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'{{short description|Victorian Christmas carol}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} [[File:Good King Wenceslas.jpg|thumb|''Good King Wenceslas'', illustrated in ''Christmas Carols, New and Old'']] {{Listen | filename=U.S. Army Band - Good King Wenceslaus.ogg | title=Good King Wenceslaus | description=The first, third, and fifth verses, performed by the chorus of the [[United States Army Band|U. S. Army Band]] }} "'''Good King Wenceslas'''" ([[Roud Folk Song Index|Roud number]] 24754) is a [[Christmas carol]] that tells a story of a tenth century [[Bohemia]]n king (modern-day [[Czech Republic]]) who goes on a journey, braving harsh winter weather, to give [[alms]] to a poor [[peasant]] on [[St. Stephen's Day|the Feast of Stephen]]. The Feast of Stephen is December 26, the [[Twelve Days of Christmas|Second Day of Christmas]]. However, during Wenceslas's time, the [[Julian Calendar]] was in use. During the 900s, the day that they called December 26 was actually December 31 according to the [[Gregorian Calendar]] (the current calendar).<ref name="calcon">https://legacy-www.math.harvard.edu/computing/javascript/Calendar/index.html Harvard University Online Calendar Converter</ref> During the journey, his [[page (occupation)|page]] is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step, through the deep snow. The legend is based on the life of the [[Saint]] [[Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia]] (907–935), who was not a king in his lifetime but had that status conferred on him after his death. In 1853, English [[hymnwriter]] [[John Mason Neale]] wrote the lyrics in collaboration with his music editor [[Thomas Helmore]] to fit the melody of the 13th-century [[Spring (season)|spring]] carol "Tempus adest floridum" ("Eastertime Is Come"), which they had found in the 1582 Finnish song collection ''[[Piae Cantiones]]''. The [[carol (music)|carol]] first appeared in ''Carols for Christmas-Tide'', published by [[Novello & Co]] the same year.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rhL8kHK48ycC&pg=PA19 |title=Christmas Carols: Complete Verses |first=Shane|last=Weller |page=19 |date= 1992-06-09|publisher=Courier Corporation |access-date=2015-11-18|isbn=9780486273976 }}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/good_king_wenceslas.htm |title=Good King Wenceslas |publisher=Hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com |date=2006-09-30 |access-date=2015-11-18}}</ref> ==Source legend== [[Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia|Wenceslas]] was considered a [[martyr]] and a [[saint]] immediately after his death in the 10th century, when a cult of Wenceslas rose up in [[Bohemia]] and in [[England]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Codex Gigas |url=https://www.kb.se/in-english/the-codex-gigas.html |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=www.kb.se |language=en}}</ref> Within a few decades of Wenceslas's death, four biographies of him were in circulation.<ref>The ''First Slavonic Life'' (in [[Old Church Slavonic]]), the anonymous ''Crescente fide'', the ''Passio'' by Gumpold, bishop of [[Mantua]] (d. 985), and ''The Life and Passion of Saint Václav and his Grandmother Saint Ludmilla (in Czech she is named Ludmila)'' by Kristian.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Wolverton |first=Lisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJ6cVJttROwC |title=Hastening Toward Prague: Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands |date=2001-08-22 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-3613-2 |language=en}}</ref> These [[hagiography|hagiographies]] had a powerful influence on the [[High Middle Ages]] conceptualization of the ''rex iustus'', or "righteous king"—that is, a [[monarch]] whose power stems mainly from his great piety, as well as from his princely vigor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/9/defries.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109143819/http://www.mun.ca/mst/heroicage/issues/9/defries.html|url-status=dead|title=See Defries, David. "St. Oswald's Martyrdom: Drogo of Saint-Winnoc's ''Sermo secundus de s. Oswaldo''", §12, in ''The Heroic Age: A Journal of Early Mediaeval Northwestern Europe'', Issue 9 (Oct 2006).