Lyrics : O little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie Above thy deep and dreamless sleep The silent stars go by Yet in thy dark streets shineth The everlasting Light The hopes and fears of all the years Are met in thee tonight How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven. No ear may hear His coming, But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in O holy Child of Bethlehem Descend to us, we pray Cast out our sin and enter in Be born to us today We hear the Christmas angels The great glad tidings tell O come to us, abide with us Our Lord Emmanuel
Best melody ever composed. I wish people would understand how I feel and not call me obsessive. Everyone has a composition they love above all other music. I don't like being told how to feel, least of all regarding music.
Just love and enjoy it yourself then, no need for others' approval or for them to have to share your tastes. Love, let love, and Happy New Year to you!
How *un-silently* how *un-silently* I will tell the world "FOREST GREEN is the best melody ever composed!" I will shout it from the rooftops. I will also shout "The King's College Choir of Cambridge is the world's best choir!"
The tune is a traditional English folk melody. Vaughan Williams arranged it but it evolved from poor farm workers and similar so it is not composed by anyone but emerges from the hardships of country folk. This to me makes it more poignant and resonates more than other versions.
I've been working on this version of O Little town with my wee choir for the past few weeks. Even with just a handful of singers the harmonies shine out. Hoping to do it justice on Christmas night, its such a special Carol ❤️
German translation: Alex Grendelmeier O kleines Städtchen Bethlehem 1. O kleines Städtchen Bethlehem, wie still liegst du im Tal; am Himmel zieh'n so sanft dahin die Sterne ohne Zahl. Doch in den dunkeln Strassen erscheint ein helles Licht, das Furcht und Leid aus aller Zeit in dieser Nacht durchbricht. 2. Ein König wird im Stall gebor'n, verkannt und unscheinbar; noch schläft die Welt, doch er erhellt, was tief im Dunkel war. O Morgensterne leuchtet, ihr Engelchöre singt! Geboren ist uns Jesus Christ, der allen Frieden bringt. 3. O heil'ges Kind von Bethlehem, komm auch in uns're Zeit! Begleite uns und leite uns, der Weg ist schmal und weit. Ihr himmlischen Heerscharen verkündet Gottes Ruhm. Der Herr ist da! Halleluja, mit seinem Königtum!
I am soooo devastated to hear of the death of Stephen Cleobury. I have been an Anglophile for 25 years, ever since I heard Stephen's (and Sir David's) arrangements for the first time. I also wish I could have met both of them & played my favorite hymn (I Sing the Almighty Power of God, tune FOREST GREEN) on the organ for them. (I have been an organ geek since 1988). The reason I have never visited Cambridge is because I am afraid of flying (the few times I did fly, I suffered from severe barotrauma (ears popping from air pressure)). But for my barotrauma, I would have visited Cambridge a few times in the last 25 years. RIP Stephen, & I hope you & Sir David & RVW are singing & playing on the organ) every hymn that fits with the tune FOREST GREEN. Thank you for all the beautiful Festivals of Lessons & Carols, Stephen!
Jayson Durante guess what... I think it should be the ONLY setting for this hymn. *FOREST GREEN beats the other "O Little Town of Bethlehem" tunes to a frazzle* and it's the best melody ever! 👍👏I FERVENTLY 💚LOOOOOOOOOOVE 💚 FOREST GREEN!👍👏
Hi everyone! I'm an enthusiastic 🎼🎶🎵amateur organist🎼🎶🎵 and I loooove FOREST GREEN. That's why my RUclips handle is Claire *ForestGreenOrganGeek* because my name is Claire and I really, truly loooove 🎼🎶🎵FOREST GREEN and pipe organs!🎼🎶🎵
I have a musical background and blessed with perfect pitch. Singing alto in a church choir, I love the four part harmony and can sing the alto part from memory. Like the descant in the last verse. Key of F major, by the way!
It most definitely is the best. I have loved it and Personent Hodie the most ever since I first heard them, in 1988 or around then. And King's College Choir is the best as well.
This Christmas in the little town of Bethleham, the people of Palestine (Christian and muslim) will sadly not be able to experience peace. Christians are in their churches which are getting attacked, snipers outside ready to shoot anyone who might leave. There is no "silent night" for them. Let us pray to the Lord Jesus this Christmas for peace in the world, the end to war, pain and suffering
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are now reporting that pregnant women in Gaza are starving. Good job Mary was in the (now occupied) West Bank or this entire faith might never have existed, had the events in the Bible taken place today. It's disgusting that the Archbishop of Canterbury's silence has been bought with a knighthood.
