Carols and the Dance

I love Christmas carols.  Especially the old ones rooted in folk culture.  They are simple, direct, lyrical, and speak to the heart—the stuff of life.  And they dance!  In fact, the word “carol” once meant to dance in a ring.  “Carol” may spring from the Greek word choros, a song danced in a circle by the singers and a word which must be the basis for our modern words that relate to groups of singers: chorus, choir, choral, chorale.  This dancing origin can be heard over and over again in Christmas carols.

Take, for example, one of the ancient carols Master Chorus Eastside will perform at our December concerts, My Dancing Day: A Renaissance Christmas.  Angelus ad virginem is a very old carol (13^th century) that tells the story, in Latin, of the interaction between the Angel Gabriel and Mary as he makes the stunning announcement that she will bear the Christ child.

“The angel, coming secretly to the Virgin, calming the Virgin’s fear, said “Hail! Hail, Queen of Virgins!  You shall conceive the Lord of Heaven and Earth and give birth…to the Salvation of mankind…”

It remained popular for centuries, especially in Britain, due to its sweetness; it is mentioned in ‘Milleres Tale’ in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, pops up in various medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, and in at least one 16^th-century Aberdeen college, St. Mary’s, was connected with a devotional practice called the Angelus (a call to prayer and acts of goodwill towards all): its verses were sung every evening at 6:00, one of the three hours of the Angelus, in alternation with the twelve strokes of a great bell.

Even today a bell sounds the Angelus in some English country churches.

In ancient church services it was also probably sung while escorting the lectionary (a collection of scripture readings) to the appointed reading place, and as such was called a conductus, for it guided, or conducted, the book to its rightful place.  I can imagine the scene: ceremonious, joyful, dare we say just a little bit danceable?

It is still a favorite today, and many modern composers have taken it up and shaped it into beautiful arrangements.

In fact, MCE will perform my own arrangement of Angelus ad virginem, complete with bell, drum, and dancing hearts, if not dancing feet!

Dr. Linda Gingrich

Artistic Director and Conductor

Master Chorus Eastside