Two Nice Children's Books

I picked these two up at a nearby charity shop today. The first one gives it straight and has a bonus CD of Peter, Paul and Mary singing it. The second adapts Clement Moore slightly to make it even more child friendly.

The Beatles 1968

In 1968 The Beatles issued their penultimate Christmas disc for the fans. It includes these twopoems by John Lennon

Once upon a time, there were two balloons called Jock and Yono.

They were strictly in love, bound to happpen in a mllion years.

They were together man.

Unfortunate timetable, they seemed to have previous experience which kept calling them one way or another.

You know how it is.

But they battled on against overwhelming oddities, including some of their beast friends.

Being in love, they clung together even more man.

But some of the poisonous monsters' outdated boss, lordy ape claws did stick slightly, and they occasionally had to resort to the dry cleaners.

Luckily, this did not kill them and they weren't banned from the Olympic Games.

They lived hopefully ever after and who could blame them.

Once upon a pool table there lived a short-haired butcher's boy by the way of Ostergrad.

It comes in scented cesspool or be careful.

Her father was in a long story cut short in the middle of this life sentence.

We're indebted to the colloquial office for its immediate disposal of her honorwitz, including, I might add, half a fell of her twotem.

On the other handbag, I mean to say l'amour nous sommes toujours realistic, strictly speaking.

For this film is about an hourglass houseboat.

The full meaning of Winchester Cathedral defies description.

Their loss was our Gainsborough nil.

The sound of a manservantile defectively lasting barred

Up in a love-dizzy gar-di-dell time.

How close can you Gettysburg and ever underly council ya originally a Birdbath feeling ...

Cut!

For a transcript of the wholedisc try here

https://genius.com/The-beatles-the-beatles-1968-christmas-record-lyrics

10 Things and more by Augustine about the Incarnation

“The Word of the Father, by whom all time was created, was made flesh and was born in time for us. He, without whose divine permission no day completes its course, wished to have one day [set aside] for His human birth. In the bosom of His Father, He existed before all the cycles of ages; born of an earthly Mother, He entered upon the course of the years on this day. The Maker of man became Man that He, Ruler of the stars, might be nourished at the breast;

1. that He, the Bread, might be hungry;
2. that He, the Fountain, might thirst; (that He, the Light, might sleep;)
3. that He, the Way, might be wearied by the journey;
4. that He, the Truth, might be accused by false witnesses;
5. that He, the Judge of the living and the dead, might be brought to trial by a mortal judge; (that He, Justice, might be condemned by the unjust;)
6. that He, the Teacher, might be scourged with whips; (that He, the Vine, might be crowned with thorns;)
7. that He, the Foundation, might be suspended upon a cross;
8. that Strength might be weakened;
9. that He who makes well might be wounded;
10. that Life might die.

To endure these and similar indignities for us, to free us, unworthy creatures, He who existed as the Son of God before all ages, without a beginning, deigned to become the Son of Man in these recent years. He did this although He who submitted to such great evils for our sake had done no evil, and although we, who were the recipients of so much good at His hands, had done nothing to merit these benefits. Begotten by the Father, He was not made by the Father; He was made Man in the Mother whom He Himself had made, so that He might exist here for a while, sprung from her who could never and nowhere have existed except through His power.”

– Augustine (354-430), For the Feast of the Nativity, Sermon 191

Jokes new to this blog but not new

1. How much did Santa pay for his sleigh? Nothing – it was on the house
2. How did the bauble know that she was addicted to Christmas? She’d been hooked on Christmas trees all her life.
3. What do you call a blind reindeer? No-eye deer.
4. What do you call a blind reindeer with no legs? Still no-eye deer.
5. How did Scrooge win the football game? The Ghost of Christmas passed.
6. I have this incredible ability to predict what’s inside a wrapped present. It’s a gift.
7. The Christmas jumper my kids gave me last year kept picking up static electricity. I took it back and exchanged it for another one – free of charge.
8. I got a universal remote control for Christmas. This changes everything.
9. I bought my son a fridge for Christmas. I can’t wait to see his face light up when he opens it.
10. The only Christmas present that I got this year was a deck of sticky playing cards. I find that very hard to deal with.

