The Boar's Head Carol

A while ago, John was watching a PBS special in which they reenacted a Renaissance Christmas in England (Lucy Worsley's 12 Days Of Tudor Christmas if you want to know), and during the celebration, a boar with an apple in its mouth was presented as some sort of delicacy. Naturally, John thought this looked unappetizing – to put it mildly. And so the beginnings of a rewrite of "The Boar's Head Carol" began to form.

He used recorders, lute, harpsichord, hand drums and tambourine to set the Renaissance tone, and then added acoustic guitar and acoustic bass to fill out the sound. And he really wanted a crumhorn to play the melody to keep the Renaissance vibe going, but alas, crumhorn players are not in abundance near the recording studio. So he found a respectable sound sample and we think it sounds amazing! (Lesson: What exactly is a crumhorn?)

The key to performing this piece is to have your choir sing it with absolute seriousness, no matter how silly the lyrics – and they are silly! That said, this is comedy, so if there's a bit of snickering coming from the peanut gallery, that's to be expected. The spoken lines can be delivered in such a way as to make it funnier. Have a listen to our full performance tracks and you'll see what we mean. We do use a bit of pig Latin at measure 57 (Get it? Pig Latin?), and though it's not technically correct (we're treating boar's head as one word), it works out lyrically, and comedically. If you really want to *ham* up your performance, students can dress up in Renaissance garb, like a tunic or a cloak.

Extras for this piece include a full version that does not have the spoken solos so you can have the reinforcement of singing without our kids talking. There is also a rehearsal track for the upper part fo the divisi line. You'll find these on our web site.