THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS (score & parts)

The Twelve Days of Christmas is an English Christmas carol dating from the late 18th century. Over the years many different melodies and lyrics have been associated with the song – in versions from the UK and other countries – but the best known is a 1909 arrangement of a traditional folk melody by the English baritone and composer Frederic Austin (1872-1952).

The lyrics detail a series of increasingly numerous gifts given to the speaker by their ‘true love’ on each of the twelve days of Christmas (the twelve days that make up the Christmas season, starting with Christmas Day). The gifts are: a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying, seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking, nine ladies dancing, ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming Each new gift is stated, after which all the preceding gifts are repeated so that each verse is one line longer than its predecessor. It is a classic example of a cumulative song and may well have origins as a song from a children’s memory and forfeit game.

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