Early Music for Christmas

[Martin Jonas]

Here are a few 16th century Christmas tunes which I've recorded over the past few days:

Nutmegs & Ginger (1595)

This is a Christmas tune for six instruments for broken consort from the Cambridge Consort Books (also known as the Matthew Holmes Consort Books) from around 1595. My recording is based on the transcription by Steve Hendricks at:

http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/Hendricks/Co...s/nutmegs2.pdf

The original parts were for violin, lute, cittern, recorder, bandora and bass viol. I've adapted it for mandolin (two mandolins, two octave mandolins, mandocello and tenor guitar

1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (x2)
Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin (x2)
Vinate Viaten tenor guitar
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello


https://youtu.be/O8w-RPfG7Ps

Gaudete (Christus est natus) (1420/1582)

This late-medieval Christmas song is best-known through the 1972 a capella recording by Steeleye Span. The oldest source is the Jistebnice Cantional 1420, with a more detailed version in Piae Cantiones (ed. Jacobus Finno, 1582), from Turku in Finland.

I am playing it as a mandolin quartet instrumental on two mandolin, octave mandolin (mandola) and mandocello, using the setting at IMSLP:

https://imslp.org/wiki/Gaudete%2C_Ch...us_(Anonymous)

1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (x2)
Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin
Suzuki MC-815 mandocello


https://youtu.be/FA5v52FZM1Y

Remember O Thou Man

This is a Christmas carol written by Thomas Ravenscroft (c.1592-1635), published in his collection Melismata in 1611. My instrumental version includes all four voices of the original 1611 choral arrangement, starting with solo mandocello, then the mandolin taking over the melody, and then second mandolin and octave mandolin filling in the harmonies.

I first heard this tune as part of Richard Thompson's "1000 Years Of Popular Music" show, and my interpretation is coloured by his -- there is a wide range of different ways of performing this carol, mostly much slower than I do.

I've used Steve Hendricks' transcription (which is note-for-note identical to Ravenscroft's original):

https://sca.uwaterloo.ca/sca/Hendric...s/remember.pdf

Suzuki MC-815 mandocello (Soprano verse 1, Tenor verse 2, bass verses 3-4)
1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (Soprano verses 2-4)
1898 Giuseppe Vinaccia mandolin (Alto verses 3-4)
Mid-Missouri M-111 octave mandolin (Tenor verses 3-4)



Happy Christmas to all on the Cafe!

Martin

[HonketyHank]

Merry Christmas, Martin. And many thanks for the musical gifts you bring throughout the year.

[Woody Ukepicker]

Thank you for these 3 Christmas carols.

Wonderful music so nicely played and recorded.

Merry Christmas