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=                     O Little Town of Bethlehem                     =
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                             Introduction                             
======================================================================
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a Christmas carol. Based on an 1868
text written by Phillips Brooks, the carol is popular on both sides of
the Atlantic, but to different tunes: in the United States, to "St.
Louis" by Brooks' collaborator, Lewis Redner; and in the United
Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland to "Forest Green", a tune collected by
Ralph Vaughan Williams and first published in the 1906 'English
Hymnal'.


                                Words                                 
======================================================================
The text was written by Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), an Episcopal
priest, then rector of Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia, and
later of Trinity Church, Boston. He was inspired by visiting the
village of Bethlehem in the Sanjak of Jerusalem in 1865. Three years
later, he wrote the poem for his church, and his organist Lewis Redner
(1831-1908) added the music.


 St Louis 
==========
Redner's tune, simply titled "St. Louis", is the tune used most often
for this carol in the United States. Redner recounted the story of his
composition:

As Christmas of 1868 approached, Mr. Brooks told me that he had
written a simple little carol for the Christmas Sunday-school service,
and he asked me to write the tune to it. The simple music was written
in great haste and under great pressure. We were to practice it on the
following Sunday. Mr. Brooks came to me on Friday, and said, "Redner,
have you ground out that music yet to 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'?" I
replied, "No", but that he should have it by Sunday. On the Saturday
night previous my brain was all confused about the tune. I thought
more about my Sunday-school lesson than I did about the music. But I
was roused from sleep late in the night hearing an angel-strain
whispering in my ear, and seizing a piece of music paper I jotted down
the treble of the tune as we now have it, and on Sunday morning before
going to church I filled in the harmony. Neither Mr. Brooks nor I ever
thought the carol or the music to it would live beyond that Christmas
of 1868.

My recollection is that Richard McCauley, who then had a bookstore on
Chestnut Street west of Thirteenth Street, printed it on leaflets for
sale. Rev. Dr. Huntington, rector of All Saints' Church, Worcester,
Mass., asked permission to print it in his Sunday-school hymn and tune
book, called 'The Church Porch', and it was he who christened the
music "Saint Louis".


\transpose c bes,
\new Staff &lt;&lt;
\clef treble \key g \major {
\time 4/4 \partial 4
\relative g' {
b4 | b b ais b | d c e, a | g fis8 g a4 d, | b'2. \bar"" \break
b4 | b b e d | d c e, a | g fis8 g b4 a | g2. \bar"" \break
b4 | b b a g | fis2 fis4 fis | e fis g a | b2. \bar"" \break
b4 | b b ais b | d c e, e' | d g, b4. a8 | g2. \bar"|."
}
}
%\new Lyrics \lyricmode {
%}
&gt;&gt;
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 4 = 80 }


 Forest Green 
==============
In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and sometimes in the U.S.
(especially in the Episcopal Church), the English hymn tune "Forest
Green" is used instead. "Forest Green" was adapted by Ralph Vaughan
Williams from an English folk ballad called "The Ploughboy's Dream"
which he had collected from a Mr. Garman of Forest Green, Surrey in
1903. Henry Garman was born in 1830 in Sussex, and in the 1901 census
was living in Ockley, Surrey; Vaughan Williams' manuscript notes he
was a "labourer of Forest Green near Ockley - Surrey. ([aged] about
60?)", although Mr Garman would have been nearer 73 when he recited
the tune. The tune has a strophic verse structure and is in the form
A-A-B-A. Adapted into a hymn tune harmonised by Vaughan Williams, it
was first published in the 'English Hymnal' of 1906 (transcribed
below).


&lt;&lt; &lt;&lt;
\new Staff { \clef treble \time 4/2 \partial 2 \key f \major \set
Staff.midiInstrument = "church organ" \omit Staff.TimeSignature \set
Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \override Score.BarNumber  #'transparent =
##t
\relative c'
\repeat unfold 2 { &lt;&lt; { c2 | f f f g | a4\(( g) a( bes)\) c2
\breathe \bar"||" a | bes a4( f) g2 g f1. \breathe \bar"||" \break }
\\
{ c2 | c d c d4( e) | f2 f e d | d f f e | f1. } &gt;&gt; }
\relative c' {
&lt;&lt; { f4( a) | c2. d4 c( bes) a( g) | f( g a bes) c2 \breathe
\bar"||" c, | f a g f | c1 \breathe \bar"||" \break
c1 | f2 f f g | a4( g) a( bes) c2 \breathe \bar"||" a | bes a4( f)
g2 g | f1. \bar"|." } \\
{ f2 | e2. d4 e2 c | c( f) e c | c c bes a4( bes) | c1
c1 | c2 d c d4( e) | f2 f e d | d f f e | f1. } &gt;&gt; }
}
%%\new Lyrics \lyricsmode { put lyrics here if you insist }
\new Staff { \clef bass \key f \major \set Staff.midiInstrument =
"church organ" \omit Staff.TimeSignature
\relative c'
\repeat unfold 2 { &lt;&lt; { g2 | a bes c bes | c f, g f | bes c d
c4( bes) | a1. } \\
{ e2 | f bes a g | f d c d | g, a bes c | f1. } &gt;&gt; }
\relative c' {
&lt;&lt; { a2 | a2. f4 c'2 c4( bes) | a2( f) g e | f f d4( e) f2 |
e1
f2( g) | a bes c bes | c f, g f | bes c4( a) c2 c4( bes) | a1. } \\
{ d,2 | a2. bes4 c2 d4( e) | f2( d) c c4( bes) | a2 f bes d | c1
d2( e) | f bes a g | f d c d | g, a4( d) c2 c | 1. } &gt;&gt; }
}
&gt;&gt; &gt;&gt;
\layout { indent = #0 }
\midi { \tempo 2 = 80 }


 Other versions 
================
Two versions also exist by Henry Walford Davies, called "Wengen", or
"Christmas Carol". "Wengen" was published in 'Hymns Ancient and
Modern' in 1922, meanwhile "Christmas Carol" is usually performed only
by choirs rather than as a congregational hymn. This is because the
first two verses are for treble voices with organ accompaniment, with
only the final verse as a chorale/refrain harmony. This setting
includes a recitative from the Gospel of Luke at the beginning, and
cuts verses 2 and 4 of the original 5-verse carol. This version is
often performed at the service of Nine Lessons and Carols in King's
College, Cambridge.

William Rhys-Herbert included a new hymn-tune and harmonization as
part of his 1909 cantata, 'Bethany'.

The song has been included in many of the Christmas albums recorded by
numerous singers in the modern era.

"Little Town" is an arrangement of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" by
English singer-songwriter Chris Eaton. It was first recorded and
released by English singer Cliff Richard in 1982 who had a Christmas
hit with it in the UK. In the US, the better known version is by
American CCM artist Amy Grant, released on her 1983 Christmas album.
A new tune for O little Town of Bethlehem called "Enmore" by the
composer Philip Trumble was first published in 1987  Philip Trumble's
was also published in the 2022 publication Christmas Praise


                               See also                               
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* List of Christmas carols


                            External links                            
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*
*
* Score of "Wengen":
([http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Images/Wengen-1_Walford-Davies.jpg
pt 1],
[http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/Images/Wengen-2_Walford_Davies.jpg
pt 2])
* , sung to the tune "Forest Green" (arr. Vaughan Williams, desc.
Thomas Armstrong) by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge


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=========
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Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Little_Town_of_Bethlehem