A Rose for Christmas
by Terry Davis
Title
A Rose for Christmas
Artist
Terry Davis
Medium
Digital Art - Photo Painting
Description
The lovely, haunting melody of this ancient Christmas Carol is one of my favorites.
"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" ("A rose has sprung up"), most commonly translated to English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" or "A Spotless Rose", is a Christmas carol and Marian Hymn of German origin.
The text is thought to be penned by an anonymous author expressing fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 11:1 The piece first appeared in print in the late 16th century. The hymn has been used by both Catholics and Protestants, with the focus of the song being Mary or Jesus, respectively. In addition, there have been numerous versions of the hymn, with varying texts and lengths. In 1844, the German hymnologist Friedrich Layriz added three more stanzas, the first of which, Das Bl melein so kleine, remained popular and has been included in Catholic hymnals.
The tune most familiar today appears in the Speyer Hymnal (printed in Cologne in 1599), and the familiar harmonization was written by German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609.
The English translation "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" was written by Theodore Baker in 1894. A translation of the first two verses of the hymn as "A Spotless Rose" was written by Catherine Winkworth and this was set as a SATB anthem by Herbert Howells in 1919 and Philip Ledger in 2002.
Another Christmas hymn, "A Great and Mighty Wonder", is set to the same tune as this carol and may sometimes be confused with it. It is, however, a hymn by St. Germanus, translated from Greek to English by John M. Neale in 1862. Versions of the German lyrics have been mixed with Neale's translation of a Greek hymn in subsequent versions such as Percy Dearmer's version in the 1931 Songs of Praise collection.
IMAGE FEATURED IN:
The Artists Cards Fine Art Greeting Cards 12/11/16
The Cards and Posters group 11/26/16
The Greeting Cards for All Occasions group 08/20/16
Uploaded
August 18th, 2016
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Comments (32)
Brian Tada
Terry, what an exquisite rose portrait, with beautiful colors, lovely text work and fabulous composition .... stunning! Loved reading the back story for this gorgeous image. Awesome work of art! F/L
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