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Download Classical Christmas Carols, Songs, and Music Here
Diex soit en cheste maison was written by the trouvere Adam de la Halle (ca. 1250-ca. 1300). With its lyrics wishing well to one's hosts ("God be in this house, and wealth, and joy"), it's a medieval ancestor to carols like "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" and wassailing tunes.
Villancicos de diversos Autores, also known as the Cancionero de Upsala, is a collection of Spanish and Catalan carols published in Venice in 1556. Riu Riu Chiu is the most famous of these villancicos, we also include recordings of Dadme albricias, hijos d'Eva, E la don, don, Verges Maria, and Verbum caro factum est.
Ding Dong Merrily on High was originally a Renaissance dance called "Branle L'Officiel," from Thoinot Arbeau's treatise Orchesographie (1588). It made an a appearance in a two-part arrangement in an 18th-century French music text, but then disappeared until G.R. Woodward added the words and published it with an arrangement by Charles Wood in the Cambridge Carol Book in 1925. We perform the tune with tambourin-style accompaniment, then the 18th-century two-part version, then an original four-part arrangement.
Resonet in Laudibus is a medieval carol that was later adapted into "Joseph, lieber Joseph mein." Recorded here is a Renaissance setting by Jacob Handl, also known as Jacobus Gallus (1550-1591).
Michael Praetorius (ca. 1571-1621) published a wealth of music for the entire church year in Musae Sioniae, printed in several volumes from 1605 to 1611. This is the source of his famous Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming), and three short settings we've chosen of Vom Himmel Hoch.
Daniel Read (1757-1841) was an early American composer of sacred music. His still-popular tune "Sherburne," a setting of the text While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night, was included in many shape-note publications, such as The Southern Harmony and The Sacred Harp.
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