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god rest ye merry gentlemen

from A Christmas Album by gareth koch

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    Imagine timeless carols played instrumentally, as if by troubadours. Ancient & exquisite songs, deep within the human psyche, are now newly arranged by ARIA Award winning guitarist Gareth Koch. The interpretations reveal his signature blend of contemporary flair laced with medieval sensibilities.

    The arrangements are both elegant & appealing, sidestepping any notion of commercialised Christmas clichés. Re-imagined as ballads or folk songs, each carol receives a unique treatment. The listener is invited into an array of soundworlds, ranging from the early medieval to English folk-revival.

    The music of this album leads us away from the bustle of many modern realities. Instead we are drawn into a gentler universe, filled with subtlety & nuance. In any year, at any time, this album presents a Christmas message we all need to hear.

    Includes unlimited streaming of A Christmas Album via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Carmina Burana for Solo Guitar, Rumba Flamenca Arabe, Tangos del Gato, Gone to Earth, Ghost Stories, Music in the Afterlife, Granadina Flamenca, Flamenco Arabe, and 30 more. , and , .

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about

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is one of the oldest extant carols, dated to the 16th century or earlier. The earliest known printed edition of the carol is in a broadsheet dated to c. 1760. The traditional English melody is in the minor mode; the earliest printed edition of the melody appears to be in a parody, in the 1829 Facetiae of William Hone. It had been traditional and associated with the carol since at least the mid-18th century, when it was recorded by James Nares under the title "The old Christmas Carol".

The carol is referred to in Charles Dickens' 1843 A Christmas Carol: "... at the first sound of 'God bless you, merry gentlemen! May nothing you dismay!', Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of action that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole to the fog and even more congenial frost." The first recorded version is found in Three New Christmas Carols, dated c. 1760. Its first verse reads:

God rest ye, merry Gentlemen,
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this Day.
To save poor souls from Satan's power,
Which long time had gone astray.
Which brings tidings of comfort and joy.

credits

from A Christmas Album, released November 1, 2021

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gareth koch Sydney, Australia

Gareth Koch is an ARIA Award winning performer, composer and songwriter. He is a best-selling classical & flamenco guitarist with the ABC Classics label and contemporary songwriter with Planet/MGM.

He holds a PhD in Music & has lectured across Australian & European Universities.

Gareth draws inspiration from medieval music to post-modern psychedelia, with every imaginable influence in between. ... more

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