A Christmas special: Gaudete! And what happened to it in the 20th century

[@winterhorse290]

The first time I heard this song was Steeleye Span. I like it just fine.

[@ffggddss]

Ditto! Fred

[@willy_wombat]

Me too 😅.

[@simonedeiana2696]

The "Tempus Adest" song at 13:50 has the same melody as the "Good King Wenceslas" Christmas carol . Very interesting to incidentally find it here.

[@edwardblair4096]

There was a period in the 19th century when some composers looked to the 16th century for inspiration. The Christmas Carol "Ding Dong Merily On High" is the same tune as "Bransle L'Official" by Arbeu and "What Child is This" is the tune from "Greensleves". Plus "Coventry Carol" was revived from a manuscript description of an English Christmas time mask.

[@theoriemeister]

I was going to mention the same thing!

[@nigelhaywood9753]

@@theoriemeister 😀

[@flyingostrich88]

I came here to say this

[@mimsredjelly]

Gaudete's been stuck in my head all week and now I get a video about it recommended? The algorithm is listening to my thoughts now...

[@JeremyJoubert]

Me too!

[@HLR4th]

Scary when that happens!

[@IanConcannon]

Steeleye span came up for me last week. Remembered the song but didn't know the artist.

[@sobraine123]

same here

[@stevewest4994]

Thank you for the excellent video. Tim Hart (Steeleye Span) was the son of an Anglican clergyman so he probably sang in the church choir--a vicar's son with a good voice isn't going to get much choice!--and probably encountered all sorts of sacred music. This may well have included the Woodward version of Gaudete.

[@lindalassman6871]

I was first introduced to Gaudete by Steeleye Span in 1974 and was transfixed by it. In addition to becoming an instant fan of the group, I ran out and purchased a copy of Below the Salt specifically so I could transcribe the song, for which I was unable to find a copy at that time. Hearing the history of the piece has been really special and I thank Early Music Sources for creating this video.

[@kellicos]

Steeleye Span was my first introduction to it as well. I have loved the tune ever since and eagerly listen to any version of it that I can find. I love this video so much to hear its history!

[@Neophage]

The unexpected interest non-classical musicians showed for classical music in the 60s/70s has started to intrigue me more and more.

[@Elizabeth-n3v2u]

When i was little, the headmaster at my montessori school, a huge history lover, taught the 4th-6th graders to sing this in the first 4 part harmony demonstrated here. It has always lived in my head, because of listening to all the older kids practice it on the playground before the xmas party. I remember them singing it beautifully and had no idea anything else about it till now. Thanksbfor dusting off a very old childhood xmas memory!

[@leocomerford]

13:41 , 14:24 : Most people in Britain and Ireland would immediately associate that other _Piae Cantiones_ melody with its Victorian setting “Good King Wenceslas” (Roud 24754): maybe that’s part of why it never caught on as a choice for the verses of “Gaudete”.

[@MrPSaun]

I'm from New England, and that's definitely what I hear.

[@liamannegarner8083]

@@MrPSaun The midwest, Calvinist background, I was about to say "wait, this is Good King Wenceslas. This is already a christmas song. It'd just sound confusing."

[@timberwoof]

I am so happy you mentioned the popular and influential Steeleye Span version. It's been a favorite of mine since the '70s. Steeleye Span deserve much credit for popularizing older British folk and early music.

[@spacelemur7955]

Steeleye Span opened the world of older English folkmusic to me too. An American at the time, and a bluegrass lover, I then began listening to Irish and Scottish, and soon everything from Kazakstan and Persia westward to the Atlantic. Traditional folk music simply resonates wirh me.

[@MrDaraghkinch]

I'm amazed at the quality of the content. Centuries of confusion untangled clearly from primary sources, amazing!

[@Colleentfay]

This was fascinating. The one constant is that here in the 21st Century, we can only guess what our forebears sang and how they combined verses and refrain. Clearly, there is no "right" answer, but that's what makes this such an interesting voyage of discovery.

[@Jean-Charles-e7z]

Great job. This kind of video will probably remain interesting for 1000 years.

