Christmas At Home (24) 'O Du Fröhliche' - 'O Sanctissima'

Here you can hear the "organ 1" effect again (though the bass is rather weak, compared to a church organ with pedals!). This is certainly one of the Carols most frequently played in churches over here. It's massively popular, and just about everyone can sing all three verses by heart. However, I was initially astounded by this, as in England it isn't normally a Carol - though I have heard of an English translation. As a child I often sang it in Latin with the text "O sanctissima, o piissima, dulcis virgo Maria". The melody is from Sicily. The original German text referred to Christmas, Easter and Whitsun and was written by Johannes Daniel Falk. Later, Heinrich Holzschuher adapted it and created a purely Christmas hymn. The German text commonly sung nowadays is below - as is an English translation I found, which is not really a translation, as it has four verses instead of three. Never mind.

In my various hymnals and albums here at home I have countless harmonisations in countless keys (but unfortunately not my favourite, which is the "old" version in the Viennese Roman Catholic hymnbook). So I could theoretically play it in C, D, Eb and F - but not for German-speakers, as they only have 3 verses of text! But anyway, this would be a cruel thing to do (!). Also, there is no real reason to ascend so much, as the text is simply peaceful and the melody calm - i.e there is no kind of crescendo or climax involved. However, I could not refrain from playing in C and then in D; the third verse being a version with the melody in the tenor voice. This would work out better if I had an organ with two or three manuals ...

1.
O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Welt ging verloren, Christ ist geboren:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

2.
O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Christ ist erschienen, uns zu versühnen:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

3.
O du fröhliche, o du selige,
gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit!
Himmlische Heere jauchzen Dir Ehre:
Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!

1.
Oh, how joyfully, Oh, how merrily,
Christmas comes with its grace divine!
Grace again is beaming, Christ the world redeeming,
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time.

2.
Day of holiness, Peace and happiness.
Joyful, glorious Christmas Day
Angels tell the story, Of this day of glory;
Praise Christ our Savior, Born this Christmas Day.

3.
Oh, how joyfully, Oh, how merrily,
Christmas comes with its peace divine!
Peace on earth is reigning, Christ our peace regaining,
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time!

4.
Oh, how joyfully, Oh, how merrily,
Christmas comes with its life divine!
Angels high in glory, Chant the Christmas story:
Hail, ye Christians, hail the joyous Christmas time!

Recorded in Munich, 26th December 2021 - Take 1
Digital piano kindly loaned by friends :-)