Gaudete (2:31)
43,000 plays (16,023 listeners)
“Gaudete” (“Rejoice”) is a sacred Christmas carol, composed sometime in the 16th century. The song was published in the Piae Cantiones, a collection of Finnish/Swedish sacred songs published in 1582. No music is given for the verses, but the standard tune comes from older liturgical books.
The text, in Latin, is a typical song of praise, probably stemming from the Middle Ages. It follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary or the Saints of Christmas.
The English folk group Steeleye Span had a hit in 1973 (No. 14, UK singles chart) with an acappella recording of the song. Band guitarist Bob Johnson heard the song when he attended a folk-carol service with his father-in-law in Cambridge (UK), and brought it to the attention of the rest of the band.
This single is one of only three top 50 British hits to be sung in Latin (the others were both recordings of “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem; firstly by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston in 1986, secondly as a minor hit by the 12-year-old Charlotte Church in 1998; in 1975 Mike Oldfield had a top 10 hit with “In Dulci Jubilo” but this Latin song was performed as an instrumental).
“Gaudete” is also one of only a handful of acappella performances to become hit singles.
The text, in Latin, is a typical song of praise, probably stemming from the Middle Ages. It follows the standard pattern for the time - a uniform series of four-line stanzas, each preceded by a two-line refrain (in the early English carol this was known as the burden). Carols could be on any subject, but typically they were about the Virgin Mary or the Saints of Christmas.
The English folk group Steeleye Span had a hit in 1973 (No. 14, UK singles chart) with an acappella recording of the song. Band guitarist Bob Johnson heard the song when he attended a folk-carol service with his father-in-law in Cambridge (UK), and brought it to the attention of the rest of the band.
This single is one of only three top 50 British hits to be sung in Latin (the others were both recordings of “Pie Jesu” from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem; firstly by Sarah Brightman and Paul Miles-Kingston in 1986, secondly as a minor hit by the 12-year-old Charlotte Church in 1998; in 1975 Mike Oldfield had a top 10 hit with “In Dulci Jubilo” but this Latin song was performed as an instrumental).
“Gaudete” is also one of only a handful of acappella performances to become hit singles.
Video
Added by lifeinacndyswrl
'Claudia Schieve sings Gaudete'
I recorded myself singing the old traditional song, Gaudete. Yea, I know my pronunciation of the Latin is not all that great, but I tried. All of the tracks are me,…
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I recorded myself singing the old traditional song, Gaudete. Yea, I know my pronunciation of the Latin is not all that great, but I tried. All of the tracks are me,…
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Albums featuring this track
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The Best of Steeleye Span
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Shouts
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keithiebabe wrote:
awesome track
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PaulNichol81 wrote:
It blew my socks off!
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Myrna4Loy wrote:
this was a hit then and often called one of their very best songs. for me there are many vocal-tracks on other lps I prefer to this one.
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BennyT11 wrote:
can't take this seriously after partridge
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cachinnatio wrote:
gives me the shivers!
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gungh0 wrote:
oh do I love this so much
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riggiefan1 wrote:
As they say the oldies are the best
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Irlandese64 wrote:
My God this is beautiful....
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indy133 wrote:
beautiful song
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Drazba wrote:
heard this band for the first time on the radio in the mid 70's on WJKL-Elgin,IL-one of the finest little prog stations ever-thanks Tom Marker(later of WXRT-Chicago,Il)
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tilgalas wrote:
agree, xelene_x
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gt185 wrote:
lovely , remember them performing this on top of the pops , it was quite surreal
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BalladBombs wrote:
beautiful and timeless
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beowulf02 wrote:
wonderful.......
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BonnyBead wrote:
Wonderfully brilliant
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Nefertiti2 wrote:
lovely!!!!!!
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alltheyear wrote:
Gaudete, gaudete Christus est natus ex maria virginae gaudete. Tempus ad est gratiae hoc quod optabamus, carmina laetitae devote redamus. Deus homo factus est naturam erante, mundus renovatus est a Christo regnante. Ezecheelis porta clausa per transitor, unde lux est orta sallus invenito. Ergo nostra contio psallat jam in lustro, benedicat domino sallus regi nostro.
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GRIBOUZINE wrote:
SUPERBE
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xelene_x wrote:
Beautiful song, however their pronnounciation is terrible. ;)
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hinehead wrote:
Another beautiful song and performance - Alan Partridge ahaaaa!
Steeleye Span
Gaudete
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Recent Activity
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gt_noodles added Gaudete to their Loved Tracks. yesterday afternoon
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cjsolent added Gaudete to cjsolent’s library. yesterday afternoon
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TunaSquirrel and ECH21 loved Steeleye Span – Gaudete. yesterday morning
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KeithSu added Gaudete to the playlist Christmas. Thursday morning
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KeithSu added Gaudete to KeithSu’s library. Thursday morning
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arcadia45, the_spirit_mage, TotalledCorpse and 5 other people loved Steeleye Span – Gaudete. Wednesday evening
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vanmartyn added Gaudete to the playlist To Giovanni. Tuesday evening
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crazy-dan-uk added Gaudete to his Loved Tracks. Tuesday afternoon
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maninalift and slfcalderon added Steeleye Span – Gaudete to their libraries. Monday evening
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maninalift added Gaudete to the playlist christmas. Monday evening
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