WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED/SWEET CHIMING CHRISTMAS BELLS The Sunbury Junior Singers (1968) of the Salvation Army. Arranged and conducted by Captain Joy Webb.( From the CD album 'Festival of Carols-20 Christmas Favourites' CD-MFP 6080 ,which is still available on Amazon.) ****
Celestial Evangel Choir - Sweet Chiming Christmas Bells; Arranged by James Varrick Armaah [Ghana, West Africa]
Celestial Evangel Choir- Dec. 25, 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBFgeuzIjiA&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=CelestialEvangelChoir
****
**** INFORMATION ABOUT THE SONG "SWEET CHIMING CHRISTMAS BELLS" From https://mainlynorfolk.info/watersons/songs/whileshepherdswatchedtheirflocks.html Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks / Sweet Chiming Bells / Hail Chime On [ Roud 936 , 16898 ; Ballad Index OBC033 ; Bodleian Roud 936 ; words Nahum Tate (1652-1715)]
While Shepherds Watched their Flocks is a Nativity hymn written by Nahum Tate in 1696, with its words entirely based on the Gospel of Luke. It is sung in the South Yorkshire village carols tradition to a lot of different tunes. Versions of this hymn are often named after their tunes, e.g. Winchester Old, Cranbrook, Foster, Liverpool, Lyngham, Pentonville, or Sweet Chiming Bells.
Scan Tester played the tune of While Shepherds Watched their Flocks in an 19 August 1964 recording by Reg Hall, which was included in 1990 on his Topic 2 LP anthology I Never Played to Many Posh Dances, and in 2006 on the Free Reed 4CD box set Midwinter.
Bob Hart sang While Shepherds Watched in a home recording made by Bill Leader in 1969. This was included in 2007 on Bob Hart's Musical Tradition anthology A Broadside.
George Dunn sang While Shepherds Were Watching at home at Quarry Bank, Staffordshire, in a recording made by Roy Palmer on 14 June 1971. On the same day he also sang a variant of this song that is sufficiently different from the usual that Steve Roud gave it a number of its own, 16898.
Both were included in 2002 on Dunn's Musical Traditions anthology Chainmaker.
Bill Leader and Roy Palmer recorded Dunn's Roud 16898 version for a second time
on 4 December 1971. This was included in 1998 on the Topic anthology You Lazy
Lot of Bone-Shakers (The Voice of the People Volume 16).
Carollers at the Fountain, Ingbirchworth, recorded on 9 December 1973 sang two different versions of While Shepherds Watched on the Leader anthology of a Christmas singing tradition recorded in South Yorkshire pubs, A People's Carol. The album's booklet commented: "Liverpool is the most popular version of While Shepherds Watched and is another rousing fuguing tune attributed to John Hall. At the Fountain they sing only the first two verses and the last and Cyril's prompting is reminiscent of the practise of “lining out” which was formerly a feature of singing in the chapels before hymn books were available for general use. Here the style of singing is very distinctive for its strong clear harmonies and the exaggerated ralentando which invariably leads to a lush resolution."
and
Foster or Old Foster, as it is known further south, was written by John Foster of High Green House and first published in his second volume of Sacred Music about 1820, where it appears complete with symphony written for eleven parts and set to the 47th psalm. It is interesting to note the unusual form of this rendition of the opening phrase.
The Watersons sang While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks in 1977 on their Topic album Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy. A live version from a December 1980 Christmas radio programme performed at Crathorne Hall, Crathorne, North Yorkshire, was published in 2005 on the CD A Yorkshire Christmas. Waterson:Carthy recorded this carol again in 2006 for their CD Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man. A.L. Lloyd commented in the Watersons' original album's sleeve notes: "The words of this old favourite are by Nahum Tate (1652-1715), a dreadful Poet Laureate, lambasted by Swift and Pope, but a fair hymn-writer on a good day. The well-known tune, called Winchester Old, comes from a psalm book of 1592, but not all country congregations took to it, and here and there Tate's words got sung to less familiar airs. The Watersons got their tune from the good Norfolk singer Walter Pardon. Walter says he can't remember if it came into his family from chapel or Salvation Army" "....
