Day #24 AWAY IN A MANGER - Such a sweet song. HISTORY OF THE SONG: While the precise author of the carol Away in a Manger is unknown, there has been speculation that it could have been written by Martin Luther. This is probably just a myth however, with more evidence pointing towards the carol being authored in the late nineteenth century in the United States. We do know that its first appearance was in a book entitled The Little Children”s Book for Schools and Families which appeared in Philadelphia in 1885. This contained much of the modern carol, but excluded the third verse which first appears in a Charles H. Gabriel collection from 1892. This was part of the reason that the Library of Congresss carol researcher and head of reference section Richard S. Hill concluded that it was probably a Lutheran children”s poem created for the 1883 celebration of Martin Luthers 400th birthday. While the lyrics in use today dont see much variation, the music that accompanies the song isnt set in stone. Indeed in hymn books there have been over forty different musical pieces put alongside the lyrics. There isnt one thats most popular everywhere either, and both the USA and UK have different musical pieces that the music most commonly. In the USA its Mueller, a piece written by James R. Murray in 1887. While the UK largely uses Cradle Song by William J. Kirkpatrick who was the musical director of Philadelphia”s Grace Church and a serial hymn and carol compiler – his total publications of this type amounts of eighty-seven!
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 16:25:39 +0000
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