First take. Perfect take. One and done.
Make time for this. Full screen. Full voice.
Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his 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 right well what came to pass
From every door repelled, alas
As was foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble ox’s stall
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God’s angel did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
Arise 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 Saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side a virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of Life
Who came on earth to end all strife
There were three wise men from afar
Directed by a glorious star
And on they wandered night and day
Until they came where Jesus lay
And when they came unto that place
Where our beloved Messiah lay
They humbly cast them at his feet
With gifts of gold and incense sweet.
Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray,
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn.
Gerard Van der Leun
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Atta girl. Regardless of the claims of the rocknroll boys, bluegrass music is probably the purest American expression, generation upon generation of the self-educated.
And it produces people like this. Brava.
She used to work with my wife, about 25 years ago.
…and to all a goodnight.
That was indeed beautiful, and beautifully done.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
Thank you for that, Gerard. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas, Gerard and all readers here.
Musicians such as this are gifts to us from God’s own heart.
Wonderful.
Merry Christmas!
BTW, We’re getting a White Christmas as I sit here. Damn it.
The voice of an Angel.
Just gorgeous.
Not much of a bluegrass fan as such, but Allison Krauss has long been one of my favorite vocalists because of songs like this.
That was pretty. Thank you.
Simply wonderful!! Thank you!
IMHO, the cello is the most beautiful of all the instruments. Thanks for this.
Alison Krauss is a gem and that is a lovely piece.
All systems enabled, I’m gvin ‘er all she’s got!
-And then I’m gonna do it again. (purrs a happy purr.)
I saw this a number of years past, and it is always fresh to me every time I hear it. This time, I was just looking at all the stuff on the floor. Good thing Yo Yo Ma had only two notes to play for the most part, cuz his music is all over the floor.
Just a gentle reminder that Yo MaMa is a prepackaged predigested product of Madison Avenue made in China and mass produced for Walmart. He doesn’t have a musical bone in his body and he is incapable of any artistic growth although his financial portfolio grows daily. As a professional classical musician we reflexively spit at the mention of his name.
Yo Yo Ma was born in Paris. His parents (both possessed of pretty good pedigrees) had very wisely bugged out to Taiwan with KMT at the end of the Civil War.
Packaged? He’s a Shrink-wrapped Product of the Juilliard and Harvard.
He’s famous enough to do a lot of quirky (e.g. Goat Rodeo) or just plain commercial stuff… and of course makes a boatload of money from it… *and* keeps less lucky in live talented people fed.
I’ve sat two rows away from him at one of his solo recitals ~25 years ago and he’s personable and very witty as well as a very accomplished cellist.
What instrument do you play and out of which orifice do you supply it with wind?
My goodness. I had no idea. Well, if they can manufacture bands and singers in rock and roll, they can in classical as well.
There is a program put on every Christmas here in the Twin Cities called The Christmas Revels. I attended one year and they were playing a style of music that predated bluegrass, but postdated traditional Celtic music from Ireland and Scotland. It was startling, as I could clearly hear that this was the bridge between the two genre, and I don’t have that good of an ear for that sort of thing.
This is one of the good things on the internet.
Gerard, thank you for this post; I needed a reminder of the Christmas message after last night’s ugliness. All blessings of this holy season to you, Miss Olive, and all who are dear to you.
Not a big fan of Krauss. She’s a very talented performer but to my ear the pitch and tenor of her voice is high and tinny, very close to that of a blue grass fiddle.
@Gordon, can you provide any more info (linkage) on that predated music you mentioned? I’m interested.
Well, Jack, the fiddle tone is to be expected since she is, after all, a bluegrass fiddler.
“At the age of 8 she started entering local talent contests, and at 10 had her own band. At 13, she won the Walnut Valley Festival Fiddle Championship, and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the “Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest”.”
As for Olive, I’d have her type something here but at the moment she’s out of her head on the potent catnip candy that some fan (I’m lookin’ at you PACat) sent her to advance her addiction.
I’m glad Miss Olive is enjoying her ‘nip– FWIW, the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia produce the strongest catnip known to cats, at least mine think so. Please give your esteemed editor a skritch or two from me!
Holy Cow! That was beautiful.
Ghost,
Give me a few days. I’m working predawn to late night right now.
Having heard this some years ago, I can’t listen to any other version and it’s one of my favorite carols. It’s the definitive version YoYo and Alison. Whew!
Thank you, Gerard.
That was absolutely awesome.
The voice of an angel at Christmas.
It doesn’t get any better.
Thank you. That gave me a lift that was very much needed on this day.
Merry Christmas to all-
Voice of an Angel plus talent of many rolled into one. Have seen this many times so beautiful. Thank you Gerard and may God bless all of you all the days of your lives. Yes one take.
If I ever get to NYC will visit your Grandads monument.
About time for In the Deep Midwinter, please!
If that’s the one I’m thinking of, it’s always a goody!
I love Alison Krauss.
Beautiful!
Love Alison cant mess with perfection.
Thank you for posting this again. Merry Christmas!
Wonderful – a part of every Christmas season for me. I just don’t understand how the air in my room gets so dusty all of a sudden.