Notes, texts, and translations

Ave sanctorum Columba is one of the chants from the Office of Saint Columba found in the 13th-century Inchcolm Antiphoner, a unique relic celebrated for its distinct Scottish chant. Inchcolm is a tiny island in the Firth of Forth, north of Edinburgh. The Inchcolm Abbey was founded there in the early 12th century by King Alexander the First of Scotland. The chant Ave sanctorum Columba praises Saint Columba as well as Saint Andrew, the two patron saints of Scotland. 

In 563 CE, Saint Columba (Irish by birth) traveled to Scotland. The island of Iona (part of the Inner Hebrides) was made over to him by his kinsman Conall mac Comgaill King of Dál Riata, who perhaps had invited him to come to Scotland in the first place. Aside from the services he provided guiding the only center of literacy in the region, his reputation as a holy man led to his role as a diplomat among the tribes. There are also many stories of miracles which he performed during his time in Scotland, the most famous being his encounter in 565 CE with an unidentified animal that some have equated with the Loch Ness Monster. It is said that he banished a ferocious "water beast" to the depths of the River Ness after it had killed a Pict and then tried to attack one of his disciples. 

Ave sanctorum Columba 

Ave sanctorum Columba piissime

genite regis insulane inclite.

Ave fidelis domine cristicola pestem

propelle inimicos dimica

aures accomoda laudis

ad libamina trahens nos a

vitiis duc ad vite gaudia alleluia.

Ave sanctorum andrea mitissime

symonis frater et ad christum prime.

Ave fidelis domine crucicola agni

paschalis imitatrix hostia suscipe

nostre laudis sacrificia

presta nobis vere lucis gaudia.

Hail Columba, most holy of saints,
from the stock of a king, celebrated islander.
Hail worshiper of Christ, faithful to the Lord.
Drive away plague: fight our enemies,
bend your ears to offerings of praise.
Drawing us away from vices,
lead us to the joys of life.

Hail, Andrew, mildest of saints,
brother of Simon and the first to Christ.
Hail worshiper of the cross, faithful to the Lord.
As a sacrificial victim, imitator of the paschal lamb,
hear our sacrifice of praise,
and furnish joy to us with true light.

Irish composer Eibhlis Farrell studied at Queen’s University, Belfast; Bristol University; and Rutgers University, New Jersey. She has been particularly influenced by the music of the medieval and Baroque periods; many of the texts set in her vocal music are taken from Latin and old Irish sources. The text for Exultemus cum Maria is attributed to Oscar Fractalinus, and found in the Black Book of Kilbroney, c. 900 CE. Farrell’s setting is sung by two soprano “angels” with a celestial choir of heavenly voices.

Exultemus cum Maria 

Exultemus cum Maria in coelesti hierarchia
Honor, laus, gloria dulci cum melodia, Maria.

Exult with Mary among the heavenly hierarchy
Praise, honor and glory, with sweet song to Mary. 

Born in London, Tarik O'Regan’s recent works have been influenced by his dual Arab and Irish heritages. His music, recognized with two GRAMMY® nominations and two British Composer Awards, has been recorded on over 40 albums. Recently he was commissioned by His Majesty King Charles III to compose the Agnus Dei for the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey. Alleluia, laus et gloria was commissioned by the BBC for the Pro Musica Girls' Choir of Hungary, winner of the 2003 Let the Peoples Sing competition.

Alleluia, laus et gloria 

Alleluia.
Laus et gloria et virtus Deo nostro
quia vera iusta sunt iudicia eius. Alleluia.

Alleluia,
praise and glory and power to our God,
for God’s judgements are true and just. Alleluia! 

Suo Gân is a well-known Welsh lullaby, which first appeared in print circa 1800. Many listeners may recognize the melody, which was featured prominently in the Steven Spielberg film Empire of the Sun.

Suo Gân 

Huna blentyn yn fy mynwes
Clyd a chynnes ydyw hon;
Breichiau mam sy'n dynn amdanat,
Cariad mam sy dan fy mron;
Ni cha' dim amharu'th gyntun,
Ni wna undyn â thi gam;
Huna'n dawel, annwyl blentyn,
Huna'n fwyn ar fron dy fam.

Paid ag ofni, dim ond deilen
Gura, gura ar y ddôr;
Paid ag ofni, ton fach unig
Sua, sua ar lan y môr;
Huna blentyn, nid oes yma
Ddim i roddi iti fraw;
Gwena'n dawel yn fy mynwes
Ar yr engyl gwynion draw.

