Let us be happy and cheerful

In a variant of the tradition described in the song, a Nicholas actor presents the gifts personally.

Let's be happy and cheerful is a German song for the feast day of St. Nicholas of Myra (December 6th). Thus it belongs to the group of Advent and Christmas carols . The song may come from the Hunsrück .

history

Text and melody are from the 19th century. Occasionally Josef Annegarn (1794–1843) is named as the author.

content

The song describes the children's anticipation of the feast of St. Nicholas. The gift plate plays a crucial role here: it is set up by the children on the eve of the festival and is filled with sweets by Santa Claus overnight. But then you have to be grateful to Santa Claus.

text

Let us be happy and cheerful
and let us rejoice from the bottom of our hearts!
Funny, funny, traleralera!
Soon it will be Christmas Eve,
soon it will be Saint Nicholas Eve!

Our school will soon be over,
then we'll happily move home.
Funny, funny, ...

Then I put the plate on,
Nik'laus will certainly put something on it.
Funny, funny, ... When

the plate is on the table,
I sing again happy and fresh:
Funny, funny, ...

When I sleep, then I dream,
now Nik'laus brings something for me.
Funny, funny, ...

When I get up, I
run quickly to the plate.
Funny, funny, ...

Nik'laus is a good man who
cannot be thanked enough.
Funny funny, …

Notes on this

↑ alternative text version: “and rejoice in the Lord!” Quoted from: Theo Mang, Sunhilt Mang (ed.): Der Liederquell . Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, ISBN 978-3-7959-0850-8 , pp. 1010 f .
↑ Spelling also: "Niklausabend", "Nik'lausabend"
↑ ^a ^b The two additional stanzas No. 2 and 4, which are only rarely printed, are attested in the Hunsrück or in the Rhineland . Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann suspects that its author was a schoolmaster.
↑ ^a ^b ^c An alternative text version changes the chorus for verse 5 to "Today is Nikolausabend da" and for verses 6 and 7 to "Now Nikolausabend was there.", See for example Let us be happy and cheerful in the song tree on www .labbe.de

grades

$\ relative g '{\ autoBeamOff \ key c \ major \ time 4/4 g4 g g8 [a] g [f] | e4 eer | ff f8 [g] f [e] | d4 ddr | cdef | g8 aga g4 r | c4 g g8 ag [f] | e4 dgr | c4 g g8 ag [f] | e4 dcr \ bar "|." } \ addlyrics {Let us be happy and cheerful and be very happy! Funny, funny, tra - le - ra - le - ra! Soon it will be Ni - ko - laus - dying, soon it will be Ni - ko - laus - dying! }$

literature

Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann : The book of Christmas carols . 151 German Advent and Christmas carols. 12th edition. Schott, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-254-08213-8 , pp. 328 f .
We sing the most beautiful Christmas carols . Verlag Herder GmbH, Freiburg im Breisgau 2008, ISBN 978-3-451-30097-4 , p. 16, 61 .

Web links

Wikibooks: Let's be happy and cheerful - learning and teaching materials

Let us be happy and cheerful. In: www.ingeb.org. Retrieved on December 1, 2011 (text in German, melody as midi file).
Let us be happy and cheerful. In: Alojado songs archive. Retrieved December 1, 2011 (text and sheet music, melody as midi file).

Individual evidence

↑ For further St. Nicholas songs cf. Nikolaus von Myra # Music .
↑ We sing the most beautiful Christmas carols , p. 61.
↑ Let's be happy and cheerful. In: song tree. Labbé Verlag, accessed December 4, 2011 .
↑ ^a ^b Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann : The book of Christmas carols . 151 German Advent and Christmas carols. 12th edition. Schott, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-254-08213-8 , pp. 328 f .

[4] ternative text version: “and rejoice in the Lord!” Quoted from: Theo Mang, Sunhilt Mang (ed.): Der Liederquell . Noetzel, Wilhelmshaven 2007, ISBN 978-3-7959-0850-8 , pp. 1010 f .

[5] Spelling also: "Niklausabend", "Nik'lausabend"

[Hunsrück-6] The two additional stanzas No. 2 and 4, which are only rarely printed, are attested in the Hunsrück or in the Rhineland . Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann suspects that its author was a schoolmaster.

[heut-7] An alternative text version changes the chorus for verse 5 to "Today is Nikolausabend da" and for verses 6 and 7 to "Now Nikolausabend was there.", See for example Let us be happy and cheerful in the song tree on www .labbe.de

[1] For further St. Nicholas songs cf. Nikolaus von Myra # Music .

[Weihnachtslieder_61-2] We sing the most beautiful Christmas carols , p. 61.

[Liederbaum-3] Let's be happy and cheerful. In: song tree. Labbé Verlag, accessed December 4, 2011 .

[Weber-Kellermann-8] Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann : The book of Christmas carols . 151 German Advent and Christmas carols. 12th edition. Schott, Mainz 2008, ISBN 978-3-254-08213-8 , pp. 328 f .