Once in Royal David’s city - Irby (arr Mather)
Carols
| Composer: | Henry John Gauntlett | |
| Arranger: | Henry John Gauntlett for all verses except descant and organ for the last verse by R. Mather | |
| Voicing: | SATB, Descant and Organ | |
| Words: | Cecil Frances Alexander |
Once in royal David’s city
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
stood a lowly cattle shed,
where a mother laid her baby
in a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little child.
He came down to earth from heaven,
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
lived on earth our Saviour holy.
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall;
with the poor, the scorned, the lowly,
lived on earth our Saviour holy.
And, through all his wondrous childhood,
he would honour and obey,
love and watch the lowly maiden
in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
mild, obedient, good as he.
he would honour and obey,
love and watch the lowly maiden
in whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
mild, obedient, good as he.
For he is our childhood’s pattern,
day by day like us he grew;
he was little, weak and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew.
and he feeleth for our sadness,
and he shareth in our gladness.
he was little, weak and helpless,
tears and smiles like us he knew.
and he feeleth for our sadness,
and he shareth in our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him,
through his own redeeming love;
for that Child who seemed so helpless
is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.
through his own redeeming love;
for that Child who seemed so helpless
is our Lord in heaven above;
and he leads his children on
to the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable,
with the oxen standing round,
we shall see him; but in heaven,
set at God’s right hand on high;
with the oxen standing round,
we shall see him; but in heaven,
set at God’s right hand on high;
when like stars his children crowned,
all in white shall wait around.
all in white shall wait around.
View or download the score
Irby
Once in royal - with descant arr Mather
00:00
Benedictine College, St. Benedict’s Abbey, Atchison, Kansas
Westminster Cathedral Choir, London
Maîtrise des Hauts de France - French Boys’ Choir
Once In Royal David’s City was
originally a poem written by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander, who in
1848 married an Anglican clergyman, and in 1867, upon her husband’s
consecration, thereby became a bishop's wife.
Origins
Once In Royal David’s City was published in 1848 in Miss Cecil Humphreys’ hymnbook Hymns for little Children. A year later, H.J. Gauntlett discovered the poem and set it to music.
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Since 1919, the King's College Chapel (King’s College, Cambridge) has begun its Christmas Eve service, the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, with “Once in Royal David’s City” as the processional. The first verse is sung by a boy chorister of the Choir of King’s Chapel as a solo, who is chosen from the choir only moments before the service. The second verse is sung by the choir, and the congregation joins in the third verse. The arrangement, by A H Mann, is slightly different in harmony from the setting in Hymns Ancient and Modern. As the service is broadcast live on the BBC World Service, it is estimated that there are millions of listeners worldwide who tune in to this service.
“The City”
The city that the song speaks of is Bethlehem, which the New Testament records as the historical birthplace of Jesus and also of his ancestor King David.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Metasyntactic variable".
Comments
Please make comment on the score and music here.
- Keep to the topic of the music on this page. Be polite, comments are moderated
- Tell us where you have used this music and if your performance is published on the internet, please put a link to it in the website field
- Give performance advice/suggestions
- Ask others questions about performance techniques
- Please do not make requests for music on this page
- Your email address is not published
0
reviews
Main Sponsor
Our sponsors
Other Carols