[@carletonraisbeck4137]

Wonderful!

[@chiron14pl]

My first exposure was the Steeleye Span version, which completely transfixed me and I had to learn the tune. From the same manuscript you also showed a brief bit of "Tempus adest floridum," a spring-time carol, the melody of which is now used for the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslaus. Your coverage of the history of this lovely tune was most rewarding, thanks

[@curtisdaniel9294]

Thanks for this history. I first heard GAUDETE when I saw Steeleye Span in LA in 1976. Immediately falling in love with it. And I still love hearing it! ❤🎉

[@SandraBonney]

My first hearing of it was Steeleye Span as a teenager. Then in my 30's I joined a choir and requested we do it ( we did and I loved it). Seeing this makes me want to sing in a choir again to revisit it

[@emlynjessen2957]

Merci beaucoup pour l’histoire. Joyeux Noël

[@billstewartbill]

I used to perform the Steeleye Span version, as well as "Please to see the King" at events of the Society for Creative Anachronism 40+ years ago.

[@radishpea6615]

16:00 is the best version I have heard outside of a church and was by Steeleye Span

[@fjordivae3007]

it's so unique and i mean that in a good way, i like it!! 🎉🎉

[@SittingComfortably]

Not a musician, but love early music. Was recommended this due to looking for Gaudete for Christmas (yes, Steeleye Span introduced me) & found it very interesting. Subscribed.

[@Tracotel]

It has quickly become an habit for you to create and offer incredibly excellent content. One of the most intelligent and enlightening KZbin channels that I know. Many thanks, and I still hope for more Sweelinck. 🙂

[@alishabohnert776]

I'm sad that I only just discovered this fabulous channel!

[@bleu-herbe]

Steeleye Span's melody for the verse is found almost identically as a breton folk dance tune/song in France. I'd always assumed they had some gregorian common origin, but it seems like it's more complex than I thought ^^ thanks for your videos !

[@PlanetImo]

I had a copyright claim for this on my channel once - there was a section of a daily vlog with three of us singing it live at home in a rehearsal and, boom - copyright claim!! I thought I'd have been pretty safe with this one, it being hundreds of years old, but it claimed that the melody was owned by someone in Brazil... maybe I should have disputed it?

[@PlanetImo]

Ahh haaaa. The verse :) (I watched this in two chunks and commented early!)

[@justanotherpiccplayer3511]

Had the same playing Mozart flute concerto, like I'm flattered they think I sound like a CD but like ofc two people playing music from hundreds of years ago are going to sound similar doesn't mean it's not out of copyright 😭

[@kathymobile11]

Copyright laws differ from country to country, but some people do search for “ out of copyright” material and then obtain it somehow. You could complain to KZbin about it, because it totally does not make sense that anyone could obtain a copyright for this ancient music.

[@ArturoEscorza]

You have to dispute it! I'm a tenor and I post a lot of videos of me singing, with backing tracks made by myself and always there's a copyright strike. Those mofos want to make money with my own work! And many times, while disputing, they're so f*ing cocky to answer that they don't agree with my dispute and they continue the claim. I hate them and I hate youtube. That's why I stopped posting my music on KZbin and I'm planning to close my account.

[@patrickvalentino600]

I got a copyright claim on my channel for a piece I composed myself. I decided to be a nice guy and not sue myself. None of it makes sense.

[@sandragoodman2059]

Bravo! Very informative about my favorite carol.

[@ginavandam735]

How interesting! Thanks for your research.

[@andreamundt]

Vielen Dank für all die gescheiten, witzigen und schönen Videos! 💌 ( Das Schwein ist so klasse! ) ( Die Mütze!!!)

[@Colleentfay]

Thank you so much for this. As a church musician of many decades (!) standing, I have loved the joyous angularity of "Gaudete" as a perfect sentiment in anticipation of the Nativity.

[@davidcardoso3525]

Wonderful song. I play it every other year at my piano studio's Christmas recital.

[@TenSeventeen]

Merry Christmas, Mr Rotem and the Early Music Sources crew, and a blessed new year! Thank you for the wonderful information and timeless music.

