Meaning Of The Song 'What Child Is It'

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What Child is This was originally written by Sir John Stainer. The tune of this song was used from another song named Greensleeves written in the 1600’s. Within the song Sir John Stainer used a few verses from a different Christmas song called The Manger Throne written by William Chatterton Dix. In 2012 Lindsey Sterling did an instrumental version of this song that I enjoy listening to. Since Lindsey’s version is instrumental I don’t know many of the words that accompliment this song. Meaning, I will talk about why I like this song, relating to its tune instead of its words. How I was first introduced to the song was my grandma wanted me to play it to her on the violin one day. I said I would and started listening to it more, while listening …show more content…

In comparison to other songs the tempo or speed of the song is relatively slow. There are not too many notes within the songs itself, which can portray a calmer effect then a song with more notes in it. As a person, I tend to enjoy some calm songs so What Child is This appealed to me as a person. The next item that appealed to me was the vibrato within it. Vibrato, a violin technique, can be used to make the piece of music sound more natural. By natural I mean sound more like you sung the piece opposed to played it. With the music sounding more like it is being sung than played, it sounds more natural. Lindsey Sterling’s version of this song utilizes vibrato making it sound more natural or sung. Whenever I hear the vibrato in this song I wish I could do vibrato. What Child is This reminds me of a goal I have which is to one day be able to do vibrato like in the …show more content…

Canon in D is one of the prettiest songs to me. If you don’t know what the Canon in D song is it is played at weddings often. Using the technique of vibrato, it can sound like singing just not as much as What Child is This. Unlike What Child is This and O Come O Come Emmanuel, Canon in D major has more notes in it that gives it a faster pace. With more notes in the music the tune of a song can vary more. What I particularly like about the earlier mentioned song is while listening to it the song kind of tells a story along with it. A lot of classical music tends to tell a story while being played, although Canon in D does it especially well. Another thing about the song for me is it’s just calming and relaxing to me. I like to play this song in the background when I am doing something such as homework. If I am stressed I play it and it can calm me down soon. Above all the other reasons, this song occupies my collection of favorite songs as a result of me wanting to one day play it on the violin. I choose the songs I eventually have a goal to play very carefully so when I do learn how to play them it can be more meaningful of an experience for me. Canon in D remains a great song that’s on my list for good

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