This is yet another great song for end of year celebrations for children at Christmas from Patrica Smith’s collection, And the Angels Sang. She gently and sweetly puts the celebration into context and the message is for all of us.
The sheet music can be purchased as part the collection or as an individual downloadable sheet at Willow.
1 It’s not about the Christmas tree, it’s not about the toys.
It’s not about the tinsel, the parties and the noise.
Refrain
It’s all about the Christ child, the giving not the gifts.
It’s all about remembering that Love was born for this.
2 It’s not about the Santa suit, the reindeer, or the sleigh,
It’s not about the angels wings, the carols or the play.
Refrain
Bridge
It’s taking hands and making peace, and sharing what we have.
It’s welcoming the lost and lonely home.
3 It’s not what we are getting, it’s giving from our hearts,
It’s making peace and bringing joy, that’s where Christmas starts.
Carols by Candlelight is an Australian tradition that makes use of the fact it is hot leading up to Christmas and it’s nice to be outside where it might be cooler and sing together by candlelight. Back in Queensland when my children were at school it always seemed to attract spectacular thunderstorms, so there was an element of danger as well!
This song would suit a choir at such a carols event and would be fine for secular as well as religious gatherings.
Since I can’t play Smith’s piano arrangement I made my usual BIAB backing to learn the song:
1 In the candlelight voices are lifted;
In the candlelight faces aglow,
In the candlelight, voices are singing
A promise made ages ago.
2 Of a child who would shatter the darkness,
And dispel every shadow of night,
Of a king who was born in a stable bare,
On a holy and glorious night.
Refrain
And every light tells the story of a blazing star
Shining bright on the face of a child,
And every voice is an echo of the angel choir
That sang when a child was born in the candlelight.
“Hodie Christus natus est” is the antiphon for midnight Mass. This is the Latin text with Patricia Smith’s translation into English, sung in her most joyful setting.
Hodie Christus natus est: Hodie Salvator apparuit: Hodie in terra canunt angeli, Hodie laetantur Archangeli Hodie exsultant justi, dicentes: Gloria in excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia!
On this day Christ is born for us. On this day our Saviour came among us. On this day, the angels sang upon the earth.
On this day, archangels sang, rejoicing On this day the just exulting sang for joy, Gloria in excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia!
This is a Christmas lullaby from Patrica Smith’s folio And the Angels Sang. It would be lovely as a backing to a Nativity scene or a Christ centered Christmas pageant.
This time, instead of an old tune with a new text this is an old text with her new tune. It is a C16 Scottish lyric by John and Robert Wedderburn. “Spreit” is spirit and “Balulalow” means Mary’s lullaby to the baby Jesus. “Songes” has two syllables as in Middle English.
Her setting is well suited to the delicate words. Apart from having the keyboard arrangement in the collection, you can get that arrangement, as well as the lead sheet and SAB arrangement for$A3.95 each at Willow. It looks like the altos just get to hum.
She asked for a gentle accompaniment with harp or guitar. BIAB can handle that.
1 Oh my dear heart, young Jesus sweet,
Prepare thy cradle in my spreit,
And I shall rock thee in my heart,
And never more from thee depart.
2 But I shall praise thee evermore,
With songes sweet unto thy gloir;
The knees of my heart shall I bow
And sing that right Balulalow.
Being ignorant of this traditional piece I went looking for other settings – there are a lot. Here are a few examples.
This is a wonderful text by Patricia Smith for Advent, that she has set the Thomas Tallis’s THIRD MODE MELODY. It is from her collection “And the Angels Sang”, that is available from Willow for $A19.95. Keyboard and SAB versions are also available there for A$3.95.
I have noted already that many Australian parishes have found themselves so well served by As One Voice Vol 1&2, that that is all they use, and since AOV 3 or NG2 will never happen now and with CWB2 being a missed opportunity, Australian songwriters like Smith and Peter Grant will probably never get the reach they deserve across the Australian Catholic church. At least here, Willow has collected a thematically linked anthology of her work that any school or parish would be enriched by.
This text has been haunting me and I’d love to hear an SAB version if someone has recorded one that they can put up on You-Tube.
This song would obviously be a great choir piece for Christmas or Advent, but she notes its use elsewhere in the calendar for Marian feasts like the Annunciation and the Immaculate Conception.