[@KevinElamMusic]

Many thanks for this video. I programmed this piece recently as part of a Renaissance Christmas concert, and spent many days and long hours researching the piece in an effort to find some legitimate, historically contemporaneous music for the verses. I encountered pretty much everything that you detail in this video (the Czech manuscripts, the Senfl, Spannenberg, etc) - but was completely stumped in my quest to find the Holy Grail - that is, any historical source for the Retrover Ensemble's rendition of the verses. I am so glad that you brought up at the end that the director admitted that they simply composed the section. It frustrates me to no end when early music CDs include newly composed sections of what are presented as fully historical pieces with literally zero explanation. Thank you for finally rectifying this omission and saving me further hours of pointless wild goose chasing.

[@katyd2400]

I have sung many versions of this hymn and have always loved it. Thanks you for sharing its unique history!

[@Neilsowards]

We sing this every year at Plymouth Church, Ft. Wayne, IN at the Boar's Head Festival.

[@cynthiadavis3102]

I wish I had attended! --from Elkhart, IN

[@necspenecmetu-24]

congratulations for a very complex and complete work!

[@garywait3231]

Thanks for the history of this Christmas anthem. In the Vermont (USA) churches where I am choirmaster (and sometime pastor) we often use the "Gaudete" as a choral response after the reading of the Nativity stories -- as you imply may have been its original use.

[@pd10642]

I first heard this in college, the version by the Boston Camerata. It became so precious to us, we would lock it away until after Thanksgiving and only play it between then and the New Year. I'm a little more indulgent with it nowadays, but it gets an awful lot of play on Gaudete Sunday! Interestingly also with the Boston Camerata version, they sing the Tenor line in unison before the harmonized version, and the end of the melody seems rather different to the original...

[@noelplouffe6245]

Thank you so much Elam.

[@charlesneil2983]

So easy to fall in love with

[@andrewferguson5653]

The first version I heard of this song is the one sung by the British boy choir LIBERA. Great to know more about it!

[@franceseattle]

Thank you thank you!! This was fascinating--I've been thrilled with the early music world since the 1960s, via my musicologist father and his early music performing courses at university, as well as seeing live performances of Thomas Binkley's group, Studio der Fruhe Musik, and Noah Greenberg's New York Pro Musica. Will look for your other work here on KZbin!

[@pauljsm]

I love this channel ❤🎉❤🎉❤

[@OfficialWorldChampion]

what a great melody

[@spencerbaldwincomposer]

What a fantastic video and a fantastic channel. While I've been watching these videos for the last few years, I just completed a university music literature class covering ancient to baroque music, so I'm understanding even more of these concepts. Thanks so much!

[@func860]

wonderful! Thank you.

[@michellebelle2135]

I love this channel! Thank you so much Maestro Rotem & team, for clarifying things to me that my music theory professors could not!! Merry & blessed Christmas to all 😊

[@feralfoods]

i will probably never get any better at music, but i love this channel and learning about the history. thank you, and happy holidays...

[@wendyfield7708]

Thank you.

[@AdamHWarren]

A fascinating exposition. Thank you.

[@matteogarzetti]

Merry Christmas!

[@JanPouska]

For the verses, we use the melody of Ezechielis porta (fol. 268) from Franus codex (1505).

[@boomerbear7596]

As a consummate fan of the Christmas season and especially Christmas music I'm overjoyed to discover a new (or old) Christmas song for the first time! Thank you for doing a video on this delightful piece and for highlighting the intricacies that make it work. Merry Christmas Early Music Sources!

[@lizziesmusicmaking]

There's some amazing renaissance Christmas carols out there. Have you heard "There is no rose" and "Es ist ein ros entsprungen"? If you haven't you should check them out. The latter in particular, sung by a good choir, is enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck by its sheer beauty. Or I think so, anyway, that is somewhat in the ear of the beholder.

[@irmafoster3933]

​@@lizziesmusicmakingI was in a choir many years ago that sang "There is no rose of such virtue,. As is the rose that bare Jesu...." I have never found a recording anywhere.

