In my latest post I have written about the Christmas Dinner with Dala concert of the CBC. In this concert I have discovered the Huron Carol, an ancient Christmas carol that is very popular in Canada. I have found many youtube videos of this song, unfortunately the version by Dala is not available as a video. You can find the link to the Dala concert in my previous post.
In the following video the Huron Carol is sung in the native Inidan language, in French and finally in English.
The Huron Carol
The “Huron Carol” (or “‘Twas in the Moon of Wintertime”) is a Christmas hymn, written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Christian missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the native language of the Huron/Wendat people; the song’s original Huron title is “Jesous Ahatonhia” (“Jesus, he is born”). The song’s melody is a traditional French folk song, “Une Jeune Pucelle” (“A Young Maid”). The well known English lyrics were written in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton.
This version performed by Heather Dale, and sung in Wendat (Huron), French and English.
Huron Carol – Gitarre
My arrangement of teh Huron Carol for classical guitar:
A version played on the native American flute:
Huron Carol – Native American flute – Cornell Kinderknecht & Julie Bonk
Finaly a version that tries to get close to the original Indian version:
Iesus Ahatonyah (“The Huron Carol”) – Michael “Medicine Crow” Iott
Iesus Ahatonyah was written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Wendat (“Huron”) people of Upper Canada. It was written in the Wendat language and is also known as “The Huron Carol”. There are several (poor) English translations in circulation. I have attempted what I think is a more culturally accurate rendition into English. If I were to record this over again I would replace “angel choirs” in the first verse with “Sky People”, a more accurate rendering from Wendat. That is how I perform it now. This was originally released in 2006 as a part of the Illegible Records Christmas compilation: “An Illegible Records Christmas: Shelter In The Night”. The images are mostly by Fr. John Guilliani, S.J. and available through Bridge Building Images: http://www.bridgebuilding.com/
Sheet Music
guitar TABs: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/session-guitar-tab/huron_carol.htm
A simple version for guitar: http://www.guitarlincs.com/christmastunes.htm
A version for flute an piano – and many more Christmas carols: http://www.janwolters.nl/jwfree5-uk.html
A version for a choir with oragn: http://imslp.org/wiki/The_Huron_Carol_%28Oczko,_Michael_John%29
for native American flute: http://www.flutopedia.com/song_huron_carol.htm
more christmas carol for flute: http://www.flutetunes.com/categories.php?id=64
playlist of the Huron Carol with many versions: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9A1393FF9DF65592