@@djlsfc4980 I am an Anglophile. Yes, it's wicked good, smashing, jolly good, & brilliant. I would visit Cambridge someday but my ears go barmy on the plane & I'm much too flat broke to go by boat. So I don't know if or when I'll be able to visit Cambridge, but it IS on my bucket list. And by the way, FOREST GREEN is the best melody ever composed. I just got a silly yet funny idea: I call the St. Louis tune "O Little Tune of Bedlam".
Hi Claire, yeah although not many people in England will say smashing or jolly unless they reside in a castle in Windsor ha. I’ve never been to Cambridge but have visited most areas of England. Get the weather right and it’s a fantastic little island ha to visit. In fact on a rare hot sunny summer day over here there probably isn’t any place in the world that I’d rather be. Get yourself over here.
@@djlsfc4980 hi! I'm just reading your comment for the first time. I wish I could come visit Cambridge, but I can't afford a boat trip unless I win the lottery. Thanks for the good wishes, though. Oops, I thought ALL English people said smashing brilliant and jolly good. What about bostin and a boster? Is that regional or used in all of England? I like the word "boster". The King's College Choir makes me say "Wow! Another boster!"
...but I wish they hadn't omitted the second verse. *The more verses in the FOREST GREEN version of O Little Town of Bethlehem, the better* because it's the best melody ever composed.
This sounds more joyful than the minor-keyed version I’ve heard for almost sixty years, but if I heard an instrumental version I don’t think I could tell you the title of the song-it’s that unfamiliar
If you mean it is very good, yes, I agree. I love Forest Green so much I think it's the best melody ever composed! I call the other tune, St. Louis, O Little Tune of Bedlam; I don't like St. Louis at all. Forest Green is #1!
Another example of that strange thing in hymns that I call ‘bumps’ where the rhythm pauses for a bit. Here it’s between ‘receive him’ and ‘still’. If you go the the same place in the first verse, it’s sang smoothly.
That happens a lot in hymns and carols. It’s to make us aware of the meaning of what we are actually singing. It’s not that ‘meek souls receive Him still’, but rather ‘meek souls receive Him, Still the dear Christ enters in’ Completely different meanings.
This is a beautiful English melody (known as Forest Green) tradition but not the original. This is one of the few American composed Christmas Carols in the regular canon of Christmas hymns. The American tune for this is the original. The carol's words were composed by an Episcopal priest after visiting the Holy Land in the 19th century.
This Christmas, we see clearly that this song, this great Anglican tradition, this building and even stained glass, is under threat of total destruction. Oh, Immanuel. Ready Up Christ Men amd Women.
How very sad it is that glorious England has fallen into savage people and true English people are anxious to distance themselves from a graceful Christian past.
samman7324 Not at all...Forest Green beats St. Louis to a frazzle, and I hate it. English melodies are the best. That's why I'm an American Anglophile *even though I have no English heritage. (I wish I did)* Their Gothic and Tudor architecture is the best, too. 🇺🇸💚🇬🇧 Yes, I am an American Anglophile. The King's College Choir is the best. 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄St. Louis? Seriously?🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 St. Louis is boring boring boring. Thank you so much, Rafe Vaughan Williams for composing 👍👏FOREST GREEN!👍👏 *"Boo-is" to St. Louis*
alabastermontague I'm glad you agree with me about FOREST GREEN. I actually *hate* the St. Louis melody. Most of the time when there are alternate tunes, I choose the English version. However American I am, I am English at heart. I have been an American Anglophile *since 1994* ever since I heard the King's College Choir and Sir David Willcocks' *outstanding arrangements* Yes, I loooooooooove FOREST GREEN.
Glorious Voices! Today is Christmas 2024. Merry Christmas to all of you who listen.
Thank you! Blessed New Year!
Thinking of the actual town of bethlehem these past months and praying for peace
Same. Such deep connections all our 3 faiths have. Praying for peace and safety.
This takes me back to primary school 🙏🏻
Not religious myself, but yes I agree completely. loved it as a child, still do.
Thank you for singing so beautiful.
