasies within my mind. It is a creative force - but more than that I have found that it bridges the past and present - and reaches from beyond death...
The Passing of the Soul at Death - Evelyn de Morgan
Listen to this piece of music: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. It was the absolute favourite piece of music of someone I loved very dearly, who is now dead. When I listen to it I am filled with a terrible happiness, a sweet melancholy, a sense of wonder and an aching, consuming love. Because this piece of music contains something of the soul of the one I loved - wherever and whatever happens to a soul after death - for though I hope I cannot know or trust with any surety - the beauty and love and wonder; the kindness and innocence and hope that characterised this soul - remains in the world, every time the music is played. Whenever I listen to it - I know that in the past these same notes were heard by him, and perhaps he was moved to tears as I am, every time.
The emotions of a yearning soul, searching for a sense of a connection ...
It is doubly powerful because I know that one day I too will be dead, and though I hope that will not be the end for me, whatever happens this piece of music - and the other pieces that I feel as part of my own soul - will remain.
I find it apt that Hope plays music while she waits blindfold... But as long as the music lasts, so will she...
What is a musical composition but the expression of the soul - those feelings and imaginings that move and drive us? Art too is an expression of the soul. So is writing. Whenever another person hears the music, reads the tale; views the painting, and feels their own soul stirred - is communing with that soul, and with the soul of everyone, past and future who will be similarly affected.
Who knows who is listening, past and future, to the song of the present? To the Chant D'Amour?
This makes me consider of those pieces of music, art and writing that become part of the soul. You know the ones I mean - the ones that transcend ordinary "liking" or admiration and which shape the person you become. Pictures that are painted on the heart. Poems spoken wordlessly with every breath. Music singing in your mind, over and over, until your body's movement becomes a dance. Characters that walk beside you when you feel afraid, and whom you cherish fiercely. Wonderful and perilous places discovered between the pages of a book, which you align with your own reality every second of the day. Perhaps you created them. Perhaps a kindred-spirit created them. But they become part of who you are.
We all have a few books that become part of our identity... Reading becomes a source of self-affirmation, a journey and a search for guidance; a connection with the wisdom of the past.
I think that is why we create. It is a deep (if incomplete) connection, unbounded by time and immortal as an idea. While the creation exists, so does the creator. And so too exist forever all those who saw themselves reflected in a picture painted hundreds of years ago, who hear their souls' keening in an old melody; who walk within a "secondary world". Once something has been thought of, it can never die, for its potential is always there to be re-awakened.
It's some comfort.
Just create... just create
Immortality's my game
From Bliss I came
In Bliss I'm sustained
To Bliss I return
I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain... - Celtic Woman, The Voice
What would the spirit of the wind look like to mortal eyes, I wonder?
Wind is everywhere tonight. As cool relief after a parching hot day, we welcomed it into our house - flinging open windows and letting it sweep down the stairs and slam the doors like an exuberant and invisible guest. Its first approach was tentative and hesitant, but its forces increased and it became insistent and loud; rattling the windows - stronger and still more insistent as time passed.
All day the weather had been extreme. The temperatures rose to a record 45.8 C and when the cool change arrived we blessed it. Yet as the winds increased in power the trees bent and strained, and the sea, which all day had been a smooth and brilliant sapphire, churned white and storm-cloud grey. As the yachts rocked wildly in clusters near the shore, their furled sails snapping and weights clanging against their masts, we were warned - "dangerous winds" were forecasted.
Cloud and tree and churning sea are but playthings and instruments of the wind...
The guest had turned wild. The windows were firmly shut and bolted. Safe inside a solid house the members of my family relaxed - reading or playing according to their whims and natures.
My nature drove me elsewhere.
I could not resist the call of the wind. Though barred from entering the house it sang and whistled all the louder, playing the branches of the tossing trees like a skilled and powerful bard. Suddenly I felt a great desire to join it.
I climbed the stairs to the top of the house, where a turret stands overlooking the city and the sea. Here I shut the door on domesticity behind me, and in darkness communed with my friend the wind, alone. It welcomed me out into its realm - singing to me of power and of freedom limitless. I planted my feet and flung out my arms to it, and it surrounded me, surging in currents and eddies like rapid river water around a rock. My skirts and sleeves rose and escaped my control, swirling in all directions, until I felt myself a being of flickering light and shadows; an elemental, kin to the wind, and a part of its song.
