Candlelight Carol

This morning the anthem we sang in church choir was one of my favorite Christmas carols. (Unfortunately, it requires both sopranos and altos to sing in unison going up to an F. An F is a reach for me, and I only sang it this morning out of desperation since there weren't many sopranos in our ranks today. Generally, as a self-respecting alto, I would have simply mouthed the word at the top and let the sopranos do their soprano-thing and sing that F.) The carol we sang, the Candlelight Carol by Rutter, has been one of my favorite Christmas songs for a relatively brief while; FavoriteBoy introduced it to me around this time last year when he sent me home for Christmas with a recording of all his favorite Christmas carols to listen to over break. (I mentioned in my first post on Advent carols that I have impeccable taste in music and you can trust me to recommend only the best music; it is worth mentioning that the same is most decidedly true for FavoriteBoy.)

Candlelight Carol
by John Rutter

How do you capture the wind on the water?
How do you count all the stars in the sky?
How can you measure the love of a mother,
or how can you write down a baby's first cry?

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow
Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo!
Angels are singing; the Christ child is born.

Shepherds and wise men will kneel and adore him,
Seraphim round him their vigil will keep;
Nations proclaim him their Lord and their Saviour,
but Mary will hold him and sing him to sleep.

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow
Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo!
Angels are singing; the Christ child is born.

Find him at Bethlehem laid in a manger,
Christ our Redeemer asleep in the hay.
Godhead incarnate and hope of salvation,
a child with his mother that first Christmas day.

Candlelight, angel light, firelight and star-glow
Shine on his cradle till breaking of dawn.
Gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo!
Angels are singing; the Christ child is born.

Words and music: John Rutter (b. 1945)

Recording Sarah recommends: The Cambridge Singers and John Rutter; The John Rutter Christmas Album. (available on iTunes!)