Monday, December 08, 2014

En stjärna gick på himlen fram (Wallin 67) / Ett barn är födt i Bethlehem / Puer natus in Bethlehem

A Swedish version of a very old German carol.

Melody is same as "A child is born in Bethlehem" (Ett barn är födt i Bethlehem in Svedberg's 1697 koralbok]. http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/En_stjärna_gick_på_himlen_fram. Not in Esbjorn's ms. but a beloved carol throughout northern Europe during Advent, Christmas and/or Epiphany that dates back to pre-Reformation Germany -- and one I already know in a minor key!

Sound files:

A haunting vocal rendition from Estonia, where the song went into oral tradition.

En stjärna gick på himlen fram med ULV. En stjärna gick på himlen Trad Swedish Christmashymn from Estonia with ULV www.ulv.name Agnethe Christensen, Lena Susanne Norin and Elizabeth Gaver

Uploaded on May 30, 2010
Medieval ballads and hymns from Scandinavia http://www.ulv.name/

Ulv is a new ensemble performing Nordic ballads and chorales with both the earliest known melodies and new melodies shaped from the special melodic language of the repertoire, telling the stories from the sagas and songs as they could have been heard in earlier times.

With many years of experience in the performance or early music, in theatre productions, as educators, and also with a background in folk music, Ulv presents this folk music repertoire heard from a medieval perspective.

Recorded in Söderköping Sweden

Agnethe Christensen -soprano, bells and kantele
Lena Susanne Norin - mezzo soprano
Elizabeth Gaver - fiddla and song

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