Merry Christmas to you
Merry Christmas
My favourite Christmas Carol
This wonderful choir gives me great comfort in heavy times
Takes me back to infant school,what lovely memories that will be with us forever
Me as well... All those years ago and it has never left me
And me, very special memories ❤
I learned to sing the Canticle of Zachariah with this beautiful melody!
Lyrics :
O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him still,
The dear Christ enters in
O holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell
O come to us, abide with us
Our Lord Emmanuel
God bless you for this
Om
😢
Ich
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7
😮
7
7
7
Iu
I
😮
7777777
77m
I
I
77
I7u
7
I
U
Ich
K
K
Kikikk7ikku
K
77
0I
8 kkk
K
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Ju
=
8 kkk
K
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Such a beautiful hymn. My favorite, which best expresses faith and Love
Best melody ever composed. I wish people would understand how I feel and not call me obsessive. Everyone has a composition they love above all other music. I don't like being told how to feel, least of all regarding music.
...ok?
My favorite too.
Just love and enjoy it yourself then, no need for others' approval or for them to have to share your tastes. Love, let love, and Happy New Year to you!
I understand, I've just had a good cry to this 🙂
Same 😔
My best Christmas carol ever!
*Everyone's* best Christmas carol ever.
I loooooooooove FOREST GREEN!
This is a lovely tune!
Absolutely!
…the dear Christ enters in. Powerful words for the human heart
Tho if he entered theses days it would be by the checkpoint
you have an excellent name!
This is the world's best choir, singing the world's best melody! I could listen to it all day.
How *un-silently* how *un-silently* I will tell the world "FOREST GREEN is the best melody ever composed!" I will shout it from the rooftops. I will also shout "The King's College Choir of Cambridge is the world's best choir!"
Claire Dixon 👌👌👌👌👌👌🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴🏴
@@jaynehinds3339 Thank you for the like!
Claire Dixon you are welcome
The tune is a traditional English folk melody. Vaughan Williams arranged it but it evolved from poor farm workers and similar so it is not composed by anyone but emerges from the hardships of country folk. This to me makes it more poignant and resonates more than other versions.
I love love looooove this melody sooooooooooo much
Heavenly music to my ears & soul🙏✝️
Hey, thank you for posting this! Honestly the only version on RUclips I was happy with for my Christmas playlist lol. ❤
I seem to be the 889th like and the 88th comment, hmm 😊 wonderful performance 👏 of a beautiful carol .
1:49 - this verse was referenced in the Queen's funeral service by Justin Welby.
I've been working on this version of O Little town with my wee choir for the past few weeks. Even with just a handful of singers the harmonies shine out. Hoping to do it justice on Christmas night, its such a special Carol ❤️
FOREST GREEN, IMO, is the best melody ever composed.
Hope it's going well!
Good luck performing the best melody ever composed. Hope it goes very well!
My most favorite tune. I love love looooove FOREST GREEN! Well done, King's College Choir, best choir ever! RIP Sir Stephen Cleobury!
Whenever I listen to this glorious rendition, I am moved to tears!
Giving me chills whenever I listen to it ❤
Reminds me of school...in a good way. ❤
Always liked this version of the song better! Thank you and Merry Christmas!
German translation: Alex Grendelmeier
O kleines Städtchen Bethlehem
1. O kleines Städtchen Bethlehem, wie still liegst du im Tal;
am Himmel zieh'n so sanft dahin
die Sterne ohne Zahl.
Doch in den dunkeln Strassen erscheint ein helles Licht,
das Furcht und Leid aus aller Zeit
in dieser Nacht durchbricht.
2. Ein König wird im Stall gebor'n, verkannt und unscheinbar;
noch schläft die Welt, doch er erhellt,
was tief im Dunkel war.
O Morgensterne leuchtet, ihr Engelchöre singt!
Geboren ist uns Jesus Christ,
der allen Frieden bringt.
3. O heil'ges Kind von Bethlehem, komm auch in uns're Zeit!
Begleite uns und leite uns,
der Weg ist schmal und weit.
Ihr himmlischen Heerscharen verkündet Gottes Ruhm.
Der Herr ist da! Halleluja,
mit seinem Königtum!
