Coventry Carol (Christmas 2025)

Here is my submission for this year's Christmas event, a through composed setting of the coventry carol.

Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts!

Hi @mercurypickles!

I like the more antique mood in the carol and how you end each phrase in a Picardy 3rd! And I always love how calm and transcendental F# major is (even though you mark the key signature as F# minor). Thx for sharing!

Henry

I must admit, that I didn’t know the „Coventry Carol“ before, so I had to find out more about it first.

Even though it is not a new or own composition, the performance as a „Posaunenchor“ is quite unique and exciting. The picardy thirds at the end of many phrases sound so heartwarmingly clear with the trumpets or trombones!

I really enjoyed the meno/crescendo part at bar 41 after nearly falling asleep from the lullaby! And even though the trumpet was obviously obliged to hold back to piano soon, there's still a very jazzy feel to it right up to the end.

All in all a very enjoying piece which perfectly captures the calm mood of Christmas, paired with humor and joy!

Fun depiction of such an ancient carol. Love how the soprano has a mind of its own though; we can basically call this the disruptor. It blends nicely, but also ads some friction to this well harmonized tune. 

Hi @mercurypickles!

I like the nearly polytonal feeling that the soprano introduces when it comes in.  Reminds me a bit of some of my polytonal settings of various Christmas Carols that I've made mash-ups of.  I read up a little bit about what the Coventry Carol is about.  It is quite sad that a whole generation of children would be wiped out.  The dissonance in polytonal soprano melody seems appropriate in hindsight because of this subject matter.  I wonder if it is just a Biblical story or if it's meant to portray an actual historical event.  Thanks for sharing this haunting lullaby.