Sleep my baby, at my breast,
’Tis a mother’s arms round you.
Make yourself a snug, warm nest.
Feel my love forever new.
Harm will not meet you in sleep,
Hurt will always pass you by.
Child beloved, always you’ll keep,
In sleep gentle, mother’s breast nigh.

Do not fear the sound, it’s a breeze
Brushing leaves against the door.
Do not dread the murmuring seas,
Lonely waves washing the shore.
Sleep child mine, there’s nothing here,
While in slumber at my breast,
Angels smiling, have no fear,
Holy angels guard your rest.

Jeffrey Jones-Ragona has arranged, recorded, and performed dozens traditional Celtic songs. Ble rwyt t’in mynd is a traditional “Wren-Boy’s Song.” The day after Christmas, St. Stephen’s Day, was also called the Day of the Wren. The wren celebration may have descended from Celtic mythology, as the wren was considered a symbol of the past year. On Wren Day, the adolescents of Welsh villages would dress in calico, go to the woods, and capture a wren—they would then put it in a cage or on a long pole, and carry it about from house to house. The householders would offer them money for the annual Wren Dance—although it was not unheard of for the youths to retire to the nearest pub and drink up their profits.

Ble rwyt t’in mynd 

Ble rwyt t’in mynd medda Dibin wrth Dobin,
Ble rwyt t’in mynd medda Risart wrth Robin,
Ble rwyt t’in mynd medda’r John,
Ble rwyt t’in mynd medda’r nefar biond.

Rwyn mynd tua’r coedd medda Dibin…

Be’ nei di yno medda Dibin…

Llad y dryw bach medda Dibin…

Where are you going, says Dibin to Dobin,

Where are you going, says Richard to Robin,

Where are you going, says John,

Where are you going, says the never beyond.

I’m going to the forest, says Dibin…

What will you do there, says Dibin…

I will capture the little Wren, says Dibin…

The Wexford Carol owes its title to the County Wexford Museum in Enniscorthy, Ireland, which published it in the early 20th century. It was collected from traditional singers in Ireland and at the same time in England (by Ralph Vaughan Williams, among others), making its origin somewhat uncertain. The melody, however, is in a traditional Irish style, performed here in an arrangement by the British conductor and composer John Rutter. 

Wexford Carol 

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending their beloved Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but an humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel had foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

Judith Weir was born in 1954 in England, of Scottish parents. Her music often draws on sources from medieval history, as well as the traditional stories and music of her native Scotland. She is best known for her operas and theater works, although she has also achieved international recognition for her choral, orchestral, and chamber works. In 2014, she was appointed Master of the Queen’s Music, and continues to serve now as Master of the King’s Music. She was the Artistic Director of the Spitalfields Festival in London (1995-2000), and was associate composer with the BBC Singers from 2015 to 2019. Illuminare, Jerusalem was written for the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and first performed by them in the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve 1985. The text, in medieval Scots, is taken from an anonymous 15th-century manuscript. The refrain refers to Isaiah chapter 60: "Arise, shine; for thy light is come.” 

Illuminare, Jerusalem 

Jerusalem rejos (rejoice) for joy:
Jesus, the sterne (star) of most bewte (beauty)
In thee is rissin as richtous roy (righteous king),
Fro dirkness (darkness) to illumyne thee.
With glorius sound of angell glee (angels rejoicing)
Thy prince is borne in Baithlem (Bethlehem)
Which sall thee mak of thraldome (bondage) free.
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

With angellis licht in legionis (light of angels' legions)
Thou art illumynit all about.
Three kingis of strange regionis (kings from far regions)
To thee are cumin with lusty rout (splendid company),
All drest with dyamantis
Reverst with gold in every hem,
Sounding attonis (at once) with a shout,
Illuminare, Jerusalem.

The regeand (raging) tirrant that in thee rang,
Herod, is exilit and his offspring,
The land of Juda that josit wrang (he possessed unjustly),
And rissin is now thy richtous king.
So he so mychtie is and dinge (mighty and worthy),
When men his glorious name does nem,
Heven, erd and hell makis inclining (bow).
Illuminare, Jerusalem. 

Words adapted from the Bannatyne manuscript in A Choice of Scottish Verse, 1470–1570, John and Winifred MacQueen.