[@lizziesmusicmaking]

@@irmafoster3933 Sang that at my church at midnight mass on Christmas eve a couple of days ago. It's a lovely one, isn't it?

[@lizziesmusicmaking]

@@irmafoster3933 If you search youtube, you will find multiple recordings of that song, including one by the cambridge singers.

[@irmafoster3933]

Thank you for the suggestion.

[@DocRossi]

Excellent, thank you, and all the best for the coming year.

[@iedesnoek]

Very interesting, 'Gaudete' has become one of my christmas favourites. Thank you for shining some light on its history.

[@Cherodar]

Amazing video! One thing I find really interesting (and telling) is how the versions in A minor are notated. In the early ones, they have no key signature and no accidentals--they look pure-Aeolian, in contrast to the G minor ones' apparent Dorianness. Often that wouldn't have mattered in actual sound because of the ficta E-flats in the ones, though that one bit of organ tablature did use E-naturals! By contrast, in the modern editions, the ones in A minor are always a little weird--some have a sharp in the signature but then put accidental naturals on all of the Fs, while some have no signature but put accidental sharps on all of the Fs. Both are awkward results on just transposing the G Dorian one according to modern sensibilities, rather than according to the Renaissance's notational flexibility.

[@NichtWunderkind]

Felices Fiestas Maestro Muchas gracias por este video como siempre ❤

[@historicalpiano]

Around 18:20 in the vid, King's Singers version is the Span version exactly. :)

[@ulrikebildstein3895]

Thank you for giving me à Christmas smile. Merry Christmas to all. Gaudete!

[@Beryllahawk]

Fascinating! This is as much a great look into the differences between centuries, as to what's okay to change and what isn't; not to mention the differences in performance practices. I've had the pleasure of singing Gaudete - another arrangement entirely, quite modern and no apology about it. I had no idea how deep the history of the tune went! Thank you for the upload! I hope you all enjoy a beautiful, peaceful, and musical holiday!!

[@Jezaja]

Amazing Video and deepdive! Thank you very much and have Merry Christmas!

[@judithmalan1502]

So interesting...🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@susanvaughan4210]

Thanks for this perfect Christmas present. It doesn't feel like Christmas to me if I haven't sung this at least once.

[@PeterAshton-c9e]

How fascinating! It has bothered me for years. A great start to Christmas day. Thank you for this, and all your scholarship, insight and wonderful singing.

[@deusexmusica803]

Thank you, Elam!

[@mgclark46]

My commentary is not worth much, except as a byte in a KZbin logarithm. I love your videos and subject matter.

[@maxjohn6012]

Happy holidays, Elam and everyone involved! Thank you for another fabulous year of wonderful music :)

[@GRAHAMAUS]

@14:50 isn't that tune from Orff's 'Carmina Burana'? Ot perhaps from whatever inspired Orff. I'm clearly no musicologist, but it might be an idea worth considering.

[@jeremystephenson5990]

Brilliant, thank you so much

[@maciejkramarski3727]

Many thanks for this fascinating explanation! I personally think, an option with f# in the last bar leading to finalis is much better than "standard" widespread version.

[@btat16]

This channel truly never misses

[@partituravid]

Especially beautiful work. And singing!

[@hessu3]

Hello and thank you very much for the detailed information! Your channel is so helpful to me 😊 The melody in 14:51 is found in the swiss catholic song book (Katholisches Gesangbuch) no. 313 as a song for advent "Tauet, Himmel aus den Höhn". According to the information below, the melody is by Jens Spangenberg, Erfurt 1544.

[@EarlyMusicSources]

Wow amazing! Thank you very much

[@EarlyMusicSources]

I added the information (including a comparison example) to the footnotes page: www.earlymusicsources.com/youtube/gaudete Many thanks once again!

[@hessu3]

@@EarlyMusicSources You are welcome! Thank you for your great work and interesting content! 👍

[@carlasker9285]

In the choral life of modern Stockholm, it is very common to sing the Ward swingle arrangement, which is still titled Audete, Gaudete due to the fact that they misread the original text and missed the illuminated capital G letter. Bizarre. The arrangement contains the Steeleye Span verses, which we thought were original music from the 16th century. I was surprised to learn about Rostock, I always thought that Piae Cantiones originated from Turku (Åbo) in Finland, which was Swedish at the time and still speaks Swedish (the Nyland region).