|archivedate=9 November 2013}}</ref> [[File:Biscuit tins VA 2486.JPG|thumb|[[Sheet music]] of "Good King Wenceslas" in a biscuit container from 1913, preserved at the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].]] Referring approvingly to these hagiographies, a preacher from the 12th century wrote:<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wolverton|first1=Lisa|title=Hastening towards Prague: Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands|date=2001|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|location=Philadelphia|page=150}}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis|last1=Shuler|first1=Eric|title=Almsgiving and the Formation of Early Medieval Societies, A.D. 700-1025. A Dissertation.|date=2010|publisher=University of Notre Dame|location=Indiana|page=1|url=https://curate.nd.edu/concern/etds/j6731259k2b}}</ref> {{blockquote|But his deeds I think you know better than I could tell you; for, as is read in his ''Passion'', no one doubts that, rising every night from his noble bed, with bare feet and only one chamberlain, he went around to God's churches and gave alms generously to widows, orphans, those in prison and afflicted by every difficulty, so much so that he was considered, not a prince, but the father of all the wretched.}} Several centuries later the legend was claimed as fact by [[Pope Pius II]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kresadlo.cz/goodking.htm |title=Good King Wenceslas |publisher=Kresadlo.cz |access-date=2015-11-18}}</ref> who himself also walked ten miles barefoot in the ice and snow as an act of pious thanksgiving.<ref>{{cite web | author = Jones, Terry | title = Pope Pius II | url = http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/ce006612.htm | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060529084440/http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/ce006612.htm | archive-date = May 29, 2006}} </ref> Although Wenceslas was, during his lifetime, only a duke, Holy Roman Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] (962–973) posthumously "conferred on [Wenceslas] the regal dignity and title" and that is why, in the legend and song, he is referred to as a "king."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15587b.htm |title=CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: St. Wenceslaus |publisher=Newadvent.org |date=1912-10-01 |access-date=2015-11-18}}</ref> The usual English spelling of Duke Wenceslas's name, ''Wenceslaus'', is occasionally encountered in later textual variants of the carol, although it was not used by Neale in his version.<ref>''Wencesla-us'' is the [[Mediaeval Latin]] form of the name, declined in the [[2nd declension|Second Declension]].</ref> Wenceslas is not to be confused with King [[Wenceslaus I of Bohemia]] (Wenceslaus I Premyslid), who lived more than three centuries later. A statue of [[Saint Wenceslas]] on horseback can be found at the [[Wenceslas Square]], in Prague. ==History== ===Authorship=== ====Tempus adest floridum==== [[File:Tempus adest floridum.jpg|thumb|"Tempus adest floridum" in the 1582 Finnish song collection ''[[Piae Cantiones]]''. The melody formed the basis for the carol.]] The tune is that of "Tempus adest floridum" ("Eastertime has come"), a 13th-century spring [[carol (music)|carol]] in 76 76 Doubled [[Trochaic]] [[hymn metre|metre]], first published in the Finnish song book ''[[Piae Cantiones]]'' in 1582. ''Piae Cantiones'' is a collection of seventy-four songs compiled by [[Jacobus Finno]], the Protestant headmaster of [[Turku Cathedral School]], and published by Theodoric Petri, a young Catholic printer. The book is a unique document of European songs intended not only for use in church, but also schools, thus making the collection a unique record of the late medieval period.<ref>Jeremy Summerly, ''Let Voices Resound: Songs from Piae Cantiones'', Naxos 8.553578</ref> A text beginning substantially the same as the 1582 "Piae" version is also found in the German manuscript collection ''[[Carmina Burana]]'' as ''CB 142'', where it is substantially more carnal; ''CB 142'' has clerics and virgins playing the "game of Venus" (goddess of love) in the meadows, while in the ''Piae'' version they are praising the Lord from the bottom of their hearts.