Christmas Carols and Their Stories
Puzzle 24 · Carols of the Nativity Story · Page 40 in print
The Angel Gabriel
Sabine Baring-Gould gave English words to more than one Basque carol: besides The Angel Gabriel, he wrote new words for another Basque melody to make The Infant King.
Jump to a word
The words
Annunciation
The feast and Gospel event the carol tells, kept on March 25.
Hymnary.org (opens a new tab) · Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab)
Baring-Gould
Sabine Baring-Gould, who set the Basque carol to English words.
IMSLP: 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various) (opens a new tab) · About Basque Country: Two Basque carols (opens a new tab)
Basque
The language and people of the carol’s original.
IMSLP: 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various) (opens a new tab) · About Basque Country: Two Basque carols (opens a new tab)
Birjina
The opening word of the Basque carol’s first line.
IMSLP: 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various) (opens a new tab)
Blessed Mother
What Gabriel tells Mary she will be.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Charles Bordes
The French musician who collected and printed the Basque original.
IMSLP: 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various) (opens a new tab) · Institut culturel basque / Euskal Kultur (opens a new tab)
Christmas Morn
The morning of the birth in Bethlehem in the last verse.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Edgar Pettman
The British musician credited with arranging the Basque tune (‘arr. Pettman’), published in the University Carol Book, 1922–23.
Library of Congress (opens a new tab) · The Gramophone Company Ltd (opens a new tab)
Emmanuel
The name the carol gives Mary’s Son, foretold by seers.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Flame
The carol’s picture of Gabriel’s eyes as flame.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Gabriel
The angel of the carol, named in its English title Gabriel’s Message.
Infant King
Baring-Gould’s other carol made from a Basque melody.
Lowly Maiden
How Gabriel greets Mary in the first verse.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Souletin
The Basque dialect of Soule in which the carol was printed.
IMSLP: 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various) (opens a new tab) · Institut culturel basque / Euskal Kultur (opens a new tab)
Wings
Gabriel’s wings, which the carol likens to drifted snow.
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (opens a new tab) · The Choir of King’s College (opens a new tab)
Sources
- Hymnary.org, text record ‘The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came’ (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship)Hymnary.org
- Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, New York, service booklet ‘A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Blessing of the Manger’, 24 December 1961 (scan digitized by Richard Mammana, 2024, Internet Archive)Internet Archive
- 12 Noëls populaires basques (Various)IMSLP Petrucci Music Library, work page ‘12 Noëls populaires basques’ (Sibley Library scan)
- Two Basque carols interpreted by the Cambridge Choir of King’s College (video)About Basque Country (Euskadi Munduan association), article of 1 January 2014
- The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, dir. David Willcocks, ‘A Procession with Carols on Advent Sunday’, London Records OS 25285 (LP and booklet; Internet Archive dates it 1961-11-13; Boston Public Library vinyl scan)Internet Archive
- Institut culturel basque / Euskal Kultur Erakundea (eke.eus), ‘Euskal kantuaren biltzaileak’ (PDF)eke.eus
- Library of Congress, Copyright Office, Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 3: Musical Compositions, New Series vol. 18, part 1 (first half of 1923), Washington: Government Printing Office, 1923–24 (Internet Archive OCR)Internet Archive
- The Gramophone Company Ltd, Catalogue of ‘His Master’s Voice’ Records (London, 1932), Internet ArchiveInternet Archive