Best melody,takes me back to my childhood,St Kenneth's Catholic school
I am soooo devastated to hear of the death of Stephen Cleobury. I have been an Anglophile for 25 years, ever since I heard Stephen's (and Sir David's) arrangements for the first time. I also wish I could have met both of them & played my favorite hymn (I Sing the Almighty Power of God, tune FOREST GREEN) on the organ for them. (I have been an organ geek since 1988). The reason I have never visited Cambridge is because I am afraid of flying (the few times I did fly, I suffered from severe barotrauma (ears popping from air pressure)). But for my barotrauma, I would have visited Cambridge a few times in the last 25 years. RIP Stephen, & I hope you & Sir David & RVW are singing & playing on the organ) every hymn that fits with the tune FOREST GREEN. Thank you for all the beautiful Festivals of Lessons & Carols, Stephen!
What’s an Anglophile is that a music pedo
I love this carol
Best melody ever,lyrics are also very good,takes me back to my childhood,st Kenneth's primary.
Wonderful! Forest Green (this) is my favorite setting for this hymn.
Jayson Durante guess what... I think it should be the ONLY setting for this hymn. *FOREST GREEN beats the other "O Little Town of Bethlehem" tunes to a frazzle* and it's the best melody ever!
👍👏I FERVENTLY
💚LOOOOOOOOOOVE 💚 FOREST GREEN!👍👏
Hi everyone! I'm an enthusiastic 🎼🎶🎵amateur organist🎼🎶🎵 and I loooove FOREST GREEN. That's why my RUclips handle is Claire *ForestGreenOrganGeek* because my name is Claire and I really, truly loooove 🎼🎶🎵FOREST GREEN and pipe organs!🎼🎶🎵
Jayson Durante 👍👏 YES, IT'S THE BEST MELODY EVER COMPOSED!👍👏
Forest Green is the best melody ever composed! And I just got a silly yet funny idea: I call the St. Louis tune "O Little Tune of Bedlam".
I have a musical background and blessed with perfect pitch. Singing alto in a church choir, I love the four part harmony and can sing the alto part from memory. Like the descant in the last verse. Key of F major, by the way!
It most definitely is the best. I have loved it and Personent Hodie the most ever since I first heard them, in 1988 or around then. And King's College Choir is the best as well.
Everything Christmas is Christmas, the weather, breeze, the environment
You cannot beat a traditional English choir performance.
I'm an atheist and this is my favorite Christmas song
You’re a self proclaimed Christ Rejector . You should repent and turn to Jesus. Don’t die in your sins because if you do it’s too late.
My sentiments exactly! IMO Forest Green is the best melody ever composed.
Listening in preparation for March 25. Joyous Annunciation!
This Christmas in the little town of Bethleham, the people of Palestine (Christian and muslim) will sadly not be able to experience peace. Christians are in their churches which are getting attacked, snipers outside ready to shoot anyone who might leave. There is no "silent night" for them. Let us pray to the Lord Jesus this Christmas for peace in the world, the end to war, pain and suffering
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are now reporting that pregnant women in Gaza are starving. Good job Mary was in the (now occupied) West Bank or this entire faith might never have existed, had the events in the Bible taken place today. It's disgusting that the Archbishop of Canterbury's silence has been bought with a knighthood.
Yes 😔💔 I came here to say this, this song feels really sad this year in particular
Wicked god tune for Chrimbo ! Great work
"Wicked", in the context that you use it does not at all sound ironic make...this carol rocks! Must be either Aussie or from Boston, I'd wager...
From England, yeah wicked = very good!
@@djlsfc4980 I am an Anglophile. Yes, it's wicked good, smashing, jolly good, & brilliant. I would visit Cambridge someday but my ears go barmy on the plane & I'm much too flat broke to go by boat. So I don't know if or when I'll be able to visit Cambridge, but it IS on my bucket list. And by the way, FOREST GREEN is the best melody ever composed. I just got a silly yet funny idea: I call the St. Louis tune "O Little Tune of Bedlam".
Hi Claire, yeah although not many people in England will say smashing or jolly unless they reside in a castle in Windsor ha. I’ve never been to Cambridge but have visited most areas of England. Get the weather right and it’s a fantastic little island ha to visit. In fact on a rare hot sunny summer day over here there probably isn’t any place in the world that I’d rather be. Get yourself over here.
@@djlsfc4980 hi! I'm just reading your comment for the first time. I wish I could come visit Cambridge, but I can't afford a boat trip unless I win the lottery. Thanks for the good wishes, though.
