Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
SATB choral score unaccompanied
PEL2020-Choir Unaccompanied
A WORK FOR SATB CHOIR UNACCOMPANIED
An a cappella arrangement of the Southern Appalachian Christmas carol which poignantly describes the poverty and simplicity of the Christ Child's manger bed, in contrast to the opulent cradles of those born to the rich and powerful, who "sleep in feathers at their birth." The harmonies in the refrain drive the point with increasing dissonance in each iteration, framed against the interspersed and simple narrative of the verses.
Video
Notes
Included in the Pelagosmusic recording "What Child Is This?", with Chorus Angelicus and Gaudeamus, directed by Paul Halley (PEL1005).
Texts
Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head
Words and Music: Southern Appalachian
Arranged by Paul Halley (1952 - )
Refrain:
Jesus, Jesus, rest your head,
You have got a manger bed;
All the evil folk on earth
Sleep in feathers at their birth;
Jesus, Jesus, rest your head,
You have got a manger bed.
Have you heard about our Jesus?
Have you heard about his fate?
How his mother went to that stable
On that Christmas Eve so late?
Winds were blowing, cows were lowing,
Stars we glowing, glowing, glowing.
Refrain
To that manger came then wise men,
Bringing things from hin and yon
For the mother and the father
And that blessed little son;
Milkmaids left their fields and flocks,
And sat beside the ass and ox.
Refrain
Reviews
"Spiced with inventive harmonies and textures, pieces like 'Jesus Jesus Rest Your Head' and 'Good King Wenceslas' take on new life. ” – Lawrence Schenbeck, The Choral Journal
