7 Quick Takes, Christmas Music Edition

This is not a proper 7 quick takes, but I haven't exactly been adhering to the schedule either. :)

1. First, my old favorite: Cantique de Noël. O Holy Night is okay, but it's so much richer in French! Also way more Catholic. Here is my old blog post explaining and translating.

2. Next, a Polish Lullaby to baby Jesus, Lulajże Jezuniu. Translation here.

3. What's that? You want a carol in English? How silly! A silly brief English madrigal, then, if you insist: Masters in This Hall.

4. Can't forget that beloved German lullaby Still, Still, Still. Translation here.

5. A two-for-one: Carol of the Bells and Gesù Bambino.

6. You'd all be concerned about me (and rightly so) without at least one Latin carol, so I present to you Tomás Luis de Victoria's setting of O Magnum Mysterium. Translation here.

7. And, mostly because I missed it so much at Midnight Mass, a second setting of the same text, this time by Morten Lauridsen, whom I only just now discovered is both American and still living! Holy crap. This man's music is classic. Freaking awesome WSJ article about him.

Merry Christmas to you all, now and throughout the season! I have so many favorites, I just might pull this trick again next Friday. :)