<ref name="bibliotheca Augustana">{{cite web|url=http://www.hs-augsburg.de/~harsch/Chronologia/Lspost13/CarminaBurana/bur_cam5.html |title=bibliotheca Augustana |publisher=Hs-augsburg.de |access-date=2015-11-18}}</ref><ref>"''Tempus Adest Floridum''" was translated into English as "The Flower Carol", and was recorded by [[Jean Ritchie]] on the album ''[[Carols for All Seasons]]'' (1959), with its original melody, now usually recognized as the "Good King Wenceslas" tune.</ref> The tune has also been used for the Christmas hymn ''Mary Gently Laid Her Child'', by Joseph S. Cook (1859–1933);<ref>Joseph S. Cook, ''Mary Gently Laid Her Child'', in ''Worship'' (2012), Fourth Edition, Chicago: GIA Publications, Hymn 446.</ref> [[GIA Publications]]'s [[hymnal]] ''Worship'' uses "Tempus Adest Floridum" only for Cook's hymn.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GIA Publications - Sacred choral music, hymnals, recordings and educations materials, Roman Catholic, Christian |url=https://giamusic.com/home |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=giamusic.com}}</ref> ===Neale's carol=== In 1853, English [[hymnwriter]] [[John Mason Neale]] wrote the "Wenceslas" lyric, in collaboration with his music editor [[Thomas Helmore]], and the [[carol (music)|carol]] first appeared in ''Carols for Christmas-Tide'', published by [[Novello & Co]] the same year.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto1"/> The text of Neale's carol bears no relation to the words of "Tempus Adest Floridum".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hymntime.com/tch/non/la/tempusade.htm |title=Tempus Adest Floridum |publisher=Hymntime.com |access-date=2015-11-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805201259/http://www.hymntime.com/tch/non/la/tempusade.htm |archive-date=2016-08-05 }}</ref> In or around 1853, [[George John Robert Gordon|G. J. R. Gordon]], the British envoy and minister in [[Stockholm]], gave a rare copy of the 1582 edition of ''Piae Cantiones'' to Neale, who was Warden of [[Sackville College]], [[East Grinstead]], [[Sussex]] and to the Reverend Thomas Helmore (Vice-Principal of St. Mark's College, [[Chelsea, London|Chelsea]]). The book was entirely unknown in England at that time. As a member of the Tractarian [[Oxford Movement]], Neale was interested in restoring Catholic ceremony, [[Calendar of saints|saints days]], and music back into the Anglican church. The gift from G. J. R. Gordon gave him the opportunity to use medieval Catholic melodies for Anglican hymn writing. In 1849 he had published ''Deeds of Faith: Stories for Children from Church History'' which recounted legends from Christian tradition in [[Romanticism|Romantic prose]]. One of the chapters told the legend of St Wenceslas and his footsteps melting the snow for his page:<ref>{{cite book|last=Neale|first=John Mason|title=Deeds of Faith|publisher=J and C Mozley|date=1849}}</ref> <blockquote> :"My liege," he said, "I cannot go on. The wind freezes my very blood. Pray you, let us return." "Seems it so much?" asked the King. "Was not His journey from Heaven a wearier and a colder way than this?" :Otto answered not. "Follow me on still," said S. Wenceslaus. "Only tread in my footsteps, and you will proceed more easily." :The servant knew that his master spoke not at random. He carefully looked for the footsteps of the King: he set his own feet in the print of his lord's feet. </blockquote> For his 1853 publication ''Carols for Christmas-tide'', he adapted his earlier prose story into a poem, and together with the music editor [[Thomas Helmore]] added the words to the melody in ''Piae Cantiones'', adding a reference to [[Saint Stephen's Day]] (26 December), making it suitable for performance on that Saint's Day.<ref>"Carols for Christmas-tide. Set to ancient melodies and harmonized for voices and pianoforte. " by Thomas Helmore and J. M. Neale, published by [[Novello & Co|J. Alfred Novello]], London & New York (1853)<br> In the collection of the Harvard Music Society library, Boston.