Mixed (SATB+) - Two Apple-Howling Songs: arr. Jane Best (SATB)

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Two Apple-Howling Songs: arr. Jane Best (SATB)

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Format:Sheet music
Arranger/Composer: Trad. English folk songs, arr. Jane Best
Voicing: SATB div.
Publisher: Oceanna Music
Style/Usage suggestions: British Isles folk, world music, autumn concert
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From the cover: 'Apple-howling' or 'wassailing the fruit trees,' is an old European country tradition which continued into this century in some parts of England. Depending on local custom, on Twelfth Night (Epiphany) or on Christmas Eve or New Year's, people would go out into the orchard and drink a toast to the health of the fruit trees. ('Wassail' comes from the Anglo-Saxon 'wes hal' meaning 'be whole'.) Toast was dipped in cider and placed on the branches; cider was poured about the roots, and the tree was exhorted to bear well. Some would chant or sing, circling the trees by torchlight. In some places they beat the trees noisily with sticks, or fired gunshots through the branches to ward off evil.