Seattle composer John Muehleisen’s Invocation is from his celebratory Christmas cycle with harp, This Night, which was commissioned and premiered by the Dale Warland Singers in 2003. This a cappella version was created specifically for Seattle Pro Musica. The text is drawn from the voluminous Carmina Gadelica, an anthology of ancient Celtic Christian texts gathered in the Scottish Highlands by English amateur ethnographer Alexander Carmichael.

The composer writes:

“Invocation describes the nativity of Christ in mystical images of nature, of light piercing darkness, and of grief being replaced by joy, accompanied by allusions to the star of Bethlehem and the heavenly angelic host announcing the birth. The last six lines of the text are certainly the most enigmatic, and can perhaps be best explained when seen through the lens of the relationship between Celtic Christianity and pagan Celtic culture. My interpretation is that the ‘cleric’ is Christ, the priest above all priests, and that the reference to the ‘founded stones’ is to the standing stones of the pagan religious sites. In my interpretation, the mansions, shores, and angels floating are symbols of heaven as translated through ‘Celtic-colored glasses.’ They are a Celtic description of the Heavenly Hosts above the Nativity scene. With respect to ‘the shapely rounded column,’ I believe that this is a symbol for a beam of light coming down from Heaven and alighting upon the head of the infant Jesus in the manger. This symbol is frequently found in Orthodox Christian iconography—which had an influence on early Celtic Christian art—where it resembles a column at the top of the icon, most notably in Nativity icons.”

Invocation

God of the moon, God of the sun,

God of the globe, God of the stars,

God of the waters, the land, and the skies,

Who ordained to us the King of promise.

It was Mary fair who went upon her knee,

It was the King of life who went upon her lap,

Darkness and tears were set behind,

And the star of guidance went up early.

Illumed the land, illumed the world,

Illumed doldrum and current,

Grief was laid and joy was raised,

Music was set up with harp and pedal-harp.

God of the moon, God of the sun,

Who ordained to us the Son of mercy.

The fair Mary upon her knee,

Christ the King of life in her lap.

I am the cleric established,

Going round the founded stones,

I behold mansions, I behold shores,

I behold angels floating,

I behold the shapely rounded column
Coming landwards in friendship to us. 

James MacMillan was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1959. He studied music at the University of Edinburgh and completed doctoral studies in composition at the University of Durham. Returning to Scotland in 1988, he began to identify more with his national and religious roots, sometimes incorporating Scottish folk elements or Scottish historical themes into his music. In the past two decades, MacMillan’s popularity has risen steadily, making him one of the most influential Scottish composers of his generation. Of choral music in general, MacMillan has said, “The human voice, singing in conjunction with others, is a sonic miracle.”

Christus vincit makes creative use of double choir forces, imbuing the vocal lines with his characteristic Gaelic-influenced ornamentation. The work begins with the sopranos and works its way to the basses in plainsong-like phrases that are punctuated by moments of silence. MacMillan’s love of the vocal cadenza with its melismatic freedom is given to a soprano soloist, who ends the piece on a quiet high B. It was premiered in 1994 by the joint choirs of Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, London.

Christus vincit

Christus vincit,

Christus regnat,

Christus imperat.

Christ conquers,

Christ is King,
Christ is Lord of all. 

Tàladh Chrìosda (Lullaby to the Christ Child) is a traditional Gaelic lullaby from the Isle of Eriskay in the Outer Hebrides. This very small island (about 2.5 by 1.5 miles) had a population of 143 as of the 2011 Census. Eriskay is famed as the island where Prince Charles Edward Stuart and the Seven Men of Moidart landed to start the Jacobite rising of 1745. The site where the Prince first set foot upon Scottish soil is now called Coilleag a' Phrionnsa ("Prince's Forest").

Arranger Sheena Phillips is a UK composer, singer, and choral musician. She lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, for ten years where she founded the Rudsambee company of singers.

Tàladh Chrìosda

Mo ghaol, mo ghràdh is m’eudail thu
M’iunntas ùr is m’èibhneas thu
Mo mhacan àluinn, ceutach thu
Chan fhiù mi fhèin bhi ‘d dhàil. Alleluia.

Mo ghaol an t-sùil a sheallas tlàth,

Mo ghaol and cridh’ tha liont’ le gràdh;

Ged is leanabh thu gun chàil

Is lionmhor buaidh that ort a’ fàs.

My darling, my love and treasure, you,

My new-found wealth and ecstasy, you,

My gorgeous handsome wee son, you,

I am unworthy to be in your presence. Alleluia.

My love the eye that gently sees,

My love the heart that’s filled with affection.

Although you are a helpless child
Many virtues are growing in you. 

Described in the New York Times as “one of the most important composers to have emerged in Welsh choral music since William Mathias… A real and original talent,” Paul Mealor’s music has rapidly entered the repertoire of choirs and singers around the world. Mealor was catapulted to international attention when 2.5 billion people (the largest audience in broadcasting history) heard his motet Ubi Caritas et Amor performed at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. Mealor’s 2023 Coronation Kyrie marks the first Welsh language performance at a UK Coronation, and was written at the behest of the King for The Coronation of Their Majesty’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla in 2023 at Westminster Abbey.

A spotless Rose is from Mealor’s choral cycle on rose texts, Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal, and evokes the imagery of a rose opening in the coldest night of winter.

A spotless Rose

A spotless Rose is blowing
Sprung from a tender root,
Of ancient seers’ foreshowing,
Of Jesse promised fruit;
Its fairest bud unfolds to light
Amid the cold, cold winter
And the dark midnight.

The Rose which I am singing,
Whereof Isaiah said,
Is from its sweet root springing
In Mary, purest Maid;
For through our God’s great love and might
The blessed babe she bare us
In a cold, cold winter’s night.
Now sleeps the crimson petal. Amen.

Sir Charles Villiers Stanford was born in Dublin in 1852, and brought up in a cultured professional circle—his childhood home was a meeting-place for numerous amateur and professional musicians. His undergraduate career at Queens’ College, Cambridge, was a brilliant one, and by 1873 he had become organist of Trinity College and conductor of the Cambridge University Musical Society which he built into a major choral and orchestral body (later he was also conductor of the London Bach Choir, the Leeds Philharmonic Society and the Leeds Festival). He was appointed professor of composition and orchestral playing at the Royal College of Music (RCM) from its opening in 1883 and professor of music at Cambridge in 1887, holding both posts until his death. In addition to his prodigious compositional output, Stanford’s great influence on several generations of British composers as composition teacher at the RCM is one of his most important legacies—among his many students were Vaughan Williams, Holst, Coleridge-Taylor, Howells, and John Ireland. Along with Elgar and Parry, he was responsible for the late-19th century “renaissance” in British music, achieving special stature as a composer of sacred choral music.

The Magnificat for Double Chorus is a masterpiece of the genre, and Stanford’s only Latin setting of a text he set numerous times in English for liturgical use. This exuberant and masterfully crafted work was written near the end of Stanford’s life, and dedicated to his friend and rival, Parry (with whom he had a stormy relationship, and who died before the Magnificat was completed). The score bears the inscription: “Because death has prevented me from handing this work to the living Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, I dedicate it to his name in grief.”

Magnificat

Magnificat anima mea Dominum.

Et exsultavit spiritus meus in Deo,

salutari meo.

Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae:

Ecce enim ex hoc

Beatam me dicent omnes generationes.

Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est:

Et sanctum nomen ejus.

Et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies

Timentibus eum.

Fecit potentiam in bracchio suo:

Dispersit superbos

Mente cordis sui.

Deposuit potentes de sede,

Et exaltavit humiles.

Esurientes implevit bonis:

Et divites dimisit inanes.

Suscepit Israel, puerum suum,

Recordatus misericordiae suae.

Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros,

Abraham, et semini ejus in saecula.

Gloria Patri, et Filio,

Et Spiritui Sancto.

Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper,

Et in Saecula saeculorum. Amen.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

My spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

For God has looked with favor on his lowly servant maid;

Hence from this day

all generations will call me blessed.

The Almighty has done great things for me

and holy is God’s name.

God has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

God has shown the strength of his arm,

God has scattered the proud

in their conceit.

God has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly.

God has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

God has come to the help of his servant Israel,

for God has remembered his promised mercy,

the promise God made to our ancestors

to Abraham and his children forever.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. 

Ar hyd y nos (All Through the Night) is a Welsh song sung to a tune that was first recorded in Edward Jones's Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards (1784). It has become one of the most beloved carols internationally, and is especially popular with Welsh choirs.