[@amicus1766]

What a wonderful Christmas Day video, at least it was when I watched it. Fascinating that what we think of as the tune is the accompaniment to the cantus firmus, so many traditional Christmas carols probably originated in the same way.

[@fredhoupt4078]

Wonderful. Gives me goosebumps.

[@jakedooom]

Thanks. That was a great overview, a historical perspective. It strikes me that most variants have an interpretive similarity which binds them all into a recognisable “sound”, that of this beloved song.

[@carlstenger5893]

Excellent video! Thanks so much.

[@TheHookahSmokingCaterpillar]

Thank you! This was fascinating. 😊 I've loved this tune since hearing the Steeleye Span forty odd years ago and began practicing a version on my gurdy just before Xmas this year.

[@lucaevers4074]

What a wonderful video -thanks a lot for the superb recordings! All the best!

[@dariosteiner6454]

This is the first time I've gotten to know this piece in a serious manner. This reminded me of a great comedic edit of a King's Singers recording on KZbin with the video title _Gaudete Shreds_ that I can very much recommend to watch.

[@henrikhaas6980]

Thank you for the explanations - I love this song, as sung today, didn't know about its origins. Very interesting! I'd like to sing it in every kind as it was in the years passing by

[@SilverBrumby165]

Fascinating - thank you!

[@matejpodstensek]

Brilliant video, thank you!

[@eivinstens6091]

Thank you for this interesting video on Gaudete. For me, Steeleye Span got the melody right. I also love some of the later performances by The Kings Singers and Libera.

[@catomajorcensor]

"Vivamus, mea Lesbia, atque amemus" comes from a poem by the ancient Roman poet Catullus. Classical music doesn't often make use of ancient text lke this, so it's quite astonishing to see it applied, *while preserving the original metre with correct syllable lengths* . "Vitam quae faciant" is from Martial, another ancient Roman poet. You can see elisions ("mea Lesbia‿atque‿amemus") in action, which are common in Italian ("el grillo‿è buon cantore"), Spanish and French lyrics, but not in so-called "ecclesiastical Latin" (no one does "solvet saeclum‿in favilla"). Compare with the ecclesiastical "Gaudete, gaudete" setting which doesn't reflect classical Latin syllable length at all (gau- should always be long, and -te short, etc.).

[@JelMain]

Ah, but Maddy's no Roman: Kilburn in those days was an Irish Terrorist haunt (just a few years later, I got the IRA to explain what had happened to Bob Nairac) and for all that Folk was somewhat revolutionary, it most decidedly was NOT insurrectionist.

[@edwardkershaw6916]

I saw the elisions too. Strange

[@saltrocklamp199]

It's also interesting because Catullus and Martial could both be pretty "spicy", and were decidedly pre-Christian, which makes for another interesting contrast with the usual Gaudete.

[@JelMain]

@@saltrocklamp199 Your idea of pre-Christian is wrong. You're looking towards Celibacy, which only started c1200, possibly in direct response to Eleanor of Aquitaine's Chivalry, and the influence of Arab culture on the West, particularly in music. Look at the distaff side, in Heloise' compositions in the Paraclete, echoed in the Carminae Burana. From Chivalry comes the entire Beghard movement, and thence Ruusbroec's conflict with Bloemardine, on the former end headed towards Groot's Windesheim and Calvinist Protestantism, and the latter, towards intellectual liberty, stemming from the musical facet of the quadrivium.

[@miklosbudai1331]

Not uncommon at all. In the Renaissance era, metric poems in latin by classical authors as well as by humanist poets were definitely sung with music preserving the correct metre. As an example, check out Odae cum harmoniis (1548) by Johannes Honterus. Whether in classical or ecclesiastical latin, elision/synalepha happens with vowels, there is no way of merging “saeclum‿in“.

[@gion3250]

Excellent content! thank you so much for this.