For in simply being out in the night I became another instrument for the wind to play upon - and as I swayed before it I felt my sinews strum, and internally I vibrated to the terrible and beautiful chords. But I would not let myself simply be an instrument. I wanted to add my voice in harmony to the wind - to sing of themes that I felt.
The song of the wind is ethereal and eldritch...
I sang the elf-songs Aniron and Elbereth - because at this time I felt a deep joy in the power and beauty of the world, and because I felt the ethereal language was suited to the profound and eldritch language of the wind. In a similar vein I sang Into the West - gazing across the sea beyond the sparkling city, toward the dark horizon, and I imagined the sailor Earendil and Elwing journeying on waters stirred by this wind. Awe came upon me - at the power and the timelessness of wind/- and I became aware of its unending song that continues through the lives of small, audacious humans until the final consuming of the Earth in flame, when the sun expands, a fate billions of years hence...
Though the storm is strong and vast and I am small - still I stand...
Yet with my awe, and understanding of the immensity of the wind, came a surge of joy and fierce elation. I knew suddenly that while my life is small and frail beside the age and power of the wind - still I stood before it, and sang and added to it, and I felt wonderfully alive. Now I sang The Old Ways - of human connection with the elements through the passing of time. I stood over the city and felt like a sorceress - a goddess, with the city and the sea and all the roiling air within the span of my arms. Finally I sang The Voice - my own voice swelling with the roar of the wind - and the words were of past and future, history and permanence. And with this last song I felt a great triumph - for I felt my voice had become a part of the immortal melody, and would be carried within it forever - and I was glad.
I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain I am the voice of your hunger and pain I am the voice that always is calling you I am the voice I will remain I am the voice of the past that will always be I am the voice of your hunger and pain I am the voice of the future I am the voice
The pounding waves/ Are calling me home/ Home to you... - The Old Ways, Loreena McKennitt
The elvish folk were passing bowls from hand to hand and across the fires, and some were harping and many were singing.. Loud and clear and fair were those songs... - J R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Ever since rewatching The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit I have been haunted by the images of elves and the beautiful world of Middle Earth, and I have been deliciously tormented by an incredible longing for this most beautiful of fantasy worlds. The feeling is akin to unrequited love - painful and sweet, and sorrowful - and yet life without it lacks a vibrancy and colour, and because of it, themes of music surround me and I thrill, rejoice and am sad...
For my re-awakened love of Middle Earth has inspired me to seek out the music of the Elves - and my virtual quest led me not just the music of the "Official Soundtrack" (which I already had), but the "Complete Recordings" - themes of music that pervade every second of the movies without always the viewer's conscious awareness, and which have such a great impact upon the "magic" of the world.
And in Youtube I found themes that both satisfied my longing, and inflamed it. They now form a constant, repeating background melody in my mind; and are behind my every thought and movement. And though I speak and walk on Earth, my thoughts are filled with the music of the Quendi...
Furthermore, I discovered a wonderful website, A Magpie's Nestwhich containsa record and analysis of every single melody of the Lord of the Rings movies, whether it appears in the CDs or not, and lyrics to the songs also. And reading the lyrics I came to an even greater understanding of just how marvelous the Lord of the Rings movies were - the incredible integrity connecting the music with the story, the world and the very words of Tolkien. For oft-times in the background to some scene there would be choral singing, and to the listener the words are incomprehensible, for they are in Sindarin or Quenya, the language of the elves. But the lyrics are taken from Tolkien's writing, and they are all significant, even if they are not understood. But they add integrity to the movie, and finding the lyrics was to me like discovering treasure...
Go forth friends, and journey with me through a landscape of magic evoked by the music of the Elves
The Passing of the Elves (A Elbereth Gilthoniel)
This piece most perfectly expresses the sadness I feel - for it is the song of the elves as they pass from Middle Earth to Valinor, never to return. In it is the beauty and magic and mystery of the elves, and their voices are sorrowful for they love Middle Earth, and although they are leaving it for a land still more fair and deathless, they mourn as they depart. But their sorrow at leaving Middle Earth surely cannot be compared to our sorrow - for to me the thought of a world without elves is immeasurably sad (although the "Lingerers" supposedly remain, invisible as the muses of the arts, inspiring humankind to the creation of all beautiful things...)
