This popular carol sung at Christmas-time didn't start
out as that at all, as it was a piece of dance music called "Tempus Adest
Floridum" which was played to celebrate spring during the 13th
Century in Scandinavia and the title translated means "Spring has unwrapped
her flowers".This particular
piece of music is also used for the carol "Gentle Mary Laid her Child" by
Joseph Simpson Cook and found in Carmina Burana by Carl Orr. The
first known publication of it was in Piae Cantiones, which was
published in Sweden in 1582.In the version that we now know today, the words celebrate the St.
Stephen's Feast Day, which falls on 26th December, so although
it can't be deemed as a genuine Christmas carol that celebrates the day, it
is still part of the twelve days of Christmas.It is known that there was definitely a Wenceslas, but
he wasn't a king, he was a Bohemian duke called Vaclav.He spent his time promoting
Christianity in Bohemia but his brother, Boleslav, just wanted to be the
duke and gain power so assassinated him in the year 929.Vaclav was made the patron saint of
Bohemia in the 11th Century.John Mason Neale was a hymnwriter who came across
"Tempus Adest Florum" in 1853 when Her Majesty's Envoy and Minister in
Stockholm gave him a copy of Piae Cantiones, and because he had
knowledge of the story surrounding Duke Vaclav, he wrote lyrics to
accompany the music.The
particular legend he chose from the Duke's story involved a king, a page
and a poor man and soon this new carol would become the "Good King
Wenceslas" we are familiar with.The name "Wenceslas" was used, as it is the German
form of Vaclav.The actors
Hugh Grant, Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd, the composer Peter Schikele, the
comedians Jack Black and Spike Milligan, and The Beatles have all parodied
this carol, it has been re-told by Terry Pratchett in his Hogfather and
the BBC in their radio drama Crisp and Even, Brightly and it has
been recorded by artists that include Joan Baez, Bing Crosby, Loreena
McKennitt and R.E.M.
Black Dyke Mills Band recordings
Chandos 4541 (CD: A Christmas Fantasy)
Boston Pops recordings
Philips 416 287 - 2 (CD:We Wish You a Merry Christmas)
Conductor - John
Williams
DG 419 414-2 (CD: White Christmas)
Conductor - Arthur
Fiedler
RCA 09026-61685-2 (CD: Pops Christmas Party)
Conductor - Arthur
Fiedler
Sony SK 48232 (CD: Joy to the World)
Conductor - John
Williams
Tanglewood Festival Chorus
Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra recordings
Naxos 8.990005 (CD: Joy to the World)
Conductor - Richard Hayman
Rochester Pops Orchestra
Koch CHD 1531 (CD: Joy to the World - Carols for
Orchestra and Chorus)
St Louis Philharmonic Orchestra recordings
Sonari records - 7 55724 00272 3 (CD: Christmas with
the Philharmonic)
