My Favorite Christmas Carol - Un Flambeau Jeanette, Isabelle
The other day my boss asked me if I had heard of the carol “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabelle.” I had not heard that there was an English version but it was my favorite carol when I took French in high school. I asked her if she knew that it was a round and she didn’t. I then suggested we give it a go and we sang it in her office. She sang in English, I in French, and even as a round it was beautiful despite the fact that I’m not a good singer.
The English version can be found in the links below.
Music
The web site that I found the above links is Alliance Music Publications.
You can find this Georges de la Tour at Artcyclopedia.
Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle
Un flambeau, courons au berceau!
C’est Jésus, bonnes gens du hameau,
Le Christ est né, Marie appelle,
Ah! Ah! Ah! Que la mère est belle,
Ah! Ah! Ah! Que l’enfant est beau!
C’est un tort quand l’Enfant sommeille,
C’est un tort de crier si fort.
Taisez-vous, l’un et l’autre, d’abord!
Au moindre bruit, Jésus s’éveille,
Chut! Chut! Chut! Il dort à merveille,
Chut! Chut! Chut! Voyez comme Il dort!
Doucement, dans l’étable close,
Doucement, venez un moment!
Approchez, que Jésus est charmant!
Comme Il est blanc, comme Il est rose!
Do! Do! Do! Que l’Enfant repose!
Do! Do! Do! Qu’IL rit en dormant!
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i like it
Very pretty. Religious music always seems more beautiful to me when its in another language. The words and the descriptions they use are often very banal, and the sentiments cheesy. But when it isn’t in English you can concentrate on the beautiful sounds of the singers and the shapes of the words and their constituent syllables, without being distracted by the mundaneness of their meaning.
What a lovely song. Thanks for posting it.