**** TWO VERSIONS OF LYRICS FOR "SWEET CHIMING BELLS" (with the verse "While Shepherds Watched Their Flock By Night") Note: There are many lyric versions and arrangements of this song. I don't mean to imply that these versions are the most widely sung.Sweet Chiming Bells m: From The Joy of Christmas: Words and Music of Traditional and Local Carols, 1981; w: Edited and adapted from "A Song for Christmas Eve" by Clara Broughton Conant; Publ. in Kriss Kringle Recitations, dialogs and Songs for Christmas, Compiled by Hal J. Weigle, 1914 [Verse 1] O blessed night! A star shines bright, though seen through falling snow; The star of love lit from above to set to set the world aglow. [Chorus] Sweet bells, sweet chiming Christmas bells; Sweet bells, sweet chiming Christmas bells; They cheer us on our merry way, Sweet chiming bells; They cheer us on our merry way, Sweet chiming bells. [Verse 2] Child voices sweet once more repeat the angels' glorious strain; Our gray old Earth, in holy mirth, becomes a child again. [Chorus] [Verse 3] Chime sweetly on, ye Christmas bells, while happy voices sing; Shine out, O star, from heaven afar and guide us to our King. [Chorus] [Verse 4] To hail the little newborn King, a few poor shepherds came; Although with wonder, joy and love the heavens were aflame. [Chorus] [Verse 5] The wise men came upon their way, Led by that heavenly light; O, star of love, shine from above and make our pathway bright. [Chorus] [Verse 6] The loving heart, the prayer of faith are sweeter gifts to bring; Shine out, O star, from heaven afar and guide us to our King. -snip- That website also features the lyrics to another version of "Sweet Chiming Christmas Bells". **** Version #2 From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAv1lxzaYQE&ab_channel=Tysongreer[comment in the discussion thread posted by Paul Brown, 2017] While shepherds watched, Their flocks by night, All seated on the ground, The angel of the Lord came down, And glory shone around.
Kate Rusby - Sweet Bells, published by Tysongreer, July 31, 2013
chorus:
Sweet Bells, Sweet chiming Christmas Bells
Sweet Bells, Sweet chiming Christmas Bells
They cheer us on our Heavenly way sweet chiming bells.
"Fear not," said he,
For mighty dread,
Had seized their troubled minds,
"Glad tidings of great joy I bring,
To you and all mankind".
"To you in David's,
Town this day,
Is born of David's line.
The Savior who is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be the sign."
"All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth, the earth be peace,
Goodwill henceforth,
From heaven to men,
Begin and never cease.****
SELECTED COMMENTS ABOUT THIS SONG FROM SEVERAL YOUTUBE VIDEOS' DISCUSSION THREADS
These discussion threads are presented in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
Discussion Thread #1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRhRuCkxC6k&ab_channel=JoyReynolds "Sweet Chiming Christmas Bells/While Shepherds Watched"
[This is from the discussion thread for the first video (sound file) that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]
1. Andrea McCulloch, 2014
"This was the version I learned at Sunday School in Cardiff
as a child, it's only in recent years that it seems to have really caught the
public's imagination. The quality of the
singing is fantastic for a junior choir. Thanks for taking the time to put it
up."
**
2. Radnorshire Lad, 2018
"I remember singing this version of 'While Shepherds Watched
their Flocks By Night' at primary school in Lancashire in about 1976. Have heard it only rarely since so a real
treat!"
****
Discussion Thread #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HdtzrwkS7c&ab_channel=CandyVerney
"Sweet Chiming Christmas Bells" published by Candy Verney, Mar 22, 2011
Sounding It Out and Singing in the Round sing Sweet Chiming
Christmas Bells, famous village carol from Yorkshire. December 2010
1.
"One of my favourite English Village Carols. Joyous stuff!"
2.
"I remember singing this at school, near Stannington in
Sheffield, where I believe this song originated from?"
**
3. Andrea McCulloch, 2019
"We sang this version at our church in Cardiff fifty years
ago. It’s clearly a Northern English carol. Somewhere, there is a long
forgotten story of how it made its way down to south Wales. I never heard any
other Welsh church sing it, but it was a lovely surprise to discover it was
well-known in England.This is a good version."
****
Discussion #3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71D2ShDGqdM&ab_channel=TimPower
"sweet bells with words by Kate Rusby" published by Tim Power, Dec 7, 2014
lovely traditional but modern Christmas carol
"What do you mean "words by Kate Rusby". We sang
this at school before she was born"
**
Reply
2. Tim Power, 2015
"Aye Julian, I should have put words `sung' by Kate Rusby,
however she seems to have adapted While Shepherds Watched their Flocks the
Nativity hymn written by Nahum Tate in 1696, with its words entirely based on
the Gospel of Luke."
**
Reply
3. Irene Shettle, 2020
"I'm bemused by your answer. She has not written any of those
lyrics - Sweet Bells is a well known variant of While Shepherds Watched and is
regarded as virtually traditional. (The only thing she seems to have amended is
the melody in a very minor way). I was singing this version down here in Surrey
well before Kate Rusby recorded it - and we sing it every year as one of the
carols we wassail around the town."
****
Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I added the hyperlink for the second showcase YouTube video because- for whatever reason- that video doesn't appear on my cell phone version of this pancocojams post.
ReplyDeleteThe link for that 2018 YouTube video of Ghana's Celestial Evangel Choir performing "Sweet Chiming Christmas Bells" (Arranged by James Varrick Armaah) is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBFgeuzIjiA&feature=emb_logo&ab_channel=CelestialEvangelChoir.