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Music and Musings - Part 2: Christmas (and winter) music

The main page and this sub-page present self-made music, texts and sheet music. ("Some rights reserved.")


If you want to search for a certain tune, I recommend using your browser's Find function, usually invoked by pressing command-F or control-F.

(2010-11-20: I re-sorted the Christmas music sub-table according to my current song list for easier reference.)


In the recordings presented here, I play my d'Aigle Cascade Custom autoharp except where noted. Its chords layout and string schedule are shown here.
These recordings are in NO WAY AND NOT AT ALL meant to represent modern autoharp playing styles - they present only my own kind of melody playing, always displaying "work in progress"!
Virtually all my new recordings are made using procedure (B) - see below - and thus don't render a true autoharp sound. This can be easily seen (and heard!) by comparing recordings of the d'Aigle 'harp with those of the ZephyrHill or the old OS 85C: the magnetic pickups on all three 'harps produce practically the same sound whereas the 'harps differ acoustically very much. (Recordings of the ZephyrHill and the OS 85C are marked by an asterisk at the 'B'.)


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A short note on the PRINCIPLES according to which I assign CHORDS for autoharp melody playing

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The table, below, is organized as follows.

The ID column contains an identifying label allowing cross-reference.

In the Recordings column you find links to MP3 files, made on my iMac with Audacity and exported with (mostly) bit rate 64 MP3 encoding, in order to save space (and because they are not CD quality anyway).
I recorded to Audicity -
(A) "acoustically", by playing directly into my iMac's little built-in microphone,
(B) "electrically", by using a USB audio interface (Edirol UA-1EX) with input directly (or recently via a Fishman G II pre-amp) from my autoharp's magnetic pickup
(C) otherwise, as explained in singular cases.
(The numbers in parentheses following the links give the playing time in minutes and the file size in megabytes.)

In the Notes column you find remarks concerning the Recording and/or the Notation entry of the same row; sometimes also links to longer texts.

In the Notation column you find links to sheet music that I made primarily for me in order not to forget the arrangement I figured out for playing a certain tune, ideally the tune presented in the Recording column of the same row.
However, sometimes there is no recording yet available of the printed music, and for some recordings I haven't made the sheets.
For proper understanding of my sheet music, you are advised to read about the principles I adhere to, see link above!

ID Recordings Notes Notation
Schiff Es kommt ein Schiff geladen
(B, 2010-11-14) (1:34 min / 0.78 MB)

The third run through the tune uses the alternative modal chords in my sheet music.		 An Advent song, very well known everywhere in all German speaking countries:

Es kommt ein Schiff geladen(There comes a ship, laden) is probably the oldest German language Advent&Christmas song, using the image of the arrival of a heavily laden ship as an allegory for the Virgin Mary, very pregnant with Jesus Christ.		 Es kommt ein Schiff geladen

All my life, I played the respective parts of this tune in Harmonic Minor (probably because I heard it that way in church); but, researching the tune's origin, I found these parts mentioned as being in Dorian mode. So I assigned alternative chords additionally.
Komm O komm, o komm, Emmanuel
(B, 2010-11-01) (0:50 min / 0.44 MB)		 An Advent song:

Note that this German tune is different from the one primarily known in the Anglo-American tradition, which for example can be heard on track 11 on the 2nd disk of the Cyberpluckers' Christmas CD set mentioned in the middle of my home page. (As for the Anglo-American tune, you can it also hear here.)

Eine umfassende Erläuterung zu diesem Adventslied findet sich hier.		 O komm, o komm, Emmanuel
[The harmony notes below the melody notes are there in order to let me hear the minor chords when the computer replays the piece.]

My chords assignment relies fully on natural minors (a.k.a. Aeolian mode).

