The Christ Child’s lullaby with flute & harp/piano

Steve Sandberg has created a beautiful concert arrangement of the Gaelic Christmas song Tàladh Chrìosda (literally “Christ’s Lullaby”), based on a charming translation into English — written for the Scottish singer Sheena Wellington — by Kenna Campbell. Sandberg makes skillful use of changes in vocal texture and harmony to build the piece from quiet beginning to fervent alleluia — and back again to joyful peace.

The original Gaelic song was written by Father Ronald Rankin, a Catholic priest in Moidart, as a memento for the children of his parish when he left for Australia in the mid-19th century. The song became more widely known after being arranged for voice and piano by the folk-song collector Marjory Kennedy Fraser and published by Boosey & Hawkes in the anthology Songs of the Hebrides (1909). The lovely traditional tune used here (and by Kennedy Fraser) is different from the one originally associated with Rankin’s verses. The demo recording was directed by Steve Sandberg, with solo by Susan Ramlet.

Canasg also offers quite different settings for unison children with handbells and, in Gaelic or English, for SAB a cappella.