Oops, I thought ALL English people said smashing brilliant and jolly good. What about bostin and a boster? Is that regional or used in all of England? I like the word "boster". The King's College Choir makes me say "Wow! Another boster!"
...but I wish they hadn't omitted the second verse. *The more verses in the FOREST GREEN version of O Little Town of Bethlehem, the better* because it's the best melody ever composed.
Fantastic
Agatha Jordan 👍👏💚🎼🎶🎵I LOOOOOOOOOOVE FOREST GREEN 👍👏💚🎼🎶🎵
This sounds more joyful than the minor-keyed version I’ve heard for almost sixty years, but if I heard an instrumental version I don’t think I could tell you the title of the song-it’s that unfamiliar
Some sick bars were spat here bruv.
Was waiting for the drop tho...
If you mean it is very good, yes, I agree. I love Forest Green so much I think it's the best melody ever composed! I call the other tune, St. Louis, O Little Tune of Bedlam; I don't like St. Louis at all. Forest Green is #1!
So nice song
I'm also choir boy
best version of this hymn in english
my fave version of this hymn
Another example of that strange thing in hymns that I call ‘bumps’ where the rhythm pauses for a bit. Here it’s between ‘receive him’ and ‘still’. If you go the the same place in the first verse, it’s sang smoothly.
It's to acknowledge the commas in the text!
That happens a lot in hymns and carols. It’s to make us aware of the meaning of what we are actually singing. It’s not that ‘meek souls receive Him still’, but rather ‘meek souls receive Him, Still the dear Christ enters in’ Completely different meanings.
This is so beautiful! I never really heard the original melody to this song before. So heavenly!
This is a beautiful English melody (known as Forest Green) tradition but not the original. This is one of the few American composed Christmas Carols in the regular canon of Christmas hymns. The American tune for this is the original. The carol's words were composed by an Episcopal priest after visiting the Holy Land in the 19th century.
@@jackmorrison7379 wow! Amazing! Thanks for the info!
Of course! Have a Merry Christmas@@LeslieFlemons
@@jackmorrison7379 you too Jack! 🙂
troppo bravi.
Is 2007 version of this song is available?
O little town of Bethlehem
Location from choir ?
I prefer the British tunes to this one and Away in a Manger .
I honestly like both. but this version is my favorite
Forest Green is the best melody ever composed! And I just got a silly yet funny idea: I call the St. Louis tune "O Little Tune of Bedlam".
We gathered a bunch of Englishman in a church and this is what happened. You're welcome.
One of the comments said 6 years ago 😹😹😹😹😹😹
This Christmas, we see clearly that this song, this great Anglican tradition, this building and even stained glass, is under threat of total destruction. Oh, Immanuel. Ready Up Christ Men amd Women.
🤶
City of David/Bethlehem
Why is this composition different than what we sing in Canada? I like ours so much more!
They think less of the martyr then they do the soldiers that accomplish the same thing.
How very sad it is that glorious England has fallen into savage people and true English people are anxious to distance themselves from a graceful Christian past.
Bros a certified racist
Jesus was literally Middle Eastern cunt
Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Palestine.
Wish they'd perform the St. Louis version. The melody is much more interesting.
No it isn't. It's just wrong. O Little Town is not a funeral hymn.
samman7324 Not at all...Forest Green beats St. Louis to a frazzle, and I hate it. English melodies are the best. That's why I'm an American Anglophile *even though I have no English heritage. (I wish I did)* Their Gothic and Tudor architecture is the best, too. 🇺🇸💚🇬🇧 Yes, I am an American Anglophile. The King's College Choir is the best.
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄St. Louis? Seriously?🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄
St. Louis is boring boring boring. Thank you so much, Rafe Vaughan Williams for composing 👍👏FOREST GREEN!👍👏 *"Boo-is" to St. Louis*
alabastermontague I'm glad you agree with me about FOREST GREEN. I actually *hate* the St. Louis melody. Most of the time when there are alternate tunes, I choose the English version. However American I am, I am English at heart. I have been an American Anglophile *since 1994* ever since I heard the King's College Choir and Sir David Willcocks' *outstanding arrangements* Yes, I loooooooooove FOREST GREEN.
Sorry, Claire and alabastermontague, I just disagree with you.
samman7324 😢 I'm crying
I really dislike this version.
I don't like it! It is the English version which is much different than the American version. Why the difference?
The 105th Archbishop of Canterbury IS WHY dumb-ASS
Good taste.