Show Notes
Our final episode of Hark! this season departs from the usual nativity of Christ in a manger, surrounded by shepherds and angels on high. Instead, our carol centers on the singular icon of a rose. “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” is a German Christmas song, first published in a Lutheran hymnbook in 1599. Although its believed to be much older, originating in a Catholic monastery with an uncertain date and writer. And not only do we not know who wrote the text for our carol. The person behind the basic melody is also a mystery. The music is often credited to Michael Praetorius, a German composer, organist and music theorist from the 16th and 17th Centuries. But, Praetorius didn't compose the main melody; he only added the harmonies that have made this “the rose of all carols” among choristers and music maestros. Adding further to the mystery of this carol, the symbol of the rose is ambiguous. Depending on the translation and verse, the rose could represent Jesus or his mother Mary, who in Catholic mysticism is adorned with roses. Our heartfelt thanks extends to every musician, choir and soloist who gifted their music so generously to Hark! this season. On this episode we are especially grateful to: The Choir of King’s College Cambridge, The Ignatian Schola, Cynthia Boener, Katie Green and Karen Hefford, Barbara Rowe for sharing the music of her husband, the late Bryan Rowe, Gary Cope and the Encomium Ensemble, the music department of Hope College in Holland, Michigan, Stephen Lynerd, Winter Harp and The Notre Dame Folk Choir, under the direction of JJ Wright, who walked us through the music of “Lo How A Rose” on this episode. Special thanks to the Benedictine monks of Saint John's Abbey Schola in Collegeville, Minnesota. In particular to Father Nick Kleespie who coordinated the performance of Father Anthony Ruff's arrangement of “Lo, How a Rose,” featured in this episode. To learn more about the monks of Saint John’s Abbey, please visit saintjohnsabbey.org. Support “Hark!” become a digital subscriber of America Magazine at: https://link.chtbl.com/04Jrg99F Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols
“O Little Town of Bethlehem” has shaped how millions of English speakers imagine the Palestinian town where Jesus was born: a small place, still and peaceful, resting under the stars. The wars and struggles of recent decades invite us to question whether that image is true. And yet, “Bethlehem is still a very little town,” says Stephanie Saldaña, a writer and mother raising her family in this religiously and culturally diverse place. “It is a small place where everybody knows each other.”
Did you know that when a ewe rejects her newborn lamb, the shepherd has only hours to convince her to nurse it—or the lamb will die? This is the work of shepherds—staying awake through the night when lambs are being born, watching closely, ready to step in and save them. It gives new meaning to the good shepherd. In this episode, host Maggi Van Dorn travels to a farm in Herefordshire, near the Welsh border, to understand shepherding, and discovers why God might have chosen shepherds to be the first to hear the good news.
We often imagine angels as gentle and serene. But in Scripture they arrive in blinding light and overwhelming sound—so much so that their first words are almost always “Do not be afraid.” These are the messengers who burst into the night sky to meet a group of poor, worn-out shepherds—outsiders who become the first to hear the news of Christ’s birth.
Most Christmas carols celebrate the birth of Jesus. But not “The Coventry Carol,” the premiere episode of “Hark!” season five. This song centers on a biblical horror: the “massacre of the innocents,” King Herod’s order to kill all male babies two years old and under in Bethlehem. It’s a lullaby sung by mothers to children who may not survive the night.
On the final episode of Hark! this season, prepare yourselves for a wee bit of scandal because we’re looking at a tune that began as a bawdy love song and has long been associated with an evil monarch, but which, over the course of three centuries, finds its redemption as a Christmas carol. This is the story behind, “What Child Is This?”