"The Babe in Bethlem's Manger", also called "The Babe in Bethlehem's Manger Laid", "Old Kentish Carol" [1] and "The Saviour's Work", [2] is an anonymous English folk Christmas carol celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
"The Babe in Bethlem's Manger", also called "The Babe in Bethlehem's Manger Laid", "Old Kentish Carol" [1] and "The Saviour's Work", [2] is an anonymous English folk Christmas carol celebrating the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
The writer of the carol is not known. However, the lyrics are traditionally described as being a traditional folk hymn from the English county of Kent. [3] However Erik Routley noted that its composition was "very much of the 18th century". [2] It was first published in print in 1871 [4] by the Church of England's Reverend Henry Ramsden Bramley and hymn writer John Stainer in Christmas Carols New and Old . [5] Bramley included the commonly used tune for the carol. [6] Christopher Chope's 1894 Carols for use in Church attributed the words as being Kentish, which was later confirmed by R R Terry in 1923 in his Old Christmas Carols anthology. [2] The carol later passed into North America and was later published in the Evangelical Lutheran Church's Wartburg Hymnal in 1918. [7] In 1960, it was published in the Church of Ireland's The Church Hymnal. [8]
A critical analysis of the hymn notes that the refrain is intended to provoke thought about the difference in people's lives without Jesus and then the later redemption through Jesus. [9]
Several composers have also written music for "The Babe in Bethlem's Manger". In 1964, an optional obbligato for flute was copyrighted in the United States by Theron Kirk. [10] In 1973, in one of his last works before his death, British composer Patrick Hadley wrote a piece of music for the carol so it could be performed in his Lent cantata. [11]
"The First Noel" ", or "The First Nowell" is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins, most likely from the early modern period, although possibly earlier. It is listed as number 682 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
"Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. Although it was long claimed to be the work of German religious reformer Martin Luther, the carol is now thought to be wholly American in origin. The two most common musical settings are by William J. Kirkpatrick (1895) and James Ramsey Murray (1887).
Justus Jonas, the Elder, or simply Justus Jonas, was a German Lutheran theologian and reformer. He was a Jurist, Professor and Hymn writer. He is best known for his translations of the writings of Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon. He accompanied Martin Luther in his final moments.
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"See, amid the Winter's Snow", also known as "The Hymn for Christmas", is an English Christmas carol, written by Edward Caswall and first published in 1858. In 1871 Sir John Goss composed a hymn tune for it, "Humility", and as "Hymn for Christmas Day", it was included in Christmas Carols New And Old, the anthology edited by Henry Ramsden Bramley and John Stainer.
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"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus" is a 1744 Advent and Christmas carol common in Protestant hymnals. The text was written by Charles Wesley. It is performed to one of several tunes, including "Stuttgart", "Hyfrydol", and "Cross of Jesus". The hymn is considered an enduring classic in Christian hymnody.
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