The lyrics are from one of the many Elven hymns to Elbereth Gilthoniel, the Queen of the Valar and Starkindler as she was named, of all the Valar most beloved of Elves, for her stars were the first things that they saw when they awoke in Middle Earth. The hymn is sung in Sindarin.
Fanuilos heryn aglar
(Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady clear!)
Rîn athar annún-aearath,
(O Queen beyond the Western Seas!)
Calad ammen i reniar
(O Light to us that wander there)
Mi 'aladhremmin ennorath!
(Amid the world of woven trees!)
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
(Gilthoniel! O Elbereth!)
I chîn a thûl lin mÃriel
(Clear are thy eyes and bright is breath,)
Fanuilos le linnathon
(Snow-white! Snow-white! We sing to thee)
Ne ndor haer thar i aearon.
(In a far land beyond the Sea!)
A elin na gaim eglerib
(O Stars that in the Sunless Year)
Ned în ben-anor trerennin
(With shining hand by thee were sown,)
Si silivrin ne pherth 'waewib
(In windy fields now bright and clear)
Cenim lyth thÃlyn thuiennin.
(We see your silver blossom blown!)
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
(O Elbereth Gilthoniel!)
Men echenim sà derthiel
(We still remember, we who dwell)
Ne chaered hen nu 'aladhath
(In this far land beneath the trees,)
Ngilith or annún-aearath.
(Thy starlight on the Western Seas.)
Rivendell (Many Meetings) - Hymn to Elbereth
When I first watched The Fellowship of the Ring, that night I lay awake for hours with this theme resounding in my mind. It is the most recurring and recognisable Elven theme in the Lord of the Rings movies, and it returns in The Hobbit.
While the lyrics to the song are, like "The Passing of the Elves", taken from a hymn to Elbereth Gilthoniel, this song has none of the former's sorrow, for it is not a lament, but full of deep joy and a worshiping of beauty.
Nef Elbereth Gilthoniel
(O Elbereth Star-kindler)
Silivren penna mÃriel
(There slants down like shining jewels)
Elbereth Gil...
Rivendell
Give up the Halfling
This piece of music is stirring and heroic, emphasising the courage inherent in the elves. Although I know some Tolkien purists disliked that in the Fellowship Arwen faces down the Black Riders, I personally always shiver with admiration and inspiration when she raises her sword and calls "If you want him, come and claim him!" then invokes the waters to gallop down and wash the enemies away.
The lyrics are in three languages, Sindarin,Adûnaic (the language of the Men of Numenor) and English.
The woman's voice sings from the Lay of Luthien Tinuviel, and her words are:
Tinuviel elvanui
(Tinuuviel the elven-fair)
Elleth alfirin
(Immortal maiden)
The chanting of the Ringwraiths are:
Nêbâbîtham Magânanê
(We renounce our Maker)
Nêtabdam dâur-ad
(We cleave to the darkness)
Nêpâm nêd abârat-aglar
(We take unto ourselves the power and glory)
îdô Nidir nênâkham
(Behold! We are the Nine)
Bârî’n Katharâd
(Lords of Unending Life)
Then in English Arwen sings to Frodo:
What grace is given me
Let it pass into him
Let him be spared
Mighty Valar
Save him
Enya - Aniron
This is the most enchanting and ethereal love-song ever written, worthy of the tale of a love such as that of Arwen and Aragorn, immortal elf and mortal man. The lyrics are exquisite - and yet the "desire" for of Aragorn for Arwen Undomiel is like the impossible desire of a man for a star, so beautiful and out of reach. Well is she named "The Evenstar" - the star that shines like hope in the darkness of Aragorn's lonely road, a light beyond the fires of battle and above the evil and death - but, as he fears she could also represent the star that glimmers unobtainable above. Yet in this scene she gives him the Elfstone - her star-like pledge. Without her free choice, the man could never reach the star - but if she chose, she could give it to him. And so she does, forsaking of free will her immortality.
O môr henion i dhu:
(From darkness I understand the night)
Ely siriar, êl sÃla
(dreams flow, a star shines.)