(Did you know that Santa actually only had two reindeer? Rudolph and Olive (the other reindeer))

10 Christmas Traditions

1. Preaching six sermons or more on Christmas themes (various verses thus year)

2. Singing most of the Christmas hymns in our hymn book

3. Watching the film Elf starring Will Ferrell (tonight I hope)

4. Watching University Challenge Christmas Special on TV

5. Reading the novel Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (50 pages read so far)

6. Reading some Christmas detective fiction (A Dramatic Christmas this year)

7. Going through a book of devotions from December 1-24 or 25 (this year Joel Beeke and 31 readings)

8. Burning down an advent candle December 1-24 (a red one again this year, a bit too thin)

9. Going to see Kate Rusby and her band doing one of their Christmas concerts (really enjoyed that)

10. Listening to lots of Christmas music (I now have 671 items in my collection)

10 sorts of sweets mentioned by Dylan Thomas in A Child's Christmas in Wales

1. Hardboileds
2. toffee
3. fudge
4. and allsorts
5. crunches
6. cracknel
7. humbugs
8. glaciers
9. marzipan
10. and butterwelsh for the Welsh

Kate Rusby Christmas at the Cadogan Hall 2024

Great to be there once again to hear Kate Rusby sing the Christmas carols, etc. Two sessions at Cadogan Hall thus year. We caught the second. All the usual favourites - the brass boys, a session for the boys in the band (with the brass this time), lots of chat, dressing up at the end (honouring 40 years since Band Aid this time with jokes at the expense of Bananarama, The Police, Boy George, etc), three While Shepherds, etc. And home by 10.15 pm. We really enjoyed it. New album coming out in May.

Christmas Magic an EP by National Parks

 

Here is another excellent bit of Christmas music. So pleasnat. This came out in 2023.

A Christmas Chorale Mary Hopkin Album

Since 2020 a 17 track album (12 tracks and five bonus numbers) by the Welsh folk singer, Mary Hopkin, has been available. It incudes three songs in Welsh and a number of acapella of items. Most of these are traditional pieces but some are modern, including Snowed Under by Mary herself. Her grown up children are alos involved in this album. There is arecording of Mary singing aged 12, which I didn't particularly enjoy myself. Two tracks from 1972 (Mary had a baby, Cherry Tree carol) are very good.

10 More Items Listed by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol

1. Red-hot chestnuts (he later describes great, round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street in their apoplectic opulence.)
2. cherry-cheeked apples (he later speaks of Norfolk Biffins, squab and swarthy, setting off the yellow of the oranges and lemons, and, in the great compactness of their juicy persons, urgently entreating and beseeching to be carried home in paper bags, and eaten after dinner.)
3. juicy oranges
4. luscious pears (later he notes pears and apples clustered high in blooming pyramids)
5. immense twelfth-cakes (also known as twelfth night cake or king cake or three kings cake. It is associated in many countries with Epiphany, the celebration of the Twelfth Night after Christmas. Its form and ingredients are variable, but in most cases a fève or fava bean such as a figurine, often said to represent the Christ Child, is hidden inside. After the cake is cut, whoever gets the fève wins a prize. Modern fèves can be made of other materials, and can represent various objects and people.)
6. seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their delicious steam
7. holly
8. mistletoe
9. ivy
10. ruddy, brown-faced, broad-girthed Spanish onions, shining in the fatness of their growth like Spanish Friars, and winking from their shelves in wanton slyness at the girls as they went by, and glanced demurely at the hung-up mistletoe.

(He also mentions three other items - bunches of grapes, made, in the shopkeepers' benevolence, to dangle from conspicuous hooks that people's mouths might water gratis as they passed and piles of filberts [hazelnuts], mossy and brown, recalling, in their fragrance, ancient walks among the woods, and pleasant shufflings ankle deep through withered leaves and gold and silver fish in a bowl)

10 Items Listed by Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol

In the third stave of A Christmas Carol Dickens has three lists ofitems seen at Christmas, some more seasonal than others.