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hymntime.com/tch/mid/t/e/m/tempus_adest_floridum.mid|title=Tempus Adest Floridum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120917053415/http://www.hymntime.com/tch/mid/t/e/m/tempus_adest_floridum.mid |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-17 |access-date=2018-05-17}}</ref> The hymn's lyrics take the form of five eight-line stanzas in four-stress lines. Each stanza has an ABABCDCD rhyme scheme. Lines 1, 3, 5, and 7 end in single-syllable (so-called masculine) rhymes, and lines 2, 4, 6, and 8 with two-syllable ("feminine") rhymes. (In the English tradition, two-syllable rhymes are generally associated with light or comic verse, which may be part of the reason some critics have demeaned Neale's lyrics as "doggerel".) In the music the two-syllable rhymes in lines 2, 4, and 6 (e.g. "Stephen/even", "cruel/fuel") are set to two half-notes (British "minims"), but the final rhyme of each stanza (line 8) is spread over two full measures, the first syllable as two half-notes and the second as a whole note ("semi-breve")—so "fuel" is set as "fu-" with two half-notes and "-el" with a whole-note. Thus, unusually, the final musical line differs from all the others in having not two but three measures of 4/4 time. Some academics are critical of Neale's textual substitution. H. J. L. J. Massé wrote in 1921: <blockquote>Why, for instance, do we tolerate such impositions as "Good King Wenceslas?" The original was and is an Easter Hymn...it is marked in carol books as "traditional", a delightful word which often conceals ignorance. There is nothing traditional in it as a carol.<ref>H. J. L. J. Massé, "Old Carols" in ''Music & Letters'', Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1921), Oxford University Press, p.67</ref></blockquote> A similar sentiment is expressed by the editors ([[Percy Dearmer]], [[Martin Shaw (composer)|Martin Shaw]] and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]) in the 1928 ''[[Oxford Book of Carols]]'', which is even more critical of Neale's carol:<ref name="obc"/> <blockquote>This rather confused narrative owes its popularity to the delightful tune, which is that of a Spring carol. . . . Unfortunately Neale in 1853 substituted for the Spring carol this ''Good King Wenceslas'', one of his less happy pieces, which E. Duncan goes so far as to call "doggerel", and Bullen condemns as "poor and commonplace to the last degree". The time has not yet come for a comprehensive book to discard it; but we reprint the tune in its proper setting . . . not without hope that, with the present wealth of carols for Christmas, ''Good King Wenceslas'' may gradually pass into disuse, and the tune be restored to spring-time.<ref name=obc>"Good King Wenceslas" in ''Oxford Book of Carols'', (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1928)</ref></blockquote> [[Elizabeth Poston]], in the ''Penguin Book of Christmas Carols'', refers to the song as the "product of an unnatural marriage between Victorian whimsy and the thirteenth-century dance carol". She goes on to say that Neale's "ponderous moral doggerel" does not fit the lighthearted dance measure of the original tune, and that if performed in the correct manner it "sounds ridiculous to pseudo-religious words".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Good King Wenceslas |url=http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Hymns_and_Carols/good_king_wenceslas.htm |access-date=2024-09-02 |website=www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com}}</ref> A similar development has occurred with the song "[[O Christmas Tree]]," the tune of which has been used for "[[Maryland, My Maryland]]," "[[The Red Flag]]," and other unrelated songs.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} By contrast, Brian Scott, quoting from ''The Oxford Book of Carols'' its criticism and hope that the carol would "pass into disuse", argues: "Thankfully, they were wrong", for the carol "still reminds us that the giving spirit of Christmas should not happen just on that day. . . ."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Brian |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1353770153 |title=But Do You Recall? 25 Days of Christmas Carols and the Stories Behind Them |date=2015 |publisher=Anderson |isbn=978-1-329-91959-4 |oclc=1353770153 |page=62}}</ref> [[Jeremy Summerly]] and Nicolas Bell of the British Museum also strongly rebut Dearmer's 20th century criticism, noting: "it could have been awful, but it isn't, it's magical . . . you remember it because the verse just works".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03lp80w|title=A Cause for Caroling: A Second Golden Age|website=BBC Radio 4|date=19 December 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Jeremy Summerly|url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/now-thats-what-i-call-carols-1582|title=Now That's What I Call Carols: 1582!