In Romeo and Juliet, the servant who inadvertently invites them to Capulet's masqued ball twice tells Romeo and Benvolio, "Rest you merry." The transitive use of the verb rest in the sense "to keep, cause to continue, to remain" is typical of 16th- to 17th-century language. However, merry is often misinterpreted as an adjective modifying gentlemen. It appears in Shakespeare's 1599 play As You Like It. The historic meaning of the phrase "God rest you merry" is 'may God grant you peace and happiness' the Oxford English Dictionary records uses of this phrase from 1534 onwards. The following version of the first verse is found in a manuscript dating from the early 1650s: It is also quoted in George Eliot's 1861 novel Silas Marner. The carol is referred to in Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. Īn article in the March 1824 issue of The Gentleman's Magazine complains that, in London, no Christmas carols are heard "excepting some croaking ballad-singer bawling out 'God rest you, merry gentlemen', or a like doggerel". Hone's version of the tune differs from the present melody in the third line: the full current melody was published by Chappell in 1855. It had been associated with the carol since at least the mid-18th century, when it was recorded by James Nares in a hand-written manuscript under the title "The old Christmas Carol". Soon after, it appeared in a parody published in 1820 by William Hone. The better-known traditional English melody is in the minor mode the earliest printed edition of the melody appears to be in a rondo arrangement for fortepiano by Samuel Wesley, which was already reviewed in 1815. Īlthough there is a second tune known as 'Cornish', in print by 1833 and referred to as "the usual version" in the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols, this version is seldom heard today. Others date it later, to the eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries. Some sources claim that the carol dates as far back as the 16th century. A precisely datable reference to the carol is found in the November 1764 edition of the Monthly Review. The earliest known printed edition of the carol is in a broadsheet dated to c. It contains a slightly different version of the first line from that found in later texts, with the first line "Sit yo w merry gentlemen" (also transcribed "Sit you merry gentlemen" and "Sit yo u merry gentlemen"). Select an image below to view and print Christmas songs written for each instrument.1827 publication of the melody, set to satirical lyrics by William HoneĪn early version of this carol is found in an anonymous manuscript, dating from the 1650s. The Two Happy Bears are excited about the holiday and are eagerly counting every second! You can also select an instrument image at the bottom of the page for more Christmas songs for your instrument.įor a countdown to Christmas, visit the How Many Days Until Christmas page. The wind, brass, and string arrangements of the carol are all in the key of concert A, so all of those instruments can play it together. You can also view and print the lyrics to God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. There are also links to many more arrangements of the carol in seven different keys in treble, bass, and alto clefs. Select the song image below for a printable PDF of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. While God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen conveys a mood of seriousness, it still expresses a bright, uplifting feeling, in spite of its minor mode. Songs in minor modes are often considered to be dark, sad, or stormy, and therefore, most festive Christmas carols are in a major mode. This carol is unlike most Christmas music in one respect, though: it is in a minor mode. Like many of the traditional carols we perform at Christmas, the composer of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen is not known. Select a link below to jump to one of the following arrangements of God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen:
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