The melody “Ding Dong Merrily on High” first appeared in a French dance tune book compiled in the 1500’s by Jehan Tabourot. George Ratcliffe Woodward wrote the English lyrics for this Christmas carol and first published the song in 1924 in “The Cambridge Carol Book.” Mr. Woodward was interested in church bell ringing – an influence obvious in this song. His interest in archaic poetry is also evident in the “macaronic” or comic verse style of the song. Charles Wood added harmony to the origin tune when the song was published by Woodward.
The arrangement the Longmont Chorale will sing is by Ryan T. Murphy. Dr. Murphy was a student of and assistant to Dr. Mack Wilberg when the latter was a professor at Brigham Young University. Dr. Wilberg is now music director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and since 2009 Dr. Murphy has served as the associate music director under Dr. Wilberg. Dr. Murphy received his doctorate in choral conducting from Boston University. He served as choral director at Walnut Hill School of the Arts (a secondary school associated with the New England Conservatory} and the Sundance Institute. In addition to his duties with the Tabernacle Choir, Dr. Murphy is the conductor of the Temple Square Chorale.
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The Longmont Chorale is a nonprofit Longmont choral group, an SATB choir which performs four subscription concerts in Longmont each season in addition to other performances by our auditioned group, Viva Voce.
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