“The Christ Child’s Lullaby” is an English translation of the Scots Gaelic “Tàladh Chrìosda,” a Christmas carol adapted and popularized in the 20th century from a longer work written in 1855 by Catholic priest Ranald Rankin for his parishioners at Fort William in the Scottish Highlands.
Rankin’s hymn, representing a lullaby for the Christ Child by the Virgin Mother Mary, was intended for performance at Midnight Mass (the first mass of Christmas) and is still sung then at churches in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland today. Titled “Tàladh ar Slànaigheir” (“The Lullaby of our Savior”) and containing 29 verses, it is altogether a lullaby, a retelling of elements of the Nativity story, and an explication of the nature and work of Christ.
The English text of “The Christ Child’s Lullaby” is one of many translations, adaptations, and variants of the original Scots Gaelic text. The tune, too, is one of many variants of a traditional Hebridean folk melody. It has been further adapted and newly harmonized in this medium-easy arrangement for SATB choir and organ, featuring solo soprano on verse 1, sopranos-altos in open harmonies on verse 2, and full SATB in rich harmonies on verse 3 and the concluding “Alleluias.”
SATB/organ score (4 pages, 8.5×11″)
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