English Carols From the Middle Ages

Three English Christmas Carols of the early 15th century from the Trinity Carol Roll.These are arranged by John Gibson for oboe and English Horn trio (2 oboes and English Horn). These may sound a little strange to our modern ears....the rules of composition were quite different than now, although English composers tended to use more 3rd and 6th consonant intervals than used on the European continent at the time. While performing these carols, take special care with tuning the endings that normally are based on the interval of a 5th....the 5th should be played a bit higher than what a tuner would show to make it a perfect interval. There is also a bonus carol that is not about Christmas. In fact, not all carols were Christmas carols and this wonderful song praising King Henry V for his victory in Normandy in 1415 is one of those. The lyrics are provided for the king's carol in the score. These are great songs to play in a spacious place!