O Little Town Of Bethlehem - Eglise Saint Pierre - Bordeaux, France
Channel: Strive4impact
Date: 25/11/2023

Singing O Little Town Of Bethlehem. 

Returned to Eglise Saint Pierre to sing in here again, before leaving Bordeaux, France.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol, the lyrics of which were written by Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal priest from Philadelphia. He was inspired to write the song after visiting the town of Bethlehem in the Holy Land in 1865, three years before he penned the carol.

The story goes that Brooks was deeply moved by the experience of riding on horseback from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. He attended a five-hour service at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a site believed to be the birthplace of Jesus. The profound peace and beauty of the town under the stars stayed with him, and he sought to capture the experience in words.

In 1868, back in the United States, Brooks wanted a new carol for the children to sing in the Sunday school Christmas program at his Philadelphia church, Holy Trinity Church. He recalled his inspirational Christmas Eve in Bethlehem and wrote the poem "O Little Town of Bethlehem."

The music for the carol was composed by Lewis Redner, the church's organist. The story of the composition is also quite interesting. Redner has recounted that he was struggling with finding the right melody and, feeling overwhelmed, went to bed on the night before the program. He then awoke in the early hours of the morning with the melody in his head, as if it had been a gift. He quickly wrote it down, and the children sang it the next day.

The carol quickly became popular in the United States and, over time, around the world. However, it's interesting to note that in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world, the carol is often sung to a different melody. This tune, called "Forest Green," was adapted from an English folk ballad by Ralph Vaughan Williams, a famous composer, and was first published in the English Hymnal in 1906.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem" remains a beloved hymn during the Christmas season, cherished for its peaceful imagery and gentle melody, evoking the quiet reverence of the nativity scene.