Product Description
Traditional-yet quite unalike to other standard Christmas
carols, the "Coventry Carol" is a lullaby sung for the innocent children of
Bethlehem who were slaughtered by King Herod.
While most Christmas music rightly focuses on the joyful
celebration of the mystery of the Word-Made-Flesh, the "Coventry Carol" is a
reminder of the rejection, suffering, and death which was present from the
moment the Light entered the World.
Even when Jesus was born, He was on His way to the Cross, so
that through suffering and death He might show us the glory and hope of the Resurrection.
As a memorial for the innocents and as a foreshadowing of the Cross, songs in
the spirit of "Coventry Carol" deserve inclusion in Christmas concerts and
worship services.
The original Coventry Carol was part of the Nativity play of
Coventry, England, with a text from before 1534 and melody before 1591.
Lully, lullay, thou little
tiny child,
Bye bye, lully, lullay.
O sisters too, how may we
do
For to preserve this day
These poor younglings for
whom we sing,
"Bye bye, lully,
lullay"?
Herod the king, in his
raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own
sight
All young children to slay.
While departing from the typical "four-part hymn accompanied
by piano", Mark Klines setting of the Coventry Carol is designed to be very
performable, requiring only a few voices and a pianist. Having children sing the melody with the choir can be especially poignant for this piece. The Coventry Carol is
excellent for Christmas Pageants, Madrigals, and other Christmas activities,
and continues to work well in its original context as part of a Nativity play.
2016 Choral Contest Entry
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.