Ai! AnÃron Undómiel
(Ah! I desire Evenstar.)
Tiro!
El eria e môr
(Look! A star rises out of the darkness.)
I 'lir en êl luitha 'uren
(The song of the star enchants my heart).
Ai! AnÃron...
(Ah! I desire...)
The Diminishment of the Elves (Gilraen's Memorial)
This song contains the theme of "The Diminishment of the Elves" (yet another Hymn to Elbereth sung sorrowfully), but also deals with the concept of destiny for Aragorn and Arwen. Gilraen was Aragorn's mother, and she named him "Estel" or Hope, after his father was killed and she feared that evil would take her son before he was grown. So the young Aragorn was raised in Rivendell, and there he fell in love with Arwen, Elrond's daughter. The first two verses of the song are heard when Aragorn kneels by the statue of his mother, and deal with her love and care and fear for her son, but as though the words were singing through his mind and in his memory (hence the male singer). The second and third verses are sung concurrently, by two different choirs, one continuing Gilraen's song and the other beginning "The Diminishment of the Elves" - as if one choir sings of Aragorn's destiny as his "father's son" (the king of Gondor), and the other of Arwen's inevitable "diminishment" if she does not go to the West - the two fates that bode to promise hardship and sorrow on them both, and doom upon the union of elf and mortal man...
From the doleful vocals the instrumentals after the singing become hopeful, and eventually build to a glorious, confident and heroic theme - the binding of the Fellowship.
Tolo na rengyne thei lien(Come into my arms.Slaying demons in the shadows)Dan na si fuin (Night is falling).
... ilos lelin na thon(...white, I sing to you)Nefaer sà nefaearon(Beyond the sea, here beyond the great sea.)
Aragorn at the memorial of Gilraen, his mother
Arwen's Song
Unusually for the Elven songs, this one is sung in English rather than Quenya or Sindarin, yet the melody is haunting and ethereal and very Elven sounding. Arwen sings this as Aragorn leaves her for Rohan, and she sings of the inevitability of his destiny, the approaching darkness; of her bleakness and loneliness, and the fading of the glory of the elves. For she cannot wait for him forever - she must go to Valinor or if she remains, the shadow of Mordor may kill her, unless Aragorn embraces his kingship. But as yet he refuses to do so...
With a sigh you turn away
With a deepening heart
No more words to say
You will find that the world
Has changed forever
And the trees are now turning
From green to gold
And the sun is now fading
I wish I could hold you closer
Arwen's Fate (The Grace of the Valar)
This song is another Elven song of mortality - it is heard as Arwen revives Aragorn in the river, by the "grace of the Valar", but it warns of the inevitability of death for Men, reminding that though Aragorn's life can be spared by miraculous means once, his death is an inescapable doom, and the decision that Arwen must make is whether or not to share his doom. The song is sung in Sindarin.
Immen dúath caeda
(Shadow lies between us)
Sui tollech, tami gwannathach omen
(as you came, so you shall leave from us)
Lû ah alagos gwinnatha bain
(time and storm shall scatter all things)
Boe naer gwannathach, annant uich ben-estel
(Sorrowing you must go, and yet you are not without hope)
An uich gwennen na ringyrn e-mbar han
(For you are not bound to the circles of this world.)
Uich gwennen na 'wanath ah na dhÃn.
(You are not bound to loss and silence.)
Boe naid bain gwannathar,
(All things must pass away)
Boe cuil ban firitha.
(All life is doomed to fade…)
Arwen revives Aragorn
The lyrics of the song are ambiguous - they could refer to Arwen's difficult choice (for she is not bound to mortality and has the chance to depart Middle Earth for Valinor), or it could refer to Illuvatar's "gift" of mortality to humanity- of the souls of Men being able to depart the world entirely and go beyond the Houses of Mandos (where the souls of elves go before being reborn), for places unknown.
This second meaning is supported by one of Tolkien's Appendices to the Lord of the Rings where Aragorn, after a long and happy life chooses to "give up his life" before he becomes a dotard and incapable. Arwen tries to persuade him not to do this, but he tells her that his time is come and that she should now leave him and go to the West.
