English: "King Wenceslas". Made by Hudson, Scott & Sons for Huntley & Palmers, 1913. Victoria and Albert Museum no. M.367-1983. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Historical Note
"The beloved Christmas carol "Good King Wenceslas" tells the story of a real tenth-century king who was well known for his generosity and Christian spirit.
Vaclav Wenceslas was born in Bohemia, which is now part of the Czech Republic. Born into the royal family, Wenceslas was raised by his grandmother to be a devout Christian. His father died when he was only thirteen years old, and five years later Wenceslas became king. Young King Wenceslas ruled the land fairly, gave aid to the poor, and sought to spread Christianity throughout Bohemia.
In 1853 John Mason Neale, an Anglican priest who lived in England, heard stories of the Bohemian king's kindness and wrote "Good King Wenceslas" to inspire children to be generous on Saint Stephen's Day (December 26). The music for the song comes from a spring carol that was first published in 1582.
The Christmas song portrays Wenceslas the way the people of his time knew him - a compassionate man who was especially kind to children, orphans, and slaves."
It's a very traditional Christmas song, here it is in the Key of F, played with 4/4 time signature. I like it because just about every word is associated with a chord change. Hope you like it, too.L.H. / R.H.
F/ACF Good
E/ACF King
D/ADF Wen-
C/BbEG ces-
FF/ACF las
FF/ACF look'd
AF/C out
BbF/BbD on
AF/C the
BbF/A feast
G/BbCE of
F/ACF Ste-
F/ACF phen.
F/ACF When
E/ACF the
D/ADF snow
C/BbEG lay
FF/ACF round
FF/ACF a-
AF/C bout,
BbF/BbD deep
AF/C and
BbF/BbD crisp
G/BbCE and
F/ACF e-
F/ACF ven.
FF/FAC bright-
FF/DFBb ly
FF/CFA shown
C/CEG the
FF/CFA moon
C/CEG that
DD/ADF night,
BbF/BbD though
AF/C the
BbF/BbD frost
G/BbCE was
F/ACF cru-
F/ACF el
F/AC When
E/AC a
DF/AD poor
C/BbCE man
Bb/BbDF came
A/ACF in
G/BbDG sight
FF/FAC gath-
FF/DFBb ring
FF/CFA win-
C/BbEG ter
FF/ACF fu-
FF/DFBb
FF/ACF el.
Silent Night
I was reading a beautiful picture book about how Father Mohr and Franz Gruber went to work in the final hours of the evening and came to write one of the world's best-known and best-loved Christmas songs - "Silent Night." It also tells how this simple song quickly spread from country to country and from language to language, and how its message of hope and peace continues to be shared throughout the world - even in times of war and strife.Here are the chords in the Key of Bb, with 6/8 time signature.
L.H. / R.H.
BbBb/DF Si-
BbBb/EbG
BbBb/DF lent
BbF/BbD night!
BbBb/DF Ho-
BbBb/EbG
BbBb/DF ly
BbF/BbD night!
FA/EbC All
FA/EbC is
FC/EbA calm,
BbBb/ DBb all
BbF/DBb is
BbBb/DF bright
EbBb/EbG Round
EbBb/EbG yon
EbG/GBb vir-
EbA/FA
EbBb/EbG gin
BbBb/DF mother
BbBb/DF and
BbF/BbD child!
Eb/BbG Ho-
EbBb/EbG ly
EbG/GBb in-
EbA/FA fant
EbBb/EbG so
BbBb/DF ten-
BbBb/EbG der
BbBb/DF and
BbF/BbD mild,
FA/EbC Sleep
FA/EbC in
FC/EbEB heav
FA/EbC en-
FC/EbA ly
BbBb/DBb peace
BbF/FD
F/DBb Sleep
F/DF
F/BbD in
FF/AF heav-
FF/AEb en-
FEb/AC ly
BbD/Bb peace.
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Warmly,
"The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you." B.B.King