Frosty has melted and we’re off to France to revisit a song I did last year. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella is what I’ll perform this Wednesday night in my first recital. I’ve added a few things to the 17th century carol that weren’t in my performance last Christmas, and I’ve been polishing the piece for a month.

The recital is at Salem’s Historic Grand Theatre, which is a cool venue, built in 1900 and renovated three years ago. Looking forward to it! Consider this the in-home dress rehearsal:

Aria joins me on the next tune. I hope to get up three more songs before Christmas!

The sleigh is back in the barn after it was upsot in that tragic snowdrift accident. Today everything slows down to a more reflective pace with a 17th century Christmas carol originating from beautiful Provence, France. The first time I heard Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella was on Mannheim Steamroller’s initial Christmas album. The arrangement was beautiful, and I try here to emulate parts of it on the ukulele.

This is probably the most difficult song I’ve learned this holiday season. The single note melody played on the first verse is easy, but incorporating the chords into the melody on the second verse is challenging:

My understanding is that children in modern Provence carry torches and candles on their way to midnight mass on Christmas Eve while singing carols.

More Christmas ukulele to come as we hit the stretch run to the big day! A 20th century hit is next.