Hark! The Herald Banjo Rings
Christmas 2010
December 2
"If Ye Would Hear" is adapted from a poem by Dora Greenwell written in 1863. The tune is Dutch, and my arrangement is close to the one in the Oxford Book of Carols, which is where I found this song. I've recorded this on the banjo and mandolin in the key of G.
Downloads: mp3
If Ye Would Hear
Performed by Greg Barlow on banjo and mandolin
Words: Dora Greenwell, 1863.
Music: Dutch, from Souter Liedekens Ghemaect ter Eeren Gods, 1539. Adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw.
If ye would hear the angels sing
"Peace on earth and mercy mild,"
Think of him who was once a child,
On Christmas Day in the morning.
If ye would hear the angels sing,
Rise, and spread your Christmas fare;
'Tis merrier still the more that share,
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Rise and bake your Christmas bread:
Christians, rise! the world is bare,
And blank, and dark with want and care,
Yet Christmas comes in the morning.
If ye would hear the angels sing,
Rise, and light your Christmas fire:
And see that ye pile the logs still higher
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Rise, and light your Christmas fire;
Christians, rise! the world is old,
And Time is weary, and worn, and cold,
Yet Christmas comes in the morning.
If ye would hear the angels sing,
Christians! see ye let each door
Stand wider than it e'er stood before,
On Christmas Day in the morning.
Rise, and open wide the door;
Christians, rise! the world is wide,
And many there be that stand outside,
Yet Christmas comes in the morning
Sources and more information
- Oxford Book of Carols, 1964.
- Hymns and Carols of Christmas