O Come, All Ye Faithful - A Christmas Music Countdown
Adeste fideles, laetit triumphants,
venite, venite in Bethlehem!
Natum videte regem angelorum:
venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
venite adoremus Dominum!"
“They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." Jesus said that those chosen would be few; that many would praise His name for awhile but then fall off and fall back into their old habits, that they were like seeds cast upon stones; they would grow for awhile but then be scorched by the sun.
“Adeste Fideles” is a hymn tune that has been attributed to English hymnist John Francis Wade. The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been accepted that Wade was probably the author.
The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a total of eight, and these have been translated into many languages many times, though the English “O Come All Ye Faithful” translation by the English Roman Catholic priest Frederick Oakeley is particularly widespread.
Before the emergence of John Francis Wade as the probable composer, the tune had been purported to be written by several musicians, from John Reading and his son to Handel, including the Portuguese composer Marcos Portugal. There are several similar musical themes written around that time, though it can be hard to determine whether these were written in imitation of the hymn, the hymn was based on them, or they are totally unconnected.
The earliest existing manuscript shows both words and tune. John Francis Wade included it in his own publication of Cantus Diversi (1751). It was published again in the 1760 edition of Evening Offices of the Church. It also appeared in Samuel Webbe's “An Essay on the Church Plain Chant” (1782).
The original text has been attributed to various groups and individuals, including St. Bonaventure in the 13th century and King John IV of Portugal in the 17th, though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by an order of monks, the Cistercian. German, Portuguese and Spanish orders have, at various times been given credit.
The original text consisted of four Latin verses, and it was with these that the hymn was originally published. The Abbé Etienne Jean Francois Borderies wrote an additional three verses in the 18th century; these are normally printed as the third to fifth of seven verses, while another, anonymous, additional Latin verse is rarely printed. The text has been translated innumerable times, but the most used version today is the English “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” This is a combination of one of Frederick Oakeley's translations of the original four verses and William Thomas Brooke's of the three additional ones, which was first published in Murray's Hymnal in 1852.
The most commonly-named Portuguese author is King John IV of Portugal, “The Musician King” Born in 1603, he came to the throne in 1640. John IV was a patron of music and the arts, and a considerably sophisticated writer on music. Additionally, he was a composer, and during his reign he collected one of the largest libraries in the world (destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755).
The first part of his musical work was published in 1649. He founded a Music School in Vila Viçosa that ‘exported’ musicians to Spain and Italy. In Italy, at his Vila Viçosa palace, two manuscripts of the “Portuguese Hymn” have been found. Those manuscripts (1640) predate Wade's 18th Century manuscript. Among the King's writings is a Defense of Modern Music (Lisbon, 1649). In the same year (1649), he struggled to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in the Catholic Church. His other famous composition is a setting of the Crux Fidelis, a work that remains highly popular during Lent amongst church choirs.
The hymn was known for a while as the Portuguese Hymn after the Duke of Leeds in 1795 heard the hymn being sung at the Portuguese embassy in London and assumed that it had originated from Portugal. The translation that he heard differs greatly from the Oakeley-Brooke translation.
Also a different account of the story, which is more believed to be true, is that King John IV of Portugal wrote this hymn to accompany his daughter Catherine to England, where she married King Charles II. Wherever she went she and her embassy, were announced and accompanied with this hymn, which became widely know in England as the Portuguese Hymn, because it actually represented Portugal (in the form of the Princess).
The hymn has been interpreted as a Jacobite birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Professor Bennett Zon, head of music at Durham University, claims the carol is actually a birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie, the secret political code being decipherable by the “faithful” — supposedly the Jacobites, with Bethlehem a common Jacobite cipher for England and Regem Angelorum a pun on Angelorum (Angels) and Anglorum (English). From the 1740s to 1770s, the earliest forms of the carol commonly appeared in English Roman Catholic liturgical books close to prayers for the exiled Old Pretender. In the books by Wade it was often decorated with Jacobite floral imagery, as were other liturgical texts with coded Jacobite meanings.
In the United Kingdom and United States, it is often sung today in an arrangement by Sir David Willcocks, which was originally published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book in the Carols for Choirs series.
Although it was said to be written for the purposes of the likes of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Princess Catherine, they were not the royalty the faithful were being summoned to adore, nor does the hymn call today’s faithful to worship royalty, politicians, or celebrities (although many celebrity singers have recorded the song). * Source: Wikipedia
The seeds of faith were planted over two millennia ago; we don’t know whether the seeds fell by the wayside, were devoured by birds, withered on rocks, or found good soil. When Christmas is over, will we pack away our faith with the Christmas tree and our CDs, or will we still sing the praises of Jesus comes the summer, when the weather is fair and our spirits are high because it’s warm outside?
Will we worship the Sun? Or the Son?
venite, venite in Bethlehem!
Natum videte regem angelorum:
venite adoremus, venite adoremus,
venite adoremus Dominum!"