A variant of my tune version can be studied here.
Zion Tochter Zion
(B, 2010-11-13) (1:50 min / 0.9 MB)		 An Advent song, very well known everywhere in all German speaking countries:

(The first verse of this song is adapted from Zechariah 9,9.
["Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
... "
(Quoted from the New International Version)])		 Tochter Zion

This tune is an adaptation of the chorus "See, the Conqu'ring hero comes" from the 3rd act of the oratorio Joshua (HWV 64) by Georg Friedrich Händel, later also used in the new version of his oratorio Judas Maccabaeus (HWV 63).
Tauet Tauet, Himmel, den Gerechten
(B, 2010-11-01) (1:10 min / 0.6 MB)		 An Advent song that I dearly love, seemingly only known in Austrian and southern German regions:

(The initial lines of this song are adapted from Isaiah 45,8 ["You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down."].   Based on the  Vulgata Editio  text ["Rorate, caeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum"], 'justum' is understood here, in the German words, as the 'righteuos man', not 'righteousness' as commonly.)		 Since this sheet was made ten years ago, it does not show my usual tonicization analysis, sorry!
Tauet, Himmel, den Gerechten
The additional notes in this sheet serve to create a more interesting MIDI file:
Tauet, Himmel, den Gerechten (MIDI)
Hoch Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor' macht weit
(B, 2010-11-01) (1:57 min / 0.96 MB)
Listening to this recording, I saw that I twice missed the string for a certain note: the 1st time the g# in measure 5, the 2nd time the b in measure 6; but these measures are difficult! (And there is probably a law concerning the minimal number of mistakes: If you avoid one, another will happen!)		 An Advent song, very well known everywhere in all German speaking countries:

(The first verse of this song is adapted from Psalm 24, 7 - 10.
["Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD strong and mighty,
the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
The LORD Almighty -
he is the King of glory."
(Quoted from the New International Version)])		 Macht hoch die Tür, die Tor' macht weit

The original German words and a very beautiful English version can be found on ChoralWiki.
leise rieselt Leise rieselt der Schnee
(B, 2010-10-29) (2:15 min / 1.1 MB)		 A not really successful try at translating the first verse:

Softly snowflakes glide down,
ice is lake's stiffened gown.
Christmassy gleam 's on the wood:
Christ child will come soon for good!		 Leise rieselt der Schnee

The original German words and new English words can be found in the great Ingeborg collection.
snow flake Schneeflöckchen Weißröckchen / Little Snowflake
(B, 2010-12-11) (1:21 min / 0.68 MB)		 In the German name of this song, "Weißröckchen" means 'little white skirt'. Why skirt? Obviously because Röckchen (little skirt) rhymes with Flöckchen (little flake). Now, if skirt, why not rather "an outer garment consisting of a large piece of white cloth; worn by men and women in northern Africa"? (cf. www.thefreedictionary.com)
So, when I recently came across the word 'haik', I had my rhyme with 'flake' and I knew how to translate these famous children charming words into English! Which I did. Have a look into the sheet music: I'm rather satisfied with my new English lyrics.		 Schneeflöckchen Weißröckchen / Little Snowflake
Snow Waltz Schneewalzer (Snow Waltz)
(B, 2010-10-30) (2:18 min / 1.1 MB)		 This tune, very well known in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, was written by the Austrian choir director and composer Thomas Koschat (1845 - 1914), one of Kärntens (English: Carinthia's) many "great sons". I don't have sheet music for this piece because Schneewalzer is one of the very rare examples of a tune I "learned by ear" (about 20 years ago), i.e. I learned to play it on the autoharp from what I remembered hearing. Therefore my version may differ from the original, but doing so it would be in good company: nearly every available recording modifies this tune, often also adding own parts.
undet #1 Jesuskindlein, süßes kleines
(B, 2010-11-01) (1:30 min / 0.75 MB)		 Das Weihnachtslied, für das hier Melodie und Text zu finden sind, kenne ich aus der Kindheit; es fehlen mir aber Angaben zum Komponisten und zum Textautor.

