Wexford Carol
This carol originated in the city of Wexford in the southeastern Republic of Ireland. It was transcribed from a local singer by the noted Irish author, composer, musicologist, and historian W. H. Grattan Flood (1859–1928). It eventually made its way into the Oxford Book of Carols. It has a modal (Mixolydian) feel, constantly shifting between the parallel major/minor key and the sharped/flatted 7th. In modern times it has been recorded by artists as diverse as Julie Andrews, Tom Jones, Rosanne Cash, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This arrangement for SATB choir and organ is from 1994 and was first performed by the choir of St Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
| Descriptive Tags: | Celebratory, Christian, Irish, Magi - Wise Men, Virgin Mary |
| Difficulty: | Easy, Medium |
| Duration: | 1-5 Minutes |
| Instrumentation: | Organ, Piano, piano 4 hands |
| Language: | English |
| Season or Event: | Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Praise to Virgin Mary |
| Voicing: | SA, SATB |
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| Also popularly known as “The Ryans and the Pittmans,” this song recounts the romantic entanglements of a sailor named Robert “Bob” Pittman. It is based on the English sea shanty “Spanish Ladies,” which has a number of variants known to sailors from New England to Australia. Most of the verses in this version may be […] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||