Today I’m writing about three arrangements, for different forces, that I’ve made of this popular traditional French carol. Although originally a Christmas / New Year carol, the melody is now often associated with Easter.
The earliest source of the melody is from a seventeenth-century collection – the original words are earlier and tell the whole Christmas story in thirteen verses (you can find it in the 1992 New Oxford Book of Carols). The simplest melodies are often the most pleasing and the most suitable for arranging, and this modal tune consists of an initial phrase (A) repeated three times, and a central phrase (B) which itself is really a shorter idea repeated – the overall structure is AABA.
It was probably the freshness of this tune, particularly the openness and ‘springiness’ of the first phrase, which attracted Canon J. M. C. Crum to write Easter words for it for publication in the original 1928 Oxford Book of Carols, and the poetically seasonal words relate the images of the buried seed and springing grain with the burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The words became very popular and, at least in the UK, almost superseded the various translations of the French Christmas words. Here is the first verse:
Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been,
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.
The first arrangement that I made of this tune incorporated the above words, and is to be found in The Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems – it is a version of the popular hymn, but arranged as an anthem for the church choir, responding with different textures and harmonies to the changing mood of the verses. It’s scored for voices in two parts, which can expand to four if all voice parts are available – the image shows the second page.
Then, last year, I used the melody on which to base an organ prelude. I turned the melody into a lively 6/8 time, giving it the feeling of a joyful dance with a kind of folky flavour. You can hear a performance, by Steven Maxson, here.
And I made the third arrangement a couple of weeks ago – this time for piano. I sat at the piano improvising and church bells came into my mind – so this was the result, a cheerful ‘carillon’. You can hear me playing it here (YouTube) or here (Soundcloud).
As Easter approaches, it’s nice to think of the journey of this simple melody, from its Christmas origins to its ‘springing up green’ at Easter time!
Details:
- Now the green blade rises, arranged for choir with flexible scoring: in The Oxford Book of Flexible Anthems, OUP
- Prelude on Noël Nouvelet, for organ: in Lent and Easter Preludes for Organ, Banks Music Publications (also available separately)
- Noël Nouvelet – Carillon, for piano. On sale here: Sheet Music Direct,Sheet Music Plus, JW Pepper