My backing suggests that, in my hands at least, BIAB should lay off Tallis. I mean the notes are all there but the feel has to come from a real musician for this sort of thing, so feel free to ignore it and listen to the choir below.
1 As Mary heard the angel’s cry, we hear the Spirit sigh.
The promise quickens in our hearts, a distant gleam of light.
And still the power it is to shun or seize the speechless Word,
And humbly voice our hope and joy: “Your will be done on earth!”
2 As Mary waited hour by hour, we wait to see your power.
We know you with us yet we watch for dawn with hope unbound
And turn once more obedient steps towards that place of birth
Where dark and death are hurled aside and so your kingdom comes.
3 As Mary gazed upon the child, we gaze on you, O Christ,
In faces broken, pitied, scorned, in hands torn and despised.
Your beauty sears our hearts and love, borne on untold delight,
Our soul invades with silent grace and day is born from night.
This is the first song and the title track of Patricia Smith’s collection of songs for Advent and Christmas and beyond to Epiphany. This book collects songs that are very useful for end of year celebrations at schools, Carols by Candlelight and for liturgies at this time of year. It is a resource that would be useful for any school looking for material for end of year concerts.
This is a lovely song about the angels singing to the shepherds and is essentially a Christmas Carol from Patrica Smith for use anywhere you would use a traditional carol. Like a lot of the songs in this collection it is ideal for choirs, but could be sung by a class or an assembly.
If you don’t want to get the whole collection for A$ 19.95, you can purchase for download your pick of the three versions available at Willow for A$3.95.
I made a backing to assist with learning the song. There are no instructions as to tempo or style so I go with what seems right to me. There are no tracks to listen to at Willow or on You-tube, so for people who don’t read music properly, like myself, this is a way to get an idea what it sounds like to see if it would suit your situation. If you are using these songs making a recording for You-Tube assists people greatly.
1 Shepherds in the fields, keeping watch at midnight,
Suddenly the sky filled with glorious light.
Angels winged like lightning, rank on endless rank,
Clouds of glory shining, golden voices rang.
Refrain
And the angels sang, “Glory in the highest,”
And the angels sang, “Peace upon the earth.
Glory to God, glory in the highest!
And peace on earth to people of goodwill.”
2 Then a mighty voice filled the sky with thunder.
The angel of the Lord stood before them there.
“Do not be afraid. I bring you news of great joy.
Today is born a Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Lord!”
3 “You will find the child lying in a manger,
Wrapped in bands of cloth, this will be the sign.”
Following on from the APMN conference in Brisbane, I have lots of things to look at on my blog.
I attended a session called “Singing the Sacraments” with Fiona Dyball and Damian Whelan, which was a breathless swing through many useful songs for liturgy. While I have already looked at some of their selections over the years, there are some that are new to me that I will look at here. This will mean I will be looking at some non-Australian songs as well for a change.
I will look at more songs not from Australia when I go through some of the Sarah Hart songs that she performed at the conference that I have yet to cover here, and there are also the new songs from OCP for Breaking Bread 2024 – which will likely have even more Sarah Hart!
At the Willow/As One Voice booth they had hard copies of Patrica Smith’s three new music books. They are “And the Angels Sang”, “The Body of Christ” and “Songs from the Jesse Tree”. These are usually only available in downloadable form, so I bought “And the Angels Sang” to do before Advent. I will likely get to the others, especially the songs for Eucharist in “The Body of Christ”. Don’t feel bad about missing out on printed copies, “And the Angels Sang” is probably better in the downloadable version as there are a lot of two page songs that require page turns.
I've worked my way through the As One Voice books and other collections making backings on Band in a Box to help me (& you if you're interested) learn new songs for church. This is aimed at churches and musicians that own the collections but haven't exploited them fully. If you don't have them they are certainly worth buying. This site is educational, nonprofit and designed to enhance the commercial prospects of songwriters. This site does not distribute copyrighted sheet music.
Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here are personal views and not the responsibility of any Church.
All music backings posted are created by myself and the intention is for them to be used to learn the songs. If any copyright holder wishes me to cease publicising and promoting their wares and directing people to where sheet music can be legally purchased please let me know.
Mason’s “Mass of Glory and Praise”
To access my backings for Paul Mason's mass go to Feb 2011 in the archive.
