‘Babe of Bethlehem’ shape-note hymn/march (downloadable PDF)

$1.00

A rowsing, traditional, Christmas-themed American shape-note hymn, almost certainly derived from the 17th-cent. Scottish lute piece, ‘Adew Dundee’, and featured on The Birds’ Flight album.  Please see further below for more information and audio samples.

Description

A rowsing, traditional, Christmas-themed American shape-note hymn, almost certainly derived from the 17th-cent. Scottish lute piece, ‘Adew Dundee’.  Both of these tunes are featured on The Birds’ Flight, a 2021 album by Tim Cummings, Pete Sutherland, and Brad Kolodner.  Harmony parts based on some of the original shape-note harmonies are included in this two-page PDF.

You can hear this tune (and the rest of The Birds’ Flight album) on Bandcamp: https://birchenmusic.bandcamp.com/track/farewell-dundee-babe-of-bethlehem (‘Babe of Bethlehem’ is the second tune in this set)

(This arrangement also appears in the On This Day Earth Shall Ring collection.)

The original shape-note hymn can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=699Kk6sUra0

The presumed Scottish source can be heard here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGKakTaYF1Y