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The Christmas Revels Songbook: Carols, Processionals, Rounds, Ritual & Childrens Songs in Celebration of the Winter Solstice
This collection contains music sung in "Christmas Revels" productions over the prior fifteen years. Drawn largely from traditional sources, spanning five hundred years, the book includes processional songs, ritual carols, songs especially for children, canons and rounds - a Feast of joyous Christmas material which thousands have sung with enthusiasm at Revels productions.
For anyone who has ever experienced a Revels, this book is a lovely bulging Christmas stocking of familiar music; for everyone else, it's a joyful voyage of discovery through one of the best and most unusual collections of seasonal songs and carols ever made.
For anyone who has ever experienced a Revels, this book is a lovely bulging Christmas stocking of familiar music; for everyone else, it's a joyful voyage of discovery through one of the best and most unusual collections of seasonal songs and carols ever made.
148 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 28, 2017
If you are like me and have always greatly admired John and Nancy Langstaff (and enjoy the CDs of their Christmas Revels Winter Solstice celebration performances every holiday season), you will likely also be as thrilled and as enchanted with and by this here extensive songbook collection as I have been. But that being said, I was indeed still at first a bit frustrated that there are not more extensive and intensive introductions provided (as the small prologue by Susan Cooper of The Dark is Rising and King of Shadows fame, as well as John Langstaff's own very general introductory musings, while definitely informative about the performance history of the Christmas Revels celebrations, are rather sparse in specific musical and folkloric details).
However, I soon and very happily realised that the vast majority of the presented winter and Christmas based song and carol offerings actually do present more than adequate supplemental information and actually, with hindsight, having these details appear WITH each of the featured songs (and as they are presented in The Christmas Revels Songbook) and not relegated to either an introduction or an afterword is perhaps even to be preferred as it prevents having to continuously flip back and forth. And really, The Christmas Revels Songbook is also not supposed to be, has not really been conceptualised as a reference ABOUT Christmas and Winter Solstice songs, but is first and foremost a collection of diverse Christmas and winter songs and carols, along with notes and lyrics (and thus additional information on the origins of the same is and should simply be regarded as the delicious and appreciated icing on the proverbial cake). Most highly recommended (and I am most definitely ecstatic to finally have the lyrics to many of my favourite songs from the Christmas Revels CDs I own and much cherish). And I guess my one and only minor complaint and regretful annoyance is the fact that I have never had the opportunity to attend a Christmas Revels performance in person (and yes, I do rather envy those who have had that sweet chance).
Now I had at first decided on five stars for The Christmas Revels Songbook but have now decided to rank it with a high four star rating instead, as I would most certainly prefer to have the French lyrics for the French songs, the Spanish lyrics for the Spanish songs and so on also included (especially since on the Revels CDs, the lyrics are often sung both in English and in the original languages for those selections, those musical offerings not from the English or American traditions). Now yes, I do both realise and even appreciate that including the original language lyrics for the non English/American offerings would likely much increase the page number count of The Christmas Revels Songbook and that this could perhaps even make the book almost too massive for its intended use, as a songbook to easily and comfortably sing and play from (but my appreciation of this fact notwithstanding, not having the language of origin lyrics included for the non English language carols, is still a bit of a sad and personal disappointment). And I guess I should probably also offer as a caveat that if you are looking for a Christmas songbook that mostly or only features religious (and with this I of course mean specifically and staunchly Christian) carols, you should perhaps consider looking elsewhere, as while The Christmas Revels Songbook does indeed feature many scared and religious hymns and songs, there are also a rather goodly number of more secular offerings (and some that are definitely or at least more than likely decidedly pagan in origin), celebrating the winter, the Solstice, celebrating joy and revelry and not so much commemorating the birth and early infancy of Jesus Christ.
However, I soon and very happily realised that the vast majority of the presented winter and Christmas based song and carol offerings actually do present more than adequate supplemental information and actually, with hindsight, having these details appear WITH each of the featured songs (and as they are presented in The Christmas Revels Songbook) and not relegated to either an introduction or an afterword is perhaps even to be preferred as it prevents having to continuously flip back and forth. And really, The Christmas Revels Songbook is also not supposed to be, has not really been conceptualised as a reference ABOUT Christmas and Winter Solstice songs, but is first and foremost a collection of diverse Christmas and winter songs and carols, along with notes and lyrics (and thus additional information on the origins of the same is and should simply be regarded as the delicious and appreciated icing on the proverbial cake). Most highly recommended (and I am most definitely ecstatic to finally have the lyrics to many of my favourite songs from the Christmas Revels CDs I own and much cherish). And I guess my one and only minor complaint and regretful annoyance is the fact that I have never had the opportunity to attend a Christmas Revels performance in person (and yes, I do rather envy those who have had that sweet chance).
Now I had at first decided on five stars for The Christmas Revels Songbook but have now decided to rank it with a high four star rating instead, as I would most certainly prefer to have the French lyrics for the French songs, the Spanish lyrics for the Spanish songs and so on also included (especially since on the Revels CDs, the lyrics are often sung both in English and in the original languages for those selections, those musical offerings not from the English or American traditions). Now yes, I do both realise and even appreciate that including the original language lyrics for the non English/American offerings would likely much increase the page number count of The Christmas Revels Songbook and that this could perhaps even make the book almost too massive for its intended use, as a songbook to easily and comfortably sing and play from (but my appreciation of this fact notwithstanding, not having the language of origin lyrics included for the non English language carols, is still a bit of a sad and personal disappointment). And I guess I should probably also offer as a caveat that if you are looking for a Christmas songbook that mostly or only features religious (and with this I of course mean specifically and staunchly Christian) carols, you should perhaps consider looking elsewhere, as while The Christmas Revels Songbook does indeed feature many scared and religious hymns and songs, there are also a rather goodly number of more secular offerings (and some that are definitely or at least more than likely decidedly pagan in origin), celebrating the winter, the Solstice, celebrating joy and revelry and not so much commemorating the birth and early infancy of Jesus Christ.
December 18, 2008
Good book, Love the sheet music feature. But didn't know most of the songs.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews