The Contest So Far

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Our first annual Christmas Carol Contest started off with a bang. Mary, Did You Know? held the lead on Day One, but has since been overtaken by Away in a Manger with 17 views on the day it was posted.

See–the idea is for the lead to change hands again and again. That’ll make it exciting, he said hopefully.

We have only one request so far today, which I’ll post momentarily. But first a word to potential contestants–

These contests only work if a lot of people play. Some of you come here very often and have yet to request a hymn.

Look, there’s no need to be bashful. It’s not like being 40 years late for your bar mitzvah and mumbling through your beard, “Today I am a man!”

So let’s get festive, everybody! It’s Advent time. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

By Request, Masters in this Hall

It’s been years since I’ve heard this glorious old-fashioned Christmas hymn, Masters in This Hall, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Thank you, Phoebe, for requesting it. Now let me see if I can find the lyrics.

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/christmas-carols-masters-hall-lyrics.html

(Best I can do: none of the youtube videos comes with lyrics)

By Request, ‘Away in a Manger’

And the Christmas Carol Contest rolls on, with this request by Phoebe: Away in a Manger. I thought this John Denver rendition might be nice.

This carol never fails to move me. It’s one of my very earliest memories.

By Request, ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’

Joshua requested this one, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, performed by Enya. This hymn, originally an ancient Basque hymn, goes all the way back to the 8th century. It was the high point of my 7th-grade class’s Christmas concert. But we’re not allowed to have those anymore.

By Request, ‘O Holy Night’

Erlene has requested O Holy Night, and I’m sure she won’t be the last to do so, between now and Christmas. I opted for this performance by Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo, two guys who knew a bit about singing. I’m not ashamed to tell you Pavarotti moved me to tears.

By Request, ‘For Unto Us a Child Is Born’

And the first entry today in our first annual Christmas Carol Contest is For Unto Us a Child Is Born, from G.F. Handel’s Messiah–the words of Isaiah 9:6-7 set to music and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra–requested by our friend, “TheWhiteRabbit.”

(Yesterday’s leader was Mary, Did You Know?, with 16 views.)

By Request, ‘Mary’s Boy Child’

From Scotland, we have Ina calling for Mary’s Boy Child, by Boney M.

This contest is off to a rocket start! I hope I can keep control of it.

By Request, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’

Requested by Joshua, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, performed by Don Pardoe and GLAD–a capella, the hard way.

By Request, ‘The Holly and the Ivy’

Phoebe asked for this, one of her favorites: The Holly and the Ivy–one of mine, too. Sung by Mediaeval Baebes.

By Request, ‘The Little Drummer Boy’ (Crosby & Bowie)

Georgia asked for this one: The Little Drummer Boy, by Bing Crosby and David Bowie, from the last TV special Bing ever did.