Christmas

Eric Whitacre’s Sweet Seal Lullaby

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Note to readers: This post originally was originally written in reference to a Christmas concert by my own choir; thus the holiday reference.

Why are we singing a lullaby to a seal? Are seals somehow part of the Christmas story?

Let’s get the connection between seals (the animals) and Christmas out of the way first. There isn’t one. So that’s settled. (There are Christmas seals of another type,, though—remember those? The little stamps with holiday themes that you’d stick on the envelope flap of your Christmas cards? They’re issued by the American Lung Association and have been around since 1907, when the main push was to find a cure for tuberculosis. As I revise this post in the fall of 2020 they’ve shifted focus to COVID-19. You can still order them and also post them digitally to Facebook, etc.)

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The Music of the Angels On Christmas Eve 1913

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PictureWhat is the significance of the year 1913 in “Noël: Christmas Eve, 1913”?

At first I vaguely thought that the year must be a historical reference, possibly to World War I. But of course WWI didn’t start until 1914, so that idea was a non-starter, although Europe, particularly the Balkans, was in the middle of a spate of smaller conflicts in the years immediately preceding the outbreak of the Great War. There is no information about the original poem in any of the biographical information I’ve come across on its author, Robert Bridges. He’s a fascinating character, though, who was England’s poet laureate from 1913-1930 but whose early career was as a doctor. He became a recognized poet only late in life but had always been interested in writing; he originally planned to retire from medicine at age 40 to devote himself to that pursuit. Life intervened, as it usually does, and he was actually forced to retire at age 38 because of lung disease. He lived until 85, though, so he had a good long time to write and produced volumes of poetry, verse dramas, hymns, and literary criticism. His deep Christian faith is reflected in many of his poems.

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What did the angels mean in their words to the shepherds?

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Several interesting (to me, anyway) questions to be answered about what the angels said to the shepherds on Christmas night.

What one New Testament verse contains the two most common phrases found in Christmas music?
I’d have to be clear that I haven’t done a statistical study on this question, and I have no intention of doing so. But if you’ve done much singing or listening at all during the Christmas season you’ve come across these: “Glory to God in the highest” (also rendered as“In excelsis Deo”). and “Peace on earth, good will to men.” These are words recorded in the Gospel of Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Two very short statements with a depth of meaning. Here are some questions and answers to help tease out some of that significance:

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So, what are “frankincense and myrrh”?

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I think we all have a vague idea that these two items, brought by the Magi as gifts (along with gold) to the Christ child, have something to do with perfume or incense, but that’s probably about it. They’re very interesting, though, both in themselves and in their symbolism. So I do want to talk about all that, but first let me say here that the Magi did not come to the stable. All those manger scenes with them and their camels are just plain wrong. But without them the scene wouldn’t be nearly as colorful, would it? So I guess we won’t insist too loudly on scriptural accuracy in decorations.

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Does “Personent Hodie” have anything to do with persons wearing hoodies?

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Sorry.  Couldn’t resist.  And of course the answer is “no,” although hooded monks have probably sung this carol many times through the ages.

So what does the title mean, and (leading question here) are there any interesting facts about the song’s background?  “Personent” means to resound or resonate, literally “to sound through.”  “Hodie” shows up in many Latin Christmas carols; it simply means “today” or “this day.”  So the title means something like “let resounding happen today.”  Perhaps before I go any further I should provide the Latin verses and their literal English translation so that you’ll know what I’m talking about as I go through said background:

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A Pair of Geographically-Named Carols from Sussex and Wessex

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Was the Sussex carol written in Sussex, and the Wexford carol in Wexford?

With this question we are plunged back in to the delightful, charming, and sometimes weird world of traditional Christmas carols, and indeed of folk music in general. Since true folk music, and not someone’s attempt to write something that sounds like folk music, is passed down orally before being written, it’s always pretty much impossible to find the original version, if indeed there is such a thing.

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Parts of “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” seem awfully dark.  Why is that?

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In order to answer this question, we have to look at what was going on in the life of the lyrics’ author and in his times. Unlike many Christmas carols, we have a known author and date for the words. The words are from a poem of the same name by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written in December of 1863, when the Civil War was still raging and the outcome anything but clear.

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How Does “Ave Maria” Fit into the Christmas Story?

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Leonardo da Vinci, “The Annunciation,” via Wikimedia Commons, public domain

It fits in as the precipitating incident of the story as a whole, since Christmas revolves around the birth of Christ. “Hail, Mary!” is the greeting that the angel Gabriel gives to Mary when he appears to her and tells her that she will be the mother of the Messiah. This event is typically called the “annnunciation,” or announcement. Note that this event happens nine months before the birth of Christ, not at Christmas itself. A version of the angel’s words has been incorporated into the worship services of both the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox churches. Let me begin with a literal word-for-word translation from both languages involved, Latin and Russian.

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How could three ships sail into Bethlehem when it’s located in the desert?

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Like many other Christmas carols, the words to “I Saw Three Ships” don’t make much sense when you look closely at them. Had you ever asked yourself the question in the title? Probably not. Most of us don’t carry around a map of Palestine in our heads, so the absurdities of the lyrics aren’t obvious. I’m therefore including such a map below this post, which will serve to prove that indeed it would be impossible for the words of this carol to have any connection to reality at all. So what on earth are the words talking about?

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