"Nay, dear lord," she said, "that choice is long over. There is now no ship that would bear the hence, and I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill: the loss and the silence. But I say to you, King of the Númenoreans, not till now have I understood the tale of your people and their fall. As wicked fools I scorned them, but I pity them at last. For if this is indeed, as the Eldar say, the gift of the One to Men, it is bitter to receive.
"So it seems," he said. "But let us not be overthrown at the final test, who of old renounced the Shadow and the Ring. In sorrow we must go, but not in despair. Behold! we are not bound for ever to the circles of the world, and beyond them is more than memory, Farewell!"
Arwen at the deathbed of Aragorn
The Grace of Undomiel
This song is a foreboding - a revelation of what would follow should Arwen decide to leave for Valinor with the rest of the Elves; the consequences of what thus "would never be" ; of her regret and pining, and her immortal life without Aragorn. In this scene, Arwen has a vision of the son she would have if she stayed, she suddenly realises that though her father's prophecy of her future desolation when Aragorn eventually succumbs to his mortality is true, the sorrow would be worth it if she had a love-filled life and a child. The music that stirs when she makes her momentous decision to turn back is spine-tingling and triumphant.
Ngîl cennin eriel vi aduial
(I saw a star rise high in the sky)
Glingant sui mîr
(It hung like a jewel)
SÃliel mae.
(Softly shining.)
Ngîl cennin firiel vi aduial,
(I saw a star fade in the sky)
Dúr, dúr i fuin
(The dark was too deep and so light died)
Naenol mae.
(Softly pining)
An i ú nathant
(For what might have been)
An i naun ului
(For what never was)
A chuil, anann cuiannen
(For a life, long lived)
A meleth, perónen
(For a love half given)
Arwen's vision
Lament for Gandalf
In the moonlit, echoing forest the Elves of Lothlorien mourn the death of Gandalf, and in their lament call upon him by his older names, Olorin the maiar, and Mithrandir. The first verse is sung in Quenya, and the second in Sindarin - both Elven languages - a combination which implies a universal lament on behalf of all the Quendi, for the fallen Gandalf.
A Olórin i yáresse
(O Olórin whom in time past)
Mentaner i Númeherui
(The West-lords sent)
TÃrien i Rómenori
(To guard the East-lands)
Maiaron i oiosaila
(Of Maiar, the Ever-wise)
Manan elye etevanne
(What drove you to leave)
Nórie i malanelye?
(That which you loved?
Mithrandir, Mithrandir!
A Randir Vithren!
(O Pilgrim Grey)
Ú-reniathachi
(You will not wander)
amar galen
(the green earth)
I reniad lÃn ne môr, nuithannen
(Your journey in darkness, ended.)
In gwidh ristennin,
(The bonds cut,)
i fae narchannen
(the spirit rent)
I Lach Anor
(The Flame of Anor)
ed ardhon gwannen
(From earth departed)
Calad veleg, ethuiannen.
(A great light, blown out.)
And then the chorus deals with the passing of the elves... It is sung in Quenya.
Melmelma nóren sina
(Our love for this land)
Núra lá earo núri
(Is deeper than the deeps of the sea)
Ilfirin nairelma
(Our regret is undying)
Ana
(Yet)
Ar ullume nucuvalme
(Rather than submit)
Nauva i nauva.
(What should be shall be.)
Lothlorien
The Host of the Eldar
This song appears as a herald of relief for the beleagured mortal forces of the Rohan, led by King Theoden, and as they march to honour the ancient allegience between human and elf, they chant powerfully of the fall of the forces of evil. Yet the second verse belies their confidence, and reveals their sacrifice, although the mortals do not understand their song (for it is in Quenya). The elves were not bound to help the Rohirrim, and they could have left for the Grey Havens and thus passed to safety without loss of life. As they are ageless, so their love for life increases - and their love for the land. Thus they fight, but their "regret is undying" for whether they die in battle or leave for the Grey Havens after victory, they must leave Middle Earth forever... This second verse is a repeat of the chorus of the "Lament for Gandalf", thus presaging sorrow and loss...