1. Turkeys
2. geese
3. game (also poultry)
4. brawn (which is pig;s brain)
5. great joints of meat
6. sucking-pigs (a suckling pig is a piglet fed on its mother's milk (ie a piglet which is still a "suckling"). In culinary contexts, a suckling pig is slaughtered between the ages of two and six weeks. It is traditionally cooked whole, often roasted, in various cuisines.)
7. long wreaths of sausages
8. mince-pies
9. plum-puddings
10. barrels of oysters (oysters started to become associated with Christmas, because they were most readily available to be consumed during December. Another influence was Irish immigration. These Catholics wished not to eat meat at Christmas and oysters were a ready alternative)

Dramatic Murder

I have finished reading this now and it was okay. It takes place over Christmas but is not particularly Christmassy whatever that is. I found the solution a little unsatisfying, although I'm sure a re-read would confirm its appropriateness. At the beginning I found it hard to distinguish who was who in the large cast. One or two have the same name. So not amazing but okay.

Classic FM Smooth Classics A Classical Christmas Vol 2 2007

1 O Come, All Ye Faithful (J F Wade) The Bach Choir (cond David Willcocks) Graham Ashton Brass Ensemble, Fanfare Trumpeters Of The Royal Military School Of Music, Organ – John Scott 4:12

2 Concerto Grosso In G Minor, Op.6, No.8 'Fatto Per la Notte di Natale' (Corelli) Cologne Chamber Orchestra (cond Helmut Müller-Brühl) 13:36

3 Messiah, Hwv 56 For Unto Us A Son Is Born (Handel)  The Academy Of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, The King's College Choir Of Cambridge (cond David Willcocks) 4:15

4 Christmas Cantata Pastorale; Tocco la Prima Sorte A Vol, Pastori (Scarlatti) LonDOn Baroque Ensemble (cond Charles Medlam) Soprano Emma Kirkby 7:07

5 Cradle Song (Byrd) RLPO Choir, The Children's Choir Of St. Ambrose RPO (cond Edmund Walters) 4:09

6 Es Ist Ein Ros' Entsprungen (A Spotless Rose Is Growing) (Praetorius) The King's Singers 2:39

7 Remember O Thou Man (Ravenscroft) The SIxteen (cond Harry Christophers) 3:25

8 O Magnum Mysterium (Byrd) New York Polyphony 4:49

9 This Have I Done For My True Love (Holst) The King's College Choir Of Cambridge (cond David Hill) 5:28

10 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Gruber) Vasari Singers (Chorus Master Jeremy Backhouse 3:51

11 Angels' Carol (Rutter) The Cambridge Singers, City Of London Sinfoni (cond John Rutter) 3:16

12 The Nutcracker, Op.71 Divertissements (Tchaikovsky) Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (cond Ondrej Lenárd) 11:33

13 Les Saisons (The Seasons), Op.37 No.12 December: Noël (Tchaikovsky) Piano – Eteri Andjaparidze 3:39

14 Messiah, HWV 56 Hallelujah Chorus (Handel) Tenebrae LSO (cond Sir Colin Davis)  3:44

Dawn of Grace Two Extra Tracks

This year Sixpence None The Richer have issued a deluxe version of their album Dawn of Grace with two 

extra tracks at the beginning - "I Believe in Father Christmas" 3:19 and "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" 3:47. Good stuff.

Classic FM Smooth Classics A Classical Christmas Vol 1 2007

Here's another classical one I enjoy at this time of the year. After 10 tracks of mostly carols (the second track is Berlioz) six acapella we get pieces from Handel's Messiah, Vivaldi, the Nutcracker and Bach's Mass in B Minor.

1 Once In Royal David's City (Gauntlett)
Worcester Cathedral Choir (cond Donald Hunt) Organ Raymond Johnston; Treble Vocals Robert Stringer 3:19
2 L'Enfant Du Christ (The Childhood Of Christ), Op.25 The Shepherd's Farewell (Berlioz)
Tenebrae (cond Sir Colin Davis) LSO 4:34
3 Ding Dong, Merrily On High (Trad)
Gloucester Cathedral Choir (chorus master Andrew Nethsingha) 2:00
4 In Dulci Jubilo (Trad)
Worcester Cathedral Choir (choirmaster Donald Hunt) 3:43
5 The Coventry Carol (Trad)
The Sixteen (cond Harry Christophers) 3:23
6 As With Glasness Men Of Old (Conrad Kocher)
Tewkesbury Abbey Choir (cond Andrew Sackett) 2:50
7 O Little One Sweet (Trad)
The King's Singers 2:09
8 A Foxton Ferguson The Shepherds' Cradle Song (Trad)
 The King's College Choir Of Cambridge (chorus master David Willcocks) RPO 3:38
9 Away In A Manger (Trad)
New York Polyphony 2:22
10 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Mendelssohn)
The Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra (cond Carmen Dragon) 2:41
11 Messiah, HWV 56 Pastoral Symphony (Handel)
Munich Radio Orchestra (cond John Georgiadis) Flute James Galway 3:18

