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Renaissance: "Nowell Sing We"

3/8/2012

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I know it's not December yet-- and not even July . . . but this post is  going to be traveling back-- WAY back-- in history, for some Christmas  music.

The Christmas song is called "Nowell Sing We, and was sung  starting around 1450.  In Renaissance times (during the time period  that Columbus and other explorers were sailing around, Michelangelo was  painting the Sistene Chapel, and Shakespeare was writing plays), much of  the music performed was by singers in churches-- and this church music  was often sung acapella, with harmony parts. 

A songwriter  friend of mine, Alice Olsen, has created a beautiful recording of this  song, doing ALL the parts by herself!  She said it took just one  afternoon to do!  Wow, I'm really impressed.  You will have to take a  moment to listen to it.

Just a warning-- this song  has words from two languages-- it is part Latin and part English.  So it  has some unusual sounding words mixed in, like when it says, "Now Rex  pacificus is come."  "Rex
pacificus" means "King of Peace."  There are  some other phrases like that, too.

Here's a link to Alice's Songwriter Facebook page,  where she has lots of song recordings available online.  Go to her Music Store  and scroll all the way down-- Nowell Sing We is 4th from the bottom.   You can listen to Alice's amazing Renaissance song here-- it is not a  snippet, but the complete song.

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    Author - Diane Hurst
    I am a music lover and songwriter.  Some of my own music can be heard at www.dianehurstmusic.com

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