Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

German carol

Lo, how a rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a floweret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Isaiah ’twas foretold it,
The rose I have in mind;
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God’s love aright,
She bore to men a Savior,
When half spent was the night.

The shepherds heard the story
Proclaimed by angels bright,
How Christ, the Lord of glory
Was born on earth this night.
To Bethlehem they sped
And in the manger found Him,
As angel heralds said.

This flower, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor
The darkness everywhere;
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens every load.

O Savior, child of Mary,
Who felt our human woe,
O Savior, King of glory,
Who dost our weakness know;
Bring us at length we pray,
To the bright courts of Heav­en,
And to the endless day!

Alan Sanderson: ukulele, melodica, autoharp, bass
Heinz Sander: accordion
Fitz: melodica
Sanderson family: vocals
Marisa Sanderson: cover art

Alan’s Notes

This is a German carol from the 16th century. It has a haunting melody with an unusual meter. Heinz really wanted to do this song, and I decided to go with his choice because he is done with his mission and going back to school, so it is possible that this could be his last Christmas as a kid living at home. And also because it is a beautiful song that I wanted to spend some time with.

The song has five verses, three of which usually appear in recordings. I decided to leave out the second of these common verses because I liked the less commonly heard verses better. The image of a rose was used in the middle ages to represent Christ, and the song references this passage from Isaiah:

“1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

“2 And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-2).

I listened to a number of recordings of this song, most of which were similar to the one by the Tabernacle Choir on Temple Square. My favorite arrangement is by Sheldon Mirowitz on an old Narada Christmas album that we have enjoyed for many years in our home. The version recorded by Sting was rather different from the others, in both good and bad ways. The spoken second verse is rather cringey, in my opinion, but I really liked the sound of the melodica in his arrangement and decided to use one in ours. The kids loved the melodica, and argued for days over whose turn it was to play it next.

The intro of our version is played on an electric tenor ukulele I found at a pawn shop earlier this year, which is quickly joined by the melodica. The soloists are the three youngest kids in the family. Johann and Marisa helped me with the vocal arrangement on the third verse, which was recorded as a group performance with a single condenser and two dynamic microphones. The last verse has Fitz on the melodica and Heinz playing the chords on his grandmother’s accordion.

More Christmas music:

Sanderson Family – The Dawn of Redeeming Grace

Info and Stats

• Production dates: December 2023
• Equipment
  • Interface: Behringer Xenyx 1204USB, Behringer Ultra-DI DI400P
  • Instruments: Ibanez UICT10-BK, Hohner Performer37 melodica, Gretsch La Tosca accordion, ChromAharp
  • Microphones: DIY condenser by Michael Willis, Shure SM-57, Samson R21
• Software:
  • Linux Mint 20.2
  • Ardour 8.3
  • Dragonfly Hall Reverb
  • x42 plugins: dynamic compressor, parametric equalizer
  • Calf Studio Gear: vintage delay
  • sfizz with Virtual Playing Orchestra
• Total tracks:
  • Vocal: 4
  • Melodicas and accordions: 3
  • Ukulele: 1
  • Autoharp: 1
  • Bass: 1