Christmas is, and always will be for me, a magical holiday, full of
mystery and beauty and mythic significance. I have never known it otherwise, as
my family decided before I was born to never subscribe to the consumerism and
reductionist mania that seems to have possessed the world and made mockery of
the season. We do not give gifts on Christmas day (except for those of
"Father Christmas" to the children, in whom I am proud to say I
believed until I was thirteen, and whose presence invested the holiday with a
magic that refused to leave even when I found out he did not exist). Our
"presents" (and only one each) are exchanged on Epiphany, the twelfth
day of Christmas and the day when the three Kings in the legend gifted the Christ-child
with gold, frankincense and myrrh. Nor do we have a massive dinner, in which
most gets wasted and everybody ends up over-full and inebriated, rather a
simple yet festive meal of chicken with apple cider and lots of summer fruit,
using a recipe that has family significance. Nor are we religious (rather spiritual
and hopeful agnostics). Our family used to be Catholic, but left the faith and
the church many years ago. How is it then that I find Christmas to be the most
beautiful day of the year?
To me and my family Christmas celebrates a beautiful and inspiring myth –
the legend of the birth of Christ (for the story itself is beautiful, regardless of how it has been twisted by the bigoted
religious authorities) – as well as the older celebration of the seasons. It is
a time to consider death and rebirth, and to rejoice in family love. It is a
time to reflect on and connect with the past – for this is a day that has been
celebrated for over two thousand years. For my family, it is a time of light, magic,
story and song. For these and many other reasons
Christmas has been, and always shall be for me, the most mythic time of the
year.
I will share with you a selection
below. Some of my favourites I have not been able to find on Youtube (such as Rutter’s
version of Silent Night from the “Christmas
Star” album) but I have provided a link to Amazon where you can download the
tracks for 99c each, should you so desire (and I would truly recommend it).
I love the exquisite Burne-Jonesian cover of this beautiful album.
I wonder as I wander
When I was younger, I used not to love this song. As a child, I thought
that Christmas ought to be a day of unmixed joy and celebration. Especially
because I am not Christian, and do not believe in the literal truth of
the Christmas story, I did not feel the beauty and the tragedy at the core of
the legend. But as I grew, I came to understand the power and enduring “truth”
of story, and to feel the sorrow expressed by the singer of this song.
“I wonder as I wander” deals with the Christian singer’s amazement at
the immensity of the generosity of Christ, in being “brought forth to
die” for the sake of “poor ornery people like you and like I”. It truly is an
incredible thought – that someone would have such love for flawed humanity as
to die for them… Although I do not believe that the historical Jesus “died for
our sins”, the symbol is a humbling one of ultimate altruism, and even
fictional it strikes me with the same sense of wonder and awe, causing me to
ponder whether my life is worthy of such a sacrifice, and to resolve to make
it worthy.
The singer’s voice is incredibly beautiful – high, cold and pure like
starlight. As she sings, I can imagine her, wrapped in a peasant cloak, walking
across a snow-covered hilltop, with the black fingers of winter trees clawing
the twilight. With every star that shines forth in the darkening sky, she
wonders…
We Three Kings of Orient
Now this song has always been a favourite. I have
always been fascinated by the “kings of Orient” and their precious, symbolic
gifts. As I have been blessed with the gift of vivid visualisation this
evocative arrangement of the carol summons for me the most incredible imagery.
I can see the kings, with their proudly wondering faces and
fixed eyes reflecting the star they follow; see the silhouette of oasis-palms
against a starry night sky. In the arrangement of the song, I can hear the
jingle and clink of bridles and saddle-ornaments, and almost feel the cooling
desert sand-dunes giving up the last of their daylight warmth to the night. In
the last verse the song blazes with the fierce beauty and glory of the “star of
wonder, star of light/Star with royal beauty bright”. And with the “wandering
off” of the song’s ending, I am left with an image of hoof prints in star-lit
sand, winding toward the horizon…
Rise Up Shepherd and Follow
This lesser-known carol is one that I have always loved, since earliest
childhood. Perhaps it is because I can identify myself with the shepherd – I
would not hesitate to “follow the star”, leaving behind anything and everything
in pursuit of a gleaming, wondrous goal. As I have grown, I’ve started seeing
the carol as an allegory (but nonetheless self-sufficient in its own story, as
all the best myths are). We all hear a “call” in our lives to “rise up, rise up
and follow” – perhaps an artistic ideal, a story or some other venture –
something to which we will dedicate our lives. Although the quest demands
sacrifice, the prize is beautiful beyond anything – the resolution of a shining
dream...
