Singing Seasonal Songs

24 Dec 2003 By

Around this time of year I am always thinking of high school choir. So I’ll leave you with some of my favorite holiday/choir stuff to listen to* while I drive my ass all the way across the Midwest.

  • Hallelujah Chorus – Gives me chills. And fun to perform.
  • The Lord Bless You and Keep You – I can hardly ever find this particular arrangement anywhere, and I have no idea who did it. My high school performs this at the Christmas concert every year (I think they still do that) and invites choir alumni to participate.
  • Riu, Riu Chiu – We never actually did this and I don’t have any particular love for it, but since I was talking about it the other day I thought I’d share.
  • Cantique de Jean Racine – Not holiday-themed, but it’s my hands-down favoritest choir song ever. I get a little verklempt every single time I hear it.

*Links removed 12/31/2003 at 3:45 p.m.

  • http://www.trueself.org Michelle

    Thanks for sharing Erica. Hallelujah Chorus is my absolute holiday favorite. Merry Christmas! XOXO!

  • http://jenben.info/home.html JenBen

    BTW, did you know that the hallelujah chorus is actually about Christ’s resurrection, not his birth? Just an FYI.

  • http://www.swirlspice.com Erica

    the hallelujah chorus is actually about Christ’s resurrection, not his birth

    Details.

  • http://jenben.info/home.html JenBen

    uh…ok…Handel’s Messiah, from which the Hallelujah Chorus comes, has 53 parts,all words coming from the Bible. Parts 12-17 talk about Jesus’s coming and birth, using the Gospel of Luke for the words. It then progresses into te life of Jesus and then his death and resurrection. The Hallelujah Chorus is part 44 and its words come from Revelations, chapter 19

    verse 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth

    Verse 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS

    etc.

    The next part, Part 45, is from 1 Corinthians and contains:
    For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first fruits of them that sleep.

    The rest talks about his rising and what it means to mankind, using scripture from 1 Corinthians, Romans and Revelations.

    If you would like to read the libretto, I think you can find it here: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~jpassion/messiah/libretto.htm

    Hope this helps.

  • http://www.livejournal.com/users/busyme/ BusyMe

    Um . . . Christmas weirdness . . . did you go to WHS? And I thought Concert Choir ended EVERY program with that song . . . they did when I went to WHS. It was vedddy intrestink to d/l that song and have it say WHS Concert Choir. This is such a FREAKIN’ small place – who’s EVER been here or heard of it other than the inmates that LIVE here? ;)

  • http://jenben.info/home.html JenBen

    OK, so I just figured out that you weren’t actually asking for details but were like, “Oh, details.” Damn I’m blond! LOL Just ignore that long rambling post above. Or even better, delete it please. Thanks :)

  • http://www.swirlspice.com Erica

    JenBen: I was being a bit of a smartass, but now I’ve learned something, so that’s okay. Thanks for the info. :)

    BusyMe: Didn’t go to WHS, but the WHS Concert Choir version of that song is the only one I’ve ever been able to find. I don’t even know what the W in WHS stands for.