Elizabethan Carol

This charming and harmonious arrangement from Albert Oliver Davis is a wonderful choice for a holiday concert. Solidly in the medium grade of difficulty, it remains in the key of G throughout. When Christ Was Born of Mary Free was probably composed in 1859 and appeared in the 1916 hymnal approved by the United States Episcopal Church and in Christmas Carols New and Old (1870, 1871, and 1878). It was printed in at least seven hymnals over the years. The lyrics are from a traditional carol taken from a 15th-century Harleian manuscript.