|website=Gresham College Lecture|date=5 December 2017}}</ref> ==Textual comparison== {| class="wikitable" |- !|Neale's "Good King Wenceslas" (1853)<ref name=obc/> !|"Tempus adest floridum"<br>(''Piae Cantiones'', PC 74)<ref name=obc/> !|English translation of PC 74 by<br>[[Percy Dearmer]] (1867–1936)<ref name=obc/> !|"Tempus adest floridum"<br>(''Carmina Burana'', CB 142)<ref name="bibliotheca Augustana"/> !|English translation of CB 142 by<br>[[John Addington Symonds]] (1884)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924013265883/cu31924013265883_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "English lyrical poetry from its origins to the present time" |access-date=2015-11-18}}</ref> |- | Good King Wenceslas looked out, <br>on the Feast of Stephen,<br>When the snow lay round about, <br>deep and crisp and even;<br>Brightly shone the moon that night, <br>tho' the [[frost]] was cruel,<br>When a poor man came in sight, <br>gath'ring winter fuel. | Tempus adest floridum, <br>surgunt namque flores<br>Vernales in omnibus, <br>imitantur mores<br>Hoc quod frigus laeserat, <br>reparant calores<br>Cernimus hoc fieri, <br>per multos labores. | Spring has now unwrapped the flowers, <br>the day is fast reviving,<br>Life in all her growing powers <br>towards the light is striving:<br>Gone the iron touch of cold, <br>winter time and frost time,<br>Seedlings, working through the mould,<br> now make up for lost time. | Tempus adest floridum, <br>surgunt namque flores<br>vernales mox; in omnibus <br>immutantur mores.<br>Hoc, quod frigus laeserat, <br>reparant calores;<br>Cernimus hoc fieri <br>per multos colores. | Now comes the time of flowers, <br>and the blossoms appear;<br>now in all things comes <br>the transformation of Spring.<br>What the cold harmed, <br>the warmth repairs,<br>as we see <br>by all these colours. |- | "Hither, [[Page (servant)|page]], and stand by me, <br>if thou know'st it, telling,<br>Yonder [[peasant]], who is he? <br>Where and what his dwelling?"<br>"Sire, he lives a good [[league (unit)|league]] hence, <br>underneath the mountain;<br>Right against the forest fence, <br>by [[Saint Agnes]]' fountain." | Sunt prata plena floribus, <br>iucunda aspectu<br>Ubi iuvat cernere, <br>herbas cum delectu<br>Gramina et plantae <br>hyeme quiescunt<br>Vernali in tempore <br>virent et accrescunt. | Herb and plant that, winter long, <br>slumbered at their leisure,<br>Now bestirring, green and strong, <br>find in growth their pleasure;<br>All the world with beauty fills, <br>gold the green enhancing,<br>Flowers make glee among the hills, <br>set the meadows dancing | Stant prata plena floribus, <br>in quibus nos ludamus!<br>Virgines cum clericis <br>simul procedamus,<br>Per amorem Veneris <br>ludum faciamus,<br>ceteris virginibus <br>ut hoc referamus! | The fields in which we play <br>are full of flowers.<br>Maidens and clerics, <br>let us go out together,<br>let us play <br>for the love of Venus,<br>that we may teach <br>the other maidens. |- | "Bring me flesh, and bring me wine, <br>bring me pine logs hither:<br>Thou and I shall see him dine, <br>when we bear them thither."<br>Page and monarch, forth they went, <br>forth they went together;<br>Through the rude wind's wild lament <br>and the bitter weather. | Haec vobis pulchre monstrant <br>Deum creatorem<br>Quem quoque nos credimus <br>omnium factorem<br>O tempus ergo hilare, <br>quo laetari libet<br>Renovato nam mundo, <br>nos novari decet. | Through each wonder of fair days <br>God Himself expresses;<br>Beauty follows all His ways, <br>as the world He blesses:<br>So, as He renews the earth, <br>Artist without rival,<br>In His grace of glad new birth <br>we must seek revival. | "O dilecta domina, <br>cur sic alienaris?<br>An nescis, o carissima, <br>quod sic adamaris?<br>Si tu esses Helena, <br>vellem esse Paris!<br>Tamen potest fieri <br>noster amor talis." | "O my chosen one, <br>why dost thou shun me?<br>Dost thou not know, dearest, <br>how much thou art loved?<br>If thou wert Helen, <br>I would be Paris.<br> So great is our love <br>that it can be so." |- | "Sire, the night is darker now, <br>and the wind blows stronger;<br>Fails my heart, I know not how; <br>I can go no longer."