Cold December flies away at the rose red splendor.
April’s crowning glory breaks while the whole world wonders.
At the holy unseen power of the tree which bears the flower.
On the blessed tree blooms the saddest flower,
On the tree blooms the rose here in love’s own garden,
Full and strong in glory.
In the hopeless time of sin shadows deep had fallen.
All the world lay under death, eyes were closed in sleeping.
But when all seemed lost in night, came the sun whose golden light
Unending joy, brings the endless joy of our hope,
Highest hope of our hope’s bright dawning,
Son beloved of heaven.
Now the bud has come to bloom and the world awakens.
In the lily’s purest flower dwells a wondrous fragrance.
And it spreads to all the earth from the moment of its birth;
And its beauty lives. In the flower it lives,
In the flower and it spreads in its heavenly brightness,
Sweet perfume delightful.
Cold December Flies Away is more familiar in choir music and in recordings. It hasn’t appeared in many denominational hymnals. But it’s a delightful tune. Often the tune “sells” the hymn or the carol and the words go along for the ride.
This is a Catalonian carol–from a state within Spain on the French border near the Mediterranean. That explains why the French have their own version of the tune. (More about that later with Noel X.) Who borrowed it from whom?
Even though it is associated with Christmas, it seems to be a spring carol. December has flown away, and April is here with buds and flowers. There are some parallels to “Behold a Branch Is Growing” based on Isaiah 11. The “saddest flower” reminds me of Isaiah 52-53, the Messiah bears our griefs and carries our sorrows, and also is the “rose of Sharon” in the Song of Solomon (2:1).* As sad as the flower is, it blooms beautifully “full and strong in glory,” which is very close to the Gospel of John’s phrase, “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
The second verse also recalls the themes of light and darkness in John 1 and Isaiah 9. These make me think of the state of the world at the time of the birth of Christ. Caesar Augustus ruled in Rome–we know him for his census, and he was known to be a great administrator, yet the Roman Empire was still very brutal in the way it ruled. Even their entertainment (gladiators, chariot races, etc.) was brutal and violent to maintain the Roman image to keep fear in the people in the outlying colonies. Rome’s local ruler in Judea was Herod, who was selfish, cruel, and also ruled with fear. The murder of the babies of Bethlehem was typical for Herod. Such darkness! That is when God sends his Light! “The sun of righteousness arises with healing in its wings!” (Malachi 4:2).
The last verse’s mention of fragrance and perfume takes us back to the Song of Solomon, “your name is like perfume poured out” (1:3). There are other carols that mention “fragrance” and “perfume,” which seems to be symbolizing spiritual delight with a sensual one.
Noel X is a well-known organ piece written by Louis-Claude Daquin in the early 1700s based on the French version of the tune Lo Desembre Congelat / Cold December Flies Away. The French name of the carol is Quand Dieu Naquit A Noël. The repetition and echo effects are what drive the piece, along with the many variations that dance around the tune. There is a translation of the French carol, which seems to be a narrative carol with some elements of fantasy and novelty, with the chorus, “Let the bells ding-dong,” etc. To my ears, Noel X is one of the sounds of Christmas.
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*Some of the flower and rose carols were originally referring to the virgin Mary as the rose, which may be the reason some Protestant and Lutheran hymnals prefer “Behold a Branch.” We’ll deal with that later when we discuss “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming / Behold a Branch Is Growing.”
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