I know this Christmas song from my childhood, from singing in the village church in the western Lake Constance area, but I don't know who wrote the tune, who wrote the words. Any info would be very much appreciated.		 Jesuskindlein, süßes kleines
[In this sheet, there are no chord symbols because none are needed according to the CHORDS PRINCIPLES note (see top of page): Rule 1 determines the required chords unambiguously - together with a little bit of creativity (e.g. using indeed the IV chord on scale step 4)!]
undet #3 Auf, Christen, singt festliche Lieder
(B, 2010-11-01) (1:18 min / 0.66 MB)		 Das Weihnachtslied, für das hier Melodie und Text zu finden sind, kenne ich aus der Kindheit; es fehlen mir aber Angaben zum Komponisten und zum Textautor.

Another Christmas song from my childhood days that I don't have any information (re author or composer) about:		 Auf, Christen, singt festliche Lieder
schlaf wohl Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe du/Heaven's Young Son, Slumber
(B, 2010-11-01) (1:45 min / 0.87 MB)		 I know this Christmas song from my childhood, from singing in the village church in the western Lake Constance area. The words are written by C.F.D.Schubart, the author who provided also the words for Franz Schubert's "Trout". The tune is a folk tune (Volksweise) from Switzerland.

Here are my new English words, a translation as close to the original as I ever could achieve:
The Shepherds' Song At The Manger: Heaven's Young Son, Slumber

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich_Daniel_Schubart gives interesting info on the many facets of this important musician, poet and (political) journalist. The English entry en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Friedrich_Daniel_Schubart imparts, alas, a rather one-sided image.		 Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe du
[In this sheet (for the key of G), there are no chord symbols because none are needed according to the CHORDS PRINCIPLES note (see top of page): Rule 1 and Rule 3 determine the required chords unambiguously.]

In the following sheet with the English words, there are - although not really needed! - indeed chord symbols (for the key of D):
Heaven's Young Son, Slumber (The shepherds' song at the manger)
go tell Go Tell It On The Mountain
(B, 2010-10-31) (1:00 min / 0.5 MB)		 - Go Tell It On The Mountain

I made this sheet because it took me more than 10 minutes to recall how I played this tune last year: a hard time I'd better experience never again!
we wish We Wish You a Merry Christmas
(B, 2010-11-21) (0:48 min / 0.42 MB)

The ending on a minor chord is due only to my love of those chords, never to express any scepticism on the likelihood of a happy new year!		 The newest addition to my Christmas music repertoire: We Wish You a Merry Christmas
- a non-trivial arrangement, appropriate for a Renaissance tune, but easy to play on my chordbars layout optimised for my need.
Notice the tonicization, which reminds me to play the G chord with the subdominant-finger.
Bells I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
- a chromatic arrangement in the key of C
suite #1 A little Christmas tunes practice
(A, 2007-12-24) (9:15 min / 4.3 MB)		 I made this recording of 11 songs on Christmas Eve 2007 while being kept at home by a freshly caught cold. (Learn details about the recording circumstances and about the recorded songs from an e-mail I sent to the Cyberpluckers on that occasion:
Got cold, make music [slightly shortened])

For a few of the recorded songs, the sheet music is given here:		 Angels From The Realms Of Glory


Kling, Glöckchen, klingelingeling - - Am Weihnachstbaum (2nd tune chords simplified, 2010)
pair Away in a Manger + It Came Upon The Midnight Clear
(A, January 2007) (2:50 min / 1.4 MB)

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear (CD entry version)
(B, 2009-02-23) (2:31 min / 1.2 MB)		 In the 2007 recording, the 2nd song is more simply arranged than the arrangement given here, which originated during preparation of my contribution to the Christmas CD set, see home page: It Came Upon The Midnight Clear (CD version)
Nacht Stille Nacht / Silent Night (2:00 min / 0.9 MB)
recorded "acoustically" in 2005 using my ZephyrHill 'harp		 This recording presents my special arrangement (which has been printed in Autoharp Quarterly Vol. 21 No. 1, 2008): Stille Nacht / Silent Night
label music annotation sheet
label music annotation sheet