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel” has some of the most mythic lyrics, harking
back to the ancient beginnings of the legend, and the reason for the
“coming” of Christ. “O come, O come Emmanuel/ And ransom captive Israel”. The
idea of a captive people calling out for a Saviour – a Promised One to lead
them from darkness and despair – is a potent one, and one with which I think we
can all identify. Anyone who has ever been marginalised, discriminated against;
felt loneliness and despair – will particularly resonate with this song.
There are many reasons why I love Libera’s version of this carol best.
Firstly, I love that it is sung in Latin. The ancient language calls us as
listeners back to an elder time when myth and history were intermingled – a
place mysterious and echoing with vanished voices. Secondly, I love the sadness of
this version – even in the triumphant last line “Rejoice, rejoice/ Emmanuel
shall come to thee/ O Israel” there is intermingled elation and sorrow. This is
extremely appropriate to the conflicting emotions evoked by the Christmas
legend – joy because the Promised One has come to lift the despair from
suffering Israel, yet deep grieving, for in order to save the people, Jesus
must sacrifice himself. Finally, the arrangement is just so beautiful: the lone
voice of the first stanzas, abandoned as a captive or abandoned Israel – the
harmonies like wind on a cold night – and the choir’s powerful, triumphant
singing of the last verse in English, which brings us, the present listeners
together with the ancient voice of the past. The pure voices of the Libera
child-singers sing ethereally from a place of darkness – the darkness and
despair in our own souls.
The Corpus Christi Carol
This Middle England carol is Arthurian in its medieval imagery and
references to the Fisher King (the eternally wounded knight from the Grail
Quest). It is an unusual carol, in that it only references Christ at the very
end, and even then indirectly, which has prompted some to theorise whether the
wounded knight is actually supposed to be Christ, and the weeping maiden Mary.
Personally I prefer to think of it as a “fairy tale”, as Jeff Buckley said
about his version of the song (found here). I thrill to the mysterious line
“The falcon hath borne my mate away…”
I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas
I love the melancholy and nostalgia of this song. Having lived all my
life in a country where Christmas day is usually marked by clear sunlight and
summer warmth – I have never longed wistfully after a “white Christmas”,
(although I want to experience one sometime in my life). What resonates
with me about this song is the line “Where tree-tops glisten, and children
listen/To hear sleighbells in the snow”. The idea of longing for a “white
Christmas” becomes for me a longing for a magic Christmas
– a Christmas where children really do listen for sleighbells, as I did, but as
it seems fewer and fewer children do…
This is the favourite carol of my youngest brother, and it is not
difficult to see why, with the “night wind” speaking to the “little lamb”,
telling of an angel’s song, using the beautiful description “high above the
trees, with a voice as big as the seas”. It has a windy, open joy and wonder in its instrumentals, and Aled Jones sings tenderly, like a parent telling a story...
As well as our trusty three Christmas albums, there are some isolated
Christmas carols that I and my family love, in particular:
Jussi Bjorling’sO Helga Natt(O
Holy Night)
This carol is always incredibly powerful - it has soaring immensity and
beautiful lyrics - and I don't think I've ever heard it sung badly. Perhaps it
is impossible for the reductionists to diminish such a glorious song. After
all, who can hear the lines "Chains shall he break/ For the slave is a
brother", without feeling "a thrill of hope"? In fact - Libera
and Aled Jones both sing amazingly beautiful versions (click through on their
names). However, Jussi Bjorling's version, sung in his native Swedish, is
specially moving and primal.
Loreena Mckennit’s The
Holly and the Ivy
This carol has always been a favourite. I cannot
adequately express how much I thrill to the magic, timeless lines "The
rising of the sun/ The running of the deer". The Pagan influence on the
Christmas season is still powerful - perhaps even more powerful and longlasting
than the Christian influence (no matter how beautiful the story of the
Christ-child), because it is older and more concerned with the movements of
earth and cycle of the seasons. Certainly in this song the Pagan elements are
stronger and more powerful than the Christian elements. Loreena
McKennitt's rendition of the song is haunting and ethereal as dawn mist over a
lake, or first light over a thick and secret forest.
