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Start the Season Right: A Beginning of Advent Rate-A-Record
It’s that time of year again
Today marks the start of Advent, the season during which we prepare for the birth of Christ. I know that when most people hear the word “Advent” today, they immediately think of the plethora of ridiculous so-called Advent calendars on offer, several of which I mercilessly mocked here. Advent, however, is so much more than all the crass commercialism; as I said, it’s about preparing for the real meaning of Christmas.
Along with the Christmas trees and stockings and caroling, one traditional part of the season is the lighting of the Advent wreath and the singing of one song in particular: “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” To help get you into the proper frame of mind as the season begins, for today’s Rate-A-Record I give you several versions of this classic hymn (you’re going to hear this one a lot over the next month, so you might as well have some options).
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” traces its origins to a Benedictine Gregorian chant from the 8th century. The song as we know it today was originally in Latin (“Veni, Veni, Emmanuel”) and goes back to around the 12th century, while the English version of the text was written in 1851 by Anglican priest John Mason Neale. And just for your general knowledge, “Emmanuel” means “God with us,” and appears twice…
