Work
Bring Us In Good Ale
for TBB, congas and piano
Borrow/Hire:
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About
Although on a surface merely a drinking song, this is really an early Christmas piece from the ‘wassail’ tradition. A wassail was a toast or a drink associated with Christmas festivities, and the term could also be applied to the drink itself: 'a punch made of sweetened ale or wine heated with spices and roasted apples'. The text is probably from the time of Henry VI (1421-1471).
When the text was printed in a carol collection in the 1851, the editor cautioned: 'Good ale, however, like most other things when taken in excess, is attended by certain inconveniences, as the following song....will serve to explain.'
Commissioned note
Written for Mainly Men of Rangitoto College, Auckland, and conductor David Squire
Text note
Anonymous text
Performance history
16 Jun 2009: Performed by Mainly Men in Auckland Town Hall, in Auckland