Ar hyd y nos

Holl amrantau'r sêr ddywedant

Ar hyd y nos

"Dyma'r ffordd i fro gogoniant,"

Ar hyd y nos.

Golau arall yw tywyllwch

I arddangos gwir brydferthwch

Teulu'r nefoedd mewn tawelwch

Ar hyd y nos.

Hyd y nos.

O mor siriol, gwena'r seren

Ar hyd y nos

I oleuo'i chwaer ddaearen

Ar hyd y nos.

Nos yw henaint pan ddaw cystudd

Ond i harddu dyn a'i hwyrddydd

Rhown ein golau gwan i'n gilydd

Ar hyd y nos.

All the stars' twinkles (eyelids) say

All through the night

"This is the way to the valley of glory,"

All through the night.

Other light is darkness

To show true beauty

The Heavenly family in peace

All through the night.

Through the night.

O, how cheerful smiles the star,

All through the night

To light its earthly sister

All through the night.

Old age is night when affliction comes

But to beautify man in his late days

We'll put our weak light together
All through the night. 

Don Oíche Úd i mBeithil is a traditional Irish Christmas song arranged by David Mooney. Mooney was born in Sligo, Ireland, in 1964. He studied at the National University of Ireland at Maynooth and University College Dublin.

Don oíche úd i mBeithil

Don oíche úd i mBeithil,

beidh tagairt faoi ghrian go brách,

Don oíche úd i mBeithil,

go dtáinig an Briathar slán;

Tá gríosghrua ar spéartha,

's an talamh 'na chlúdach bán;

Féach Iosagán sa chléibhín,

's an Mhaighdean in aoibhneas grá.

Ar leacain lom an tsléibhe,

'sé ghlacann na haoirí scáth,

Ar oscailt gheal na spéire,

tá teachtaire Dé ar fáil,

Céad glóir anois don Athair,

i bhflaitheasa thuas go hard,

Is feasta fós ar talamh,

d'fheara, dea-mhéin síocháin.

On that night in Bethlehem 

they will speak of the Son forever,

On that night in Bethlehem,

That night the Word arrived safely.

Crimson with happiness is the sky,

The ground is covered in white;

Jesus in the manger;

And the Virgin is happy with love.

There on the open bare mountain

The shepherds are frightened in the shadows;

When the sky opened

The messenger of God arrived.

A hundred glories to the Father

In the heavens above

And forever on land
To men of good will be peace. 

Wassailing songs are among the most popular of the secular holiday songs of Christmas. The term “wassail” is a contraction of the Middle English phrase waes haeil, meaning "be healthy." The tradition of wassailers going door to door, singing, and drinking to the health of those whom they visit, goes back to pre-Christian fertility rites. In these rites, villagers went through orchards at mid-winter, singing and shouting to drive out evil spirits, and pouring cider on the roots of trees to encourage fertility. The Cornish Wassail is a traditional wassailing song from Cornwall, a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognized as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Cornish people.

Cornish Wassail

Now Christmas is comen
And New Year begin.
Pray open your door
And let us come in.

Chorus: With our wassail,
Wassail, wassail, wassail, 
And joy come to our jolly wassail.

Here at your door we
Already do stand,
The jolly wassailers 
With a bowl in our hand. Chorus
                                   
This ancient old house
We will kindly salute.
It is an old custom
You need not dispute. Chorus

We hope that your apple trees 

prosper and bear, 

And bring forth good tidings
When we come next year. Chorus 

William Mathias is regarded as one of the most significant Welsh composers of the 20th century. Educated at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, and in London at the Royal Academy of Music, he was professor of music at the University College of North Wales, Bangor, 1970–88, and artistic director of the North Wales Festival from 1972. The hallmarks of his style are rhythmic propulsion and lyrical warmth, expressed in a tonally rooted but chromatically flexible language. His reputation as a composer of church music received resounding acknowledgement when he was invited to compose an anthem for the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981.

Hodie Christus natus est

Hodie Christus natus est.
Hodie Salvator apparuit.
Hodie in terra canunt angeli,
laetantur archangeli.
Hodie exsultant justi dicentes:
Gloria in excelsis Deo
et in terra pax hominibus
bonae voluntatis. Alleluia.

Today Christ is born.

Today the Savior appeared.

Today on earth the angels sing,

archangels rejoice:

Today the righteous rejoice, saying:

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to people
of good will. Alleluia.