[@ianharrison9052]

Thanks Elam.

[@lindseytaylor-guthartz1236]

Fabulous explanation, and what a fascinating story! Todah rabah!

[@thormusique]

Beautiful! Thank you for another wonderful video. Gaudete indeed, cheers!

[@MrJdsenior]

I wonder if the various temperaments contributed to some of the variations. In earlier tunings they created perfect chord intervals, fully tuned, unlike the evenly tuned system of today, which is NEVER fully in tune, but in essence, out of tune by the same amount, everywhere. This allows us to play and sing in any chord without wolf chords showing up, as they did in those tunings, meaning chords that absolutely did not work, because they were SO out of tune. Just a thought. My first introduction to this wonderful piece was the Kings Singers version, that iteration of performers, who I also heard twice in concert at my church, sitting about 20' away. No instruments, no mics, something like two hours each time, and two of the very best concerts of my entire life. Wow! Subbed.

[@GoodieWhiteHat]

Gaudete with Good King Wenceslas verses? I’m glad that didn’t catch on! Thanks SO much for your thorough research and presentation of this wonderful story!

[@dmolinah]

Thank you!

[@teresakirby8827]

That was so interesting. Thank you.

[@johaquila]

Outstanding, as always. A tiny bit of tangentially related information: Besides the Senfl version, whose text is based on Martial, there is also a version by Jacques Arcadelt that has a rather free treatment of the original tune. I found it in "Livre septième", an exceptional collection of four-part songs by Pierre Phalèse. It seems that it came to serve essentially as the profane psalter of the Huguenots. It was reprinted more than 30 times over a period of 100 years, before being forgotten. The Arcadelt setting is present at least in the (digitized) 1570 and 1594 editions. In the 1570 edition, this setting is followed by "Ut flos in sæptis secretus nascitur hortis", which may be a second part or a response by an anonymous composer. I have no idea where the text is from.

[@EarlyMusicSources]

Wow a nice find! thanks! He uses only the first half of the tune, and with a different rhythm.

[@johaquila]

@@EarlyMusicSources I just realized that this song appears to be present in (almost?) all extant editions of this book. For anyone having trouble finding the book, which is absolutely worth checking out: Perhaps the best edition is the 1594 one by Pierre Phalèse the son at Bibliothèque Nationale de France. This is from after a thorough revision that improved the repertoire considerably and put everything into a very deliberate order, sorted by modes and topics. The earlier 1570 edition by Pierre Phalèse the father is at Universitätsbibliothek Rostock. Both are avilable online as digital facsimiles. Google Books has the inferior 1644 edition by Sweelinck, which apparently served as a school book for Dutch speakers and has a lot of Dutch songs for a different number of voices. Comparing these versions, you can clearly see the explosion of printed accidentals. (Maybe it is motivated in part by people like Sweelinck playing keyboard instruments from the individual parts? Standardized, printed accidentals no doubt made it easier for voice and accompaniment to agree on the same solution to the musica ficta.) If there is any interest, I can provide a download link to the draft of my modern (careful layman's) edition based on the 1594 version plus the 5 additional songs of the 1570 version.

[@profsjp]

Wonderful insights. Thank you!

[@Arthur94]

Perfect as usual. A very happy new year to you Elam

[@Zavendea]

I wanted to add that it seems very very likely to me that this melody was originally written to pair with Classical Latin poetry - those Latin text examples are in hendecasyllables (“Vivamus, mea Lesbia” is a quite famous Catullus poem) and the rhythms are exactly aligned with the quantitative meter.

[@Zavendea]

(That’s as opposed to the vast majority of music in Latin, which have Vulgar Latin texts with qualitative meters.)

[@StadinBasso]

Another amazing video. Thank you so much, and merry Christmas 😊 I'm looking for some renaissance or medieval Easter themed songs for solo voice to perform in an easter concert (bass voice). All suggestions will be very helpful.

[@zlatkomalicki7913]

thank you for all your knowledge!

[@billymeyer99]

Thank you again for an illuminating discussion.

[@michelapiccoli48]

Fantastico come al solito🥰