“Here We Come A-Wassailing” (traditional English)

This well-known Christmas carol comes from England. Wassail is a delicious spiced punch traditionally served during the winter months and Christmas season. Carolers would travel from door to door singing carols until the host offered to hand out wassail. This was a common practice in England and can be seen in other carols as well, for example, where carolers demand “figgy pudding” and won’t leave until they “get some.” See if your instructor will give into your sung demands!

Note that there are three different audio “mixes” of this excerpt: one with evenly balanced parts, one with the top voice louder, and one with the bottom voice louder. Feel free to use any of the recordings to answer the questions. 

Recordings produced by students at the University of Miami – Frost School of Music.