Lullay my child
Es kommt ein Schiff, geladen
O Jesulein Sub, BWV 493
Christmas Eve
Gabreil fram evene king
Stille Nacht
Lullay, lullay, als I lay on Yoolis Night
El Noi de la Mare
Maria Durch ein Dornwald ging
Maa on niin kaunis
Verbum Caro Factum Est de Virgine
Coventry Carol
Hainilla harkien kaukalon
Patapan
As I lay upon a night
Nowell, nowell

The Secret Life of Carols brings together a mixture of the earliest medieval English carols and traditional carols from across Europe. The title is inspired by the fact that many carols have intertwined roots, dating back centuries, often to the Middle Ages, with melodies being adapted and reinvented, and new sets of words written.

In the Middle Ages the term “carol” didn’t have the same meaning as today. It was merely an indication of the form of the piece which would start and end with a chorus (named a burden) and would be interspersed with verses which told the story. The word carol is derived from the Old French word carole, a circle dance accompanied by singers.

Several medieval carols including The Coventry Carol and Ther is No Rose (included on The Telling’s first album [FHR68]) are also still sung in modern arrangements at Christmas carol concerts and church services across the country. And indeed these early English carols are very much “for the people”.

The programme on this album includes a selection of traditional carols from across Europe. Many, like the Burgundian carol Patapan, have roots going back centuries, some as far back as the Middle Ages. There is also a personal dimension to the choice of carols, drawing on three of the roots fo the performers on the album ie Finnish, German and Irish roots (Kaisa Pulkkinen, Ariane Prüssner and Jean Kelly respectively) to include several carols which are not well known in the UK.

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Recorded at St Mary Magdalene, Sherborne, UK, 4-8 August 2019.