Early English Christmas Carols Author:Rossell Hope Robbins Early English Christmas Carols contains both words and music for thirty beautiful carols of medieval England, transcribed from the original manuscript sources. — A note on each carol gives its background and pertinent facts about its history. Included is a brief bibliography and a note of the performance of the carols, as well as a ten-page intr... more »oduction on their development as a form.
Seventeen line drawings have been added by Alexander Dobkin.
According to Professor Robbins, carols originated as church music and were sung during the Christmas season as alternate anthems. The very form of the carol, he states, sprung directly from the processional use of Latin hymns -- the procession halted on the stanza and proceeded forward on the burden of the chorus.
Although small changes have been made in notations to aid the modern carol-lover, the music here is presented essentially as it was sung in the fifteenth century.
The carols in this book are preserved in their original three-voice or two-voice form and may be sung by informal groups ranging in size from two or three to the small choir or madrigal group of six to twelve singers.
This handsome book is a superb collection of genuine carols with music for everyone who likes to sing.« less