O Come, All Ye Faithful — the Byzantine remix version
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This post originally went up in December of 2010, but I’ve seen some traffic to it recently, so I thought I’d dig it out of my own personal groove-yard. Enjoy.
Yesterday, at the end of the service, we sang “O Come, All Ye Faithful” as a recessional, and one of my godsons opined that maybe if we chanted it in Byzantine Tone 2, it would fit into the service better.
That just sounded like a good thing to mess around with (especially when I’ve got more important work to do), so … behold.
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I think next I’ll do “Holly Jolly Christmas.”
(Update: For those who want to download the mp3, right-click on the link HERE and select Save As … )
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Hey! I like it A LOT! Seriously you should put it on Finale and email it to me! Well done!
SWEET!
Can I get a copy of the mp3 for my site?
In Christ,
+FrG
Hey, many thanks.
Finale: Uh oh. I was afraid someone would ask me something like that. When I get an yen to do something like this, I can only do it by ear. I'm afraid if my "left brain" gets involved, it'll rise up and kill the whole thing. ("What are you DOING? That can't be right!") It was almost painful to transcribe as much of it as I did for my little graphic here. Since I've got the three tracks on my digital recorder, I could send them to you individually if you wanted to take the time, but I can't imagine how weird those would sound apart from each other.
Gosh I love that. I'm now going to see if I can figure out some way to download it…..
You bless my tiny heart! I'll update the post with a link once I get a little tech support from Greg.
Yep, we need the mp3 so we can all learn it for next year.
Okay, you've got a link now that should start it downloading automatically.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is now in my iTunes and will go on my iPod!!!!!!
I am glad you posted this on fb. I remember Jamie telling me of your blog and I haven't been here in ages. Now I will have to get a chance to delve deeply in to the archives of your blog. For now, I think your voice is from heaven, so sweet and serene. I'm sure many would like a copy…
Merry Christmas Grace!
I LOVE it! One of my fond memories is of sitting around with a bunch of convert priests and chanters and doing old protestant hymns in Byzantine tones. Some of them actually work very well, this is one.
I'd love to hear Rock of Ages in an irmologic Tone 8 — sort of "Lord, I Have Cried, Cleft for Me". Sounds like a lot of fun.
I've sort of thought through the other carols that are out there, and I may have one more in me, if I can work out the details.
Good stuff, my friend.
All the blessings of the Incarnation to you and yours always.
Still pray for you, too. jb
That is positively haunting, you amazing woman. Sounds like you're in good voice too! I really think it would be worth transcribing it completely, if you have the time.
A) You need to do the whole song, especially the "God of God/Deum de Deo" and the "Splendor Eternal/Aeterni Parentis" verses.
B) This is totally awesome!
C) You need to make recordings of all the Christmas hymns, paying special attention to the verses we always neglect to sing. A lot of them, especially the Wesleyan hymns, have very good theosis imagery. I'll post some links to some of the best ones if you're interested.
D) THANK YOU!
Here's the link to the mp3 file – http://www.this-side-of-glory.com/wp-content/uplo…
Wow – I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not, but I LOVED it! Wow!
Phew! Well, not everyone was a fan — I had one emailer who was downright offended at the effort. But I just thought of it as a bit of chanter fun, and anyway, it's all behind us now. I promise not to attempt any Theophany anthems.
Love it. When I downloaded the file it was Quick Time. Any idea of how to get it in MP3?
Very good! I have always thought a Byzantine version of "O come, O come Emmanuel" would be fantastic as well.
Blessed Nativity in Christ,
Thomas
Well, I think it was (and is) fantastic. Very well done! Most adaptations are the other way around, from Byzantine to Western modes. Nice to see it go the other way for a change.
You should put out a CD with this sort of stuff. You could do "Byzantine Christmas in America" or "Byzantine Sacred Harp". I'd buy it.
If you right-click on this link — http://www.this-side-of-glory.com/wp-content/uplo… — and select Save As … it should let you download the mp3.
When I did this originally, I admit I was playing with the idea of releasing more, but it eventually went the way of all those sorts of Good Ideas. Now I'm wondering again. If nothing else, I think that Amazon will let you sell individual mp3's, so I could go that route and it wouldn't matter if I could only get 6 or 8 of them done. I'll have to look into that.
do it, do it, do it. You already have Good King Wenceslas which I thought I had downloaded, but couldn't find this year. Did you ever do Holly Jolly Christmas? Can you sell them on iTunes?
I am in the process of listing the mp3 by itself commercially (though obviously the season has passed). I think maybe I'll consider doing some other classic old hymns, as someone suggested. I'll report back or blog when I've got something.