O Come Little Children

Grade Level 1

Year: 2014

Type: Christmas

Composer: William Himes

Program Notes:

The lyrics to this well-known Christmas carol were originally written as a poem by the Catholic priest and writer Christoph von Schmid in 1798 and first published with a collection of poems in 1811.  This melody was written years earlier by Johann Abraham Peter Schulz in 1790 and was not associated with the text until at least 1830.  From the first verse, the carol celebrates the birth of Christ from a child’s perspective:

O, come, little children, O, come one and all,

To Bethlehem’s stable, in Bethlehem’s stall.

And see with rejoicing this glorious sight,

Our Father in heaven has sent us this night.

American Instrumental Ensemble Series (AIES/ABES)