George Ratcliffe Woodward
George Ratcliffe Woodward wrote the words that make Renaissance dance tunes ring as Christmas carols. His verses for melodies such as the French tune behind Ding Dong Merrily on High still fill choirs and cathedrals every December.
An Anglican priest and hymnist, he wrote original religious verse and translations from ancient authors to sit on traditional melodies, mainly of the Renaissance. He sometimes set the harmonies himself, more often leaving that to composer Charles Wood. The Cowley Carol Book gathered those pairings into a body of carols choirs still open in December: bright, plainspoken English that rides the lilt of old dance tunes rather than weighing them down.
Compositions by George Ratcliffe Woodward appear on
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
The Choir of Ormond College, directed by Douglas Lawrence, presents a varied selection of twenty-eight Christmas carols. Familiar favourites sit beside Bach and Pachelbel organ pieces and twentieth-century settings.
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Ding Dong Merrily on High
A baker's dozen of well-loved traditional Christmas carols featuring children's and men's voices. Recorded in the magnificent acoustics of St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne.
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