20 Dec '14 04:13>1 edit
"Caroling during Christmas"
"Christmas 2014: God became a Child so that we could become the children of God as commemorated in song. Caroling during Christmas was popular even in the 18th century. In Fact most of the popular carols sung today were written during the 18th century and early 19th century."
* "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" The Author: The carol “While Shepherds Watched” dates back to 1703. The words were written by Nahum Tate, (1652–1715). Nahum Tate was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1652. He was the son of clergymen and poet Faithful Teate, who had been rector of Castleterra, Ballyhaise, until his house was burnt and his family attacked after he had passed on information to the government about plans for the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Nahum followed his father to Trinity College, Dublin in 1668, and graduated BA in 1672. By 1676 he had moved to London and was writing for a living. The following year he had adopted the spelling Tate, which would remain until his death, in 1715, in Southwark, London, England. He was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became England’s poet laureate in 1692 in the reign of Queen Anne.
Tate’s name is connected with the famous “New Version of the Psalms of David,” (1696), for which he collaborated with poet and “Anglican Divine,” Nicholas Brady. “Divines” are clergy whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship and spirituality and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years.
A supplement to the “New Version of the Psalms of David” was licensed in 1703, which included the Christmas carol “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.” It was the only Christmas hymn authorized to be sung by the Anglican Church, as prior to 1700 only the “Psalms of David” were permitted to be sung. “While Shepherds Watched” is the only song of the sixteen works in the 1700 supplement to still be sung today.
This carol was written in common meter, (consisting of four lines which alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter rhyming in the pattern a-b-a-b), and is based on the Gospel of Luke 2:8-14. Tate and Brady were the first to paraphrase the psalms for singing in rhyme which then became distinctive of their work.
No doubt the popularity of this carol has been enhanced by the tuneful and familiar melody that was adapted from “Siroe,” an opera by George Frederick Handel. This carol is most commonly sung to two different tunes: Winchester Old in the United Kingdom and a variation on Handel’s “Siroe” arranged by Lowell Mason in the United States. Humorously, children love to parody the words “While shepherds watched their flocks by night” and replacing them with “While Shepherds wash their socks by night!” -From an email received today from a pastor/teacher in New England (Part 1 of 4; Part 2: The Song)
"Christmas 2014: God became a Child so that we could become the children of God as commemorated in song. Caroling during Christmas was popular even in the 18th century. In Fact most of the popular carols sung today were written during the 18th century and early 19th century."
* "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" The Author: The carol “While Shepherds Watched” dates back to 1703. The words were written by Nahum Tate, (1652–1715). Nahum Tate was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1652. He was the son of clergymen and poet Faithful Teate, who had been rector of Castleterra, Ballyhaise, until his house was burnt and his family attacked after he had passed on information to the government about plans for the Irish Rebellion of 1641.
Nahum followed his father to Trinity College, Dublin in 1668, and graduated BA in 1672. By 1676 he had moved to London and was writing for a living. The following year he had adopted the spelling Tate, which would remain until his death, in 1715, in Southwark, London, England. He was an Irish poet, hymnist and lyricist, who became England’s poet laureate in 1692 in the reign of Queen Anne.
Tate’s name is connected with the famous “New Version of the Psalms of David,” (1696), for which he collaborated with poet and “Anglican Divine,” Nicholas Brady. “Divines” are clergy whose theological writings have been considered standards for faith, doctrine, worship and spirituality and whose influence has permeated the Anglican Communion in varying degrees through the years.
A supplement to the “New Version of the Psalms of David” was licensed in 1703, which included the Christmas carol “While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks.” It was the only Christmas hymn authorized to be sung by the Anglican Church, as prior to 1700 only the “Psalms of David” were permitted to be sung. “While Shepherds Watched” is the only song of the sixteen works in the 1700 supplement to still be sung today.
This carol was written in common meter, (consisting of four lines which alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter rhyming in the pattern a-b-a-b), and is based on the Gospel of Luke 2:8-14. Tate and Brady were the first to paraphrase the psalms for singing in rhyme which then became distinctive of their work.
No doubt the popularity of this carol has been enhanced by the tuneful and familiar melody that was adapted from “Siroe,” an opera by George Frederick Handel. This carol is most commonly sung to two different tunes: Winchester Old in the United Kingdom and a variation on Handel’s “Siroe” arranged by Lowell Mason in the United States. Humorously, children love to parody the words “While shepherds watched their flocks by night” and replacing them with “While Shepherds wash their socks by night!” -From an email received today from a pastor/teacher in New England (Part 1 of 4; Part 2: The Song)