12 Concerto In E Major, Rv279, 'Il Riposo, Per Il Santissimo Natale' Allegro; Adagio; Allegro (Vivaldi)
Il Giardino Armonico (cond Giovanni Antonini) 7:39
13 The Nutcracker, Op.71 Waltz Of The Snowflakes (Tchaikovsky)
Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (cond Ondrej Lenárd) 6:38

14 Mass In B Minor, BWV 232 Gloria In Excelsis; Et In Terra Pax (Bach)
Bach Collegium Japan (cond Masaaki Suzuki)

The Classical Collection - Christmas Music for the Festive Season 1994

I always enjoy this collection at Christmas time. It starts with three traditional carols, the first two acapella, Then come two Viennese Strauss pieces and two other orchestral offerings and the Hallelujah Chorus before closing with a series of eight selections from Mozart's choral masterpiece, his requiem. This takes up over 20 minutes of the hour adn six minutes. So not all Christmas music strictly speaking but all ideal for putting you in the mood.

1 I Saw Three Ships Trad arr Willcocks OUP 2:01

2 The Holly And The Ivy Traf arr Walford Davies Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge (Dir Richard Marlow) 2:00

3 O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Overtone Voice (Cond Marlow) 2:29

4 Champagne Polka, Op. 211 Strauss II Rundfunkorchester Des Südwestfunks (cond Klaus Orp) 2:44

5 Viennese Bonbons, Op. 307 Strauss II Orchestra Der Wuener Volksoper (cond Alfred Scholz) 9:36

6 Overture From The Merry Wives Of Windsor Otto Nicolai Rundfunkorchester Des Südwestfunks (cond Klaus Orp) 8:32

7 Overture From Poet And Peasant von Suppe New Philharmonic Orchestra  (cond Alfred Scholz) 9:35

8 Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah Handel

Sinfonie Orchester Der Leningrade (cond Alexandr Dmitriev) 3:34

Requiem (Extracts) Mozart

Budapest Concert Orchestra (cond Tamás Gál) with Academic Choir Budapest (cond Gábor Hollerung) 

9 Introit 4:52

10 Kyrie 2:27

11 Dies Irae 1:41

12 Confutatis 2:28

13 Lacrimosa 3:22

14 Sanctus 1:30

15 Agnus Dei 3:10

16 Lux Aeterna 5:23

Orbis (Aurophon)

Christmas Catechism 01

In recent years I have come up with a Christmas Catechism that takes you through the Christmas story in a series of 84 questions and answers. Here are the first twelve.

CHRISTMAS CATECHISM

1. Who was the prophet immediately before Messiah? John the Baptist

2. What were his parents called and where did they live? Zechariah and Elizabeth; they lived in Hebron

3. How did they learn that John was going to be born to them? The angel Gabriel told Zechariah when he was doing his priestly duties at the Temple in Jerusalem

4. Why was this surprising news? Because Zechariah and Elizabeth were old and had never been able to have children

5. What was Zechariah's reaction to the news that he would have a son? It was a bad one. He did not believe it.

6. What was his later better reaction after John was born? He wrote a song praising God. It is in Luke 1.

7. How did John react when, still in the womb, he was near Messiah in his mother's womb? His mother Elizabeth felt him leap for joy

8. In his Gospel Matthew begins with a family tree of Messiah going all the way back to who? Matthew goes all the way back to Abraham

9. In his Gospel Luke has a family tree of Messiah that goes all the way back as far as who? Luke goes all the way back to Adam

10. What are the names of some of those who appear in both family trees? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and David

11. What are the names of the four women who are included in Matthew's family tree? Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and the wife of Uriah

12. How does Matthew divide his family tree? 14 generations from Abraham to David, 14 from David to the exile and 14 from the exile to Messiah