Tomorrow shall be my dancing day;
I would my true love did so chance
To see the legend of my play,
To call my true love to my dance.
Sing o my love, o my love, my love, my love,
This have I done for my true love
Such an odd text for a Christmas carol! But such a lovely, danceable tune, and long
one of my favorites.
The text is something of a head-scratcher for modern
singers and readers: what is the “dancing day,” or “the legend of my play,” and
who is “my true love?” Subsequent verses
(lots of them) describe being born of a virgin and laid in a manger, as if sung
by Christ Himself, but then it continues on to His crucifixion, resurrection
and ascension. How does all this fit with Christmas?
According to The New Oxford Book of Carols, Tomorrow
Shall Be My Dancing Day is rooted in the morality and mystery plays of the 1300
and 1400s; not “mystery” as in our modern who-done-it, but religious dramas on
biblical subjects or the lives of the saints, some of which extended over a
three-day period! The first and second
days often ended with a call to minstrels to “pipe” so that all gathered there could
dance, and an invitation to return the next day to see the rest of the play.
Since this carol contains both a call to dance and to watch
the “legend,” or story, of Christ, it’s possible that it was sung and danced to
end the first play, perhaps the Christmas portion, of a three-play life-of-Christ
cycle. The actor portraying Christ may
have sung the verses, with the rest of the company and the audience joining in
on the refrain. And the true love
part? It has a biblical source: the Song
of Songs, or Song of Solomon, which many in the first century and beyond have interpreted
as symbolizing the love between Christ and humanity, or Christ and the Church. And in fact, Christ and His true love appear
to dance together!
Nowadays most of the verses are dropped, so that we are
left with the few Christmas verses—and a very beautiful tune!
This lovely carol sets the theme for Master Chorus
Eastside’s upcoming concert, My Dancing Day: A Renaissance Christmas, on
December 1 and 2, 2012. In fact, we are
singing two versions of the carol: the modern arrangement of the traditional
tune that begins this blog, and a new musical setting of the text. And to top it off, Seattle Early Dance is
joining us to perform several courtly Renaissance dances, accompanied by MCE’s
Chamber Singers.
It will be a night to dance!
Dr. Linda Gingrich
Artistic Director and Conductor
Master Chorus Eastside
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