Gaudete

Gaudete / The Holly and the Ivy
Steeleye Span

Chrysalis CHS 2007 (single, p/s, UK, December 1972)
Chrysalis CHS 2007 (single, UK, reissue November 1973)

Gaudete (stereo) / Gaudete (mono)
Steeleye Span

Chrysalis CHS 2008 (promotion single, UK, 1972)

[From Piae Cantiones (Finland, 1582); trad. arr. Hart / Prior / Knight / Johnson / Kemp]

Inspired by Bob Johnson who heard it in his father-in law's church, this song was first released in 1972 on Steeleye Span's fourth album Below the Salt. The record sleeve notes said:

Mist takes the morning path to wreath the willows - Rejoice, rejoice - small birds sing as the early rising monk takes to his sandals - Christ is born of the Virgin Mary - cloistered, the Benedictine dawn threads timelessly the needles eye - rejoice.

In December 1972, a different edit (without the Cathedral-like acoustics) was issued as a single with the B-side The Holly and the Ivy. It was re-released in November 1973 to reach chart #14 as Steeleye's first outstanding chart success. The track was also used in 1977 for the B-side of the single The Boar's Head Carol. The song has appeared on many compilations over the years but with the exception of the Original Masters 2 CD set, the single version seems to have become lost in favour of the album version. An original tape copy was found recently in the Festival Records tape vaults and has been fully sound restored for the reissue on the CD A Rare Collection 1972-1996.

At least four live recordings of Gaudete with several Steeleye Span line-ups are or were available:

from a BBC Radio John Peel Session recorded on October 2, 1972, on the compilation The Harvest of Gold,
from the Royal Opera Theatre in Adelaide, Australia in 1982 on the Australia-only LP On Tour and on the CD Gone to Australia,
from the Beck Theatre on September 16, 1989 on the video A 20th Anniversary Celebration,
and from 1994 on the CD Steeleye Span in Concert.

A new recording of Gaudete was released as a CD single in 2001 by Keltic Fusion (i.e. Troy Donockley, Nick Holland, Rose Kemp, Jacqui McShee, and Maddy Prior). I don't like this version very much; electronic drum 'n' bass doesn't really fit with this lovely song.

Steeleye Span recorded Gaudete again for the CD Present to accompany their December 2002 reunion tour.

Compare to this Ougenweide's version of Gaudete on their album Sol.

Lyrics

Latin	Translation
Gaudete, gaudete! Christus est natus Ex Maria virgine: Gaudete!	Rejoice! Rejoice! Christ is born Of the Virgin Mary; Rejoice!
Tempus adest gratiae, Hoc quod optabamus Carmina laetitiae Devote reddamus.	The time of grace has come For which we have prayed Let us devoutly sing Songs of joy.
Deus homo factus est Natura mirante, Mundus renovatus est A Christo regnante.	God is made man, While nature wonders The world is renewed By Christ the King.
Ezechielis porta Clausa pertransitur Unde Lux est orta Salus invenitur.	The closed gate of Ezekiel Has been passed through From where the light has risen [the East], Salvation is found.
Ergo nostra contio Psallat iam in lustro, Benedicat Domino Salus Regi nostro.	Therefore let our assembly sing praises now At this time of purification Let it bless the Lord: Greetings to our King.
	(from the New Oxford Book of Carols, 1992)

Notes

From The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols:

No music is given for the verses in Piae Cantiones. They derive from the medieval Bohemian song Ezechielis Porta, which Finnish clerical students would have encountered in Prague and which shared a tune with a Czech vernacular Christmas song that still survives. Finno, the editor of Piae Cantiones, was probably responsible for the refrain. It adapts the words of one of the medieval verses to the music which, in various forms, was sung throughout Lutheran Germany to Luther's single-stanza grace before meals, Danket dem Herrn. Verse 3 refers to the eastern gate of the city in Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 44:2). The gate is a traditional symbol of Mary as perpetual virgin.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Joe Offer for correcting the errors in the verses on the record sleeve and for supplying me with translation and notes.