<br>"Mark my footsteps, good my page; <br>Tread thou in them boldly:<br>Thou shalt find the winter's rage <br>Freeze thy blood less coldly." | Terra ornatur floribus <br>et multo decore<br>Nos honestis moribus <br>et vero amore<br>Gaudeamus igitur <br>tempore iucundo<br>Laudemusque Dominum <br>pectoris ex fundo. | Earth puts on her dress of glee; <br>flowers and grasses hide her;<br>We go forth in charity—<br>brothers all beside her;<br>For, as man this glory sees <br>in th'awakening season,<br>Reason learns the heart's decrees, <br>hearts are led by reason | | |- | In his master's steps he trod, <br>where the snow lay [[wikt:dint#Verb|dinted]];<br>Heat was in the very sod <br>which the saint had printed.<br>Therefore, Christian men, be sure, <br>wealth or rank possessing,<br>Ye who now will bless the poor, <br>shall yourselves find blessing. | | | | |} ==Other versions== * [[William Lloyd Webber]] included "Good King Wenceslas" as one of his ''Songs without Words''.<ref>Wise Music Classical, [https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/13098/Songs-without-Words--William-Lloyd-Webber/ Songs without Words], accessed 5 December 2021</ref> * [[Bing Crosby]] first covered the song on his 1949 album ''[[Christmas Greetings (album)|Christmas Greetings]]'', and later with [[Ella Fitzgerald]]. * [[The Beatles' Christmas records#1963: The Beatles Christmas Record|''The Beatles' Christmas Record'' (1963)]] featured several renditions of the carol. * In 1984, [[Mannheim Steamroller]] recorded an electronic synthesizer arrangement of the carol for [[Christmas (Mannheim Steamroller album)|their first Christmas album]]. * [[R.E.M.]] recorded a version of the song for their ''Christmas '89'' holiday single.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.remhq.com/fanclub-singles/1989/ |title=Fanclub Singles &#124; 1989 |website=R.E.M. HQ |date=25 December 1989 |access-date=19 December 2023}}</ref> * The song's tune was re-worked by the [[Trans-Siberian Orchestra]] on their track "Christmas Jazz", from their 2004 CD ''[[The Lost Christmas Eve]]''. * It was covered by English folk duo [[Blackmore's Night]] on their 2006 album ''[[Winter Carols]]''. * It was covered by Canadian Celtic singer [[Loreena McKennitt]] on her 1995 EP ''[[A Winter Garden: Five Songs for the Season]]'', and reissued on her 2008 album ''[[A Midwinter Night's Dream]]''. * In 2013, [[The Piano Guys]] made a piano-cello instrumental cover of this song for ''[[A Family Christmas]]'', their Christmas studio album. * [[Mel Tormé]] covered the song on his 1992 ''[[Christmas Songs (Mel Tormé album)|Christmas Songs]]'' album.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwqe8rPDimM |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/Pwqe8rPDimM |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Good King Wenceslas|last=Mel Tormé - Topic|date=19 October 2016|access-date=13 December 2017|publisher=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> * The [[Count Basie Orchestra]] recorded a [[Sammy Nestico]] Big Band Arrangement of the song, re-named to 'Good Swing Venceslas', on their 2015 Album '[[A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas!|A Very Swingin' Basie Christmas]]'. * [[Child Bite]] covered the song in their 2018 anthology Burnt Offerings. * [[Tenth Avenue North]] opened their 2017 Christmas album, ''Decade The Halls'', with the song, setting it to 1920s era music. * [[Rob Halford]], vocalist of [[Heavy metal music|metal]] band [[Judas Priest]], covered the song on his 2019 Christmas album, ''Celestial''. * The song is included on ''[[We Three Kings (The Roches album)]],'' the sixth studio album by the folk trio [[The Roches]], released in 1990 on MCA Records. * The song is included in [[Relient K]]'s Christmas Album ''[[Let It Snow, Baby... Let It Reindeer]]'' under the title, "Good King Wenceslas" * [[Millennial Choirs and Orchestras]] included "Good King Wenceslas" in their 2020 album ''Star of Wonder''.<ref>{{YouTube|PJ052sf1uX4|"Good King Wenceslas by Millennial Choirs and Orchestras"}}. Retrieved 9 April 2024</ref> ==In popular culture== * Walt Kelly's ''[[Pogo (comic strip)|Pogo]]'' cartoon strip spoofs the song as "Good King Sauerkraut" and "Good King Winkelhoff". *In the film ''[[Love Actually]]'', Prime Minister David ([[Hugh Grant]]) sings the carol at the home of three small girls to explain his presence there while he is knocking on doors randomly searching for his love interest. *In the British show ''[[Miranda (TV series)|Miranda]]'', Penny plays the song on the piano with altered lyrics. *In the