This Endris Night

St Mary's Church, Kennington, Kent - Stained Glass Nativity scene, photo by John Salmon

If you’re looking for a relatively straightforward SATB carol, you might enjoy my setting of This Endris Night:

This endris night, I saw a sight,
A star as bright as day,
And ever among this maiden sung,
Lully, by by, lullay.

1. This lovely lady sat and sang, and to her child did say,
My son, my brother, my father dear, why liest thou thus in hay?
My sweet bird, though it betide, thou not be King veray,
But nevertheless, I will not cease to sing by by lullay.

2. The Child then spake in his talking, and to his mother he said:
I bekydde am in heaven as King, in crib though I be laid;
For angels bright down to me light, thou knowst it is no nay;
And of that sight, thou mayst be light to sing by by lullay.

3. Now sweet son, since thou art King, why art thou laid in stall?
Why not ordain thy bedding in some great kingès hall?
Methink it right that king or knight should lie in good array,
And then among, it were no wrong to sing, by by, lullay.

4. Mary, mother, I am thy child, though in a manger lay,
Lords and dukes shall worship me, and so shall kingès all,
Ye shall well see that kingès three shall come on the twelfth day,
For this behest, give me thy breast, and sing by by, lullay, lullay.

5. Now, sweet son, since it is so, all things are at thy will,
I pray thee, grant to me a boon, if it be right and skill,
That child or man that will or can be merry upon my day,
To bliss them bring, and I shall sing lully, by by, lullay.

This endris night, I saw a sight,
A star as bright as day,
And ever among this maiden sung,
Lully, by by, lullay.

Here are the usual robotic flutes:

This Endris Night PDF

As usual, this is under a CC by-SA license, so you can use it for free, on condition that you also share freely any derivative works (including recordings).

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