“They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings--and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers." Jesus said that those chosen would be few; that many would praise His name for awhile but then fall off and fall back into their old habits, that they were like seeds cast upon stones; they would grow for awhile but then be scorched by the sun.
“Adeste Fideles” is a hymn tune that has been attributed to English hymnist John Francis Wade. The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been accepted that Wade was probably the author.
The original four verses of the hymn were extended to a total of eight, and these have been translated into many languages many times, though the English “O Come All Ye Faithful” translation by the English Roman Catholic priest Frederick Oakeley is particularly widespread.
Before the emergence of John Francis Wade as the probable composer, the tune had been purported to be written by several musicians, from John Reading and his son to Handel, including the Portuguese composer Marcos Portugal. There are several similar musical themes written around that time, though it can be hard to determine whether these were written in imitation of the hymn, the hymn was based on them, or they are totally unconnected.
The earliest existing manuscript shows both words and tune. John Francis Wade included it in his own publication of Cantus Diversi (1751). It was published again in the 1760 edition of Evening Offices of the Church. It also appeared in Samuel Webbe's “An Essay on the Church Plain Chant” (1782).
The original text has been attributed to various groups and individuals, including St. Bonaventure in the 13th century and King John IV of Portugal in the 17th, though it was more commonly believed that the text was written by an order of monks, the Cistercian. German, Portuguese and Spanish orders have, at various times been given credit.
The original text consisted of four Latin verses, and it was with these that the hymn was originally published. The Abbé Etienne Jean Francois Borderies wrote an additional three verses in the 18th century; these are normally printed as the third to fifth of seven verses, while another, anonymous, additional Latin verse is rarely printed. The text has been translated innumerable times, but the most used version today is the English “O Come, All Ye Faithful.” This is a combination of one of Frederick Oakeley's translations of the original four verses and William Thomas Brooke's of the three additional ones, which was first published in Murray's Hymnal in 1852.
The most commonly-named Portuguese author is King John IV of Portugal, “The Musician King” Born in 1603, he came to the throne in 1640. John IV was a patron of music and the arts, and a considerably sophisticated writer on music. Additionally, he was a composer, and during his reign he collected one of the largest libraries in the world (destroyed in the Lisbon earthquake of 1755).
The first part of his musical work was published in 1649. He founded a Music School in Vila Viçosa that ‘exported’ musicians to Spain and Italy. In Italy, at his Vila Viçosa palace, two manuscripts of the “Portuguese Hymn” have been found. Those manuscripts (1640) predate Wade's 18th Century manuscript. Among the King's writings is a Defense of Modern Music (Lisbon, 1649). In the same year (1649), he struggled to get instrumental music approved by the Vatican for use in the Catholic Church. His other famous composition is a setting of the Crux Fidelis, a work that remains highly popular during Lent amongst church choirs.
The hymn was known for a while as the Portuguese Hymn after the Duke of Leeds in 1795 heard the hymn being sung at the Portuguese embassy in London and assumed that it had originated from Portugal. The translation that he heard differs greatly from the Oakeley-Brooke translation.
Also a different account of the story, which is more believed to be true, is that King John IV of Portugal wrote this hymn to accompany his daughter Catherine to England, where she married King Charles II. Wherever she went she and her embassy, were announced and accompanied with this hymn, which became widely know in England as the Portuguese Hymn, because it actually represented Portugal (in the form of the Princess).
The hymn has been interpreted as a Jacobite birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Professor Bennett Zon, head of music at Durham University, claims the carol is actually a birth ode to Bonnie Prince Charlie, the secret political code being decipherable by the “faithful” — supposedly the Jacobites, with Bethlehem a common Jacobite cipher for England and Regem Angelorum a pun on Angelorum (Angels) and Anglorum (English). From the 1740s to 1770s, the earliest forms of the carol commonly appeared in English Roman Catholic liturgical books close to prayers for the exiled Old Pretender. In the books by Wade it was often decorated with Jacobite floral imagery, as were other liturgical texts with coded Jacobite meanings.
In the United Kingdom and United States, it is often sung today in an arrangement by Sir David Willcocks, which was originally published in 1961 by Oxford University Press in the first book in the Carols for Choirs series.
Although it was said to be written for the purposes of the likes of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Princess Catherine, they were not the royalty the faithful were being summoned to adore, nor does the hymn call today’s faithful to worship royalty, politicians, or celebrities (although many celebrity singers have recorded the song). * Source: Wikipedia
The seeds of faith were planted over two millennia ago; we don’t know whether the seeds fell by the wayside, were devoured by birds, withered on rocks, or found good soil. When Christmas is over, will we pack away our faith with the Christmas tree and our CDs, or will we still sing the praises of Jesus comes the summer, when the weather is fair and our spirits are high because it’s warm outside?
Will we worship the Sun? Or the Son?
posted by Belle | 10:19 PM
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