Up! Good Christen Folk and Listen

(Traditional Finnish/Swedish and Latin/George Ratcliffe Woodward)

This medieval song was part of a collection compiled in Finland that was first published in Piae Cantiones in Sweden in 1582 and contains Latin songs that were sung in cathedral schools in Finland. They are still part of the repertoire of Swedish and Finnish choirs.

A copy of this edition of the publication was given to the composer John Mason Neale by the British ambassador in Sweden in 1853. He passed it to the choirmaster Thomas Helmore to interpret the mensural notation of the tunes and then they published 12 of them as Carols for Christmastide.

This publication was later acquired by the composer George Ratcliffe Woodward and he arranged the music and words for this carol. The sheet music was published in The Cowley Carol Book in 1902 and he also published Piae Cantiones: A Collection of Church & School Song, chiefly Ancient Swedish, originally published in 1582 in 1910.

The carol is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ asking the “good Christen folk” to get up and listen to the bells ringing to welcome and adore him.

It has been performed and recorded by many choral ensembles that include the American Boychoir, Choir of Westminster Abbey, Clare College Choir, King’s College Choir, St. John’s College Choir, St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir and Trinity College Choir.

Choir of St. John’s College, Cambridge recordings
London 421 022 (CD: Christmas Weekend -16 Favourite Carols)
Conductor – George Guest
Organ – Stephen Cleobury

Sources:

Up! Good Christen Folk and Listen

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