'In dulci jubilo'
This Sunday (February 7) , our adult and youth choirs will join forces to sing a remarkably popular carol, a choral setting of In dulci jubilo (“In sweet jubilation”) by the English composer Robert Lucas de Pearsall (1795-1856). Pearsall’s family came from Gloucestershire and Bristol specifically, but lived abroad in Germany for nearly two decades. During Pearsall’s final years, he lived at the newly acquired Schloss Wartensee near Rorschacherberg, Switzerland.
The original 14th-century song used a macaronic (using a mixture of languages) text combining German and Latin, and Pearsall substituted English for the German in his arrangement. His setting of In dulci jubilo (1836) exemplifies both a 19th-century romantic view of a medieval artifact, and a germanic import just in time for the Victorian popular revival of Christmas in England. Recently, the BBC called it the second most popular carol in the UK with choirmasters and organists, which is saying something! (Lyrics and a performance below)
Justin Appel, Director of Music
In dulci jubilo [In sweet jubilation]
Let us our homage show
Our heart’s joy reclineth
In praesepio [In the manger]
And like a bright star shineth
Matris in gremio! [In the mother's lap]
Alpha es et O! [He is Alpha & Omega]
2.
O Jesu parvule [O tiny Jesus]
My heart is sore for Thee!
Hear me, I beseech Thee,
O puer optime! [O best of boys]
My prayer, let it reach Thee,
O princeps gloriae! [Prince of glory]
Trahe me post te! [Draw me unto thee]
3.
O patris caritas, [O father's caring]
O nati lenitas, [O newborn's mildness]
Deeply were we stained
Per nostra crimina [By our crimes]
But Thou, Thou hast gained
Coelorum gaudia. [heavenly joy]
O that we were there!
4.
Ubi sunt gaudia [Where be joys]
If that they be not there?
There are angels singing
Nova cantica: [New songs]
There the bells are ringing
In Regis curia. [At the king's court]
O that we were there!
In Dulci Jubilo, Robert Persall, King's College Choir https://youtu.be/cXwbAwWM77Y