"Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation!"

A Very Vintage Christmas post #9

Today is December 20th, which means the final countdown is finally on with only 5 days to go until Christmas. I don't know about you, but I'm ecstatic that it's almost here, yet also sad that the Christmas season is passing so quickly.

Anyways, to business...

Today is also a Thursday, which means it is also time for another classic Christmas song.

"O come, all ye faithful,

Joyful and triumphant

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem

Come and behold Him

Born the King of angels;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

O sing, choirs of angels,

Sing in exultation.

Sing all that hear in heaven, God's holy word.

Give to our Father glory in the highest;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!

All hail!Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning!

O, Jesus, for evermore be Thy name adored!

Word of the Father now in flesh appearing;

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

O come, let us adore Him,

Christ the Lord!"

O Come All Ye Faithful is a very old English hymn that was originally written and sung in Latin, known by the title of Adeste Fideles. It was translated in the 1700s, and through various translations a verse that has been made official and recorded reads:

"God of God,

Light of Light,

Lo, He abhors not the Virgin's womb;

Very God,

Begotten not created."

Not every artist sings all the verses or sings them in the same way, just as with other songs; regardless, the song is still widely recorded and sung by scores of musical artists today.

In 1948, Frank Sinatra released his album Christmas Songs by Sinatra. On the album, he had the song Adeste Fideles, but he sang the English translation even though he used the Latin title of the song.

Although I adore Frank Sinatra and this blog concentrates on such vintage and classical things, I have to put in a good word for my man with the voice of an angel, Josh Groban. On his Christmas album Noel, he has an absolutely gorgeous and killer version of O Come All Ye Faithful, so if you'd like to give it a listen as well, click on this link:

Josh Groban-"O Come All Ye Faithful"

Our countdown is getting smaller every day but we've still got some Christmas magic up our sleeves, so be sure to come back this Saturday, December 22, for another classic holiday movie post, which ties in with TCM's Star of the Month.

Until next time, have a very merry and A Very Vintage Christmas!

"O hush the noise,ye men of strife,and hear the angels sing."

A Very Vintage Christmas post #5

Christmas countdown: 16 days

So, at this point in time, I'm really glad that when I posted the schedule for A Very Vintage Christmas posts, I said it was only tentative.

I'm very sorry I didn't post this yesterday, as was my plan, but I am a lowly college student, and this was finals week.I guess it's a good thing I put up an extra post earlier this week.

Anyways,let's just pretend this post is for Thursday, which means it's time to add another classic Christmas song to your playlist!

"It came upon a midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth,

To touch their harps of gold:

'Peace on the earth,good will to men,

From heaven's all-gracious King.'

The world in solemn stillness lay,

To hear the angels sing."

(random side note: verse 2 is my favorite)

"Still through the cloven skies they come,

With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heavenly music floats

O'er all the weary world;

Above it's sad and lonely plains,

They bend on hovering wing,

And ever o'er it's Babel sounds

The blessed angels sing."

Like a lot of our classic Christmas carols, It Came Upon A Midnight Clear was originally a poem, composed in 1849 by Unitarian pastor, Edmund Sears.It was paired with an already existing traditional English melody in 1874.There are actually five stanzas (or verses) to this poem/song, but the first two are the most well known.

And now for the version I've picked for you.It Came Upon A Midnight Clear was featured in the track listing of Frank Sinatra's 1957 album, A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra.I love, love, love this version.I happen to really like this song, anyways, but I think Sinatra's version is very peaceful and very well done.

To listen,you can go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpKzBTy1yNY&ob=av2n

You can price/buy A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra on Amazon.

Bringing up that tentative schedule again,I will be traveling home for the holidays this weekend,so will not have real computer access until Monday, December 12.

That being said,I will do two classic Christmas movie posts but they will be on different days this next week.So, just keep an eye out for them.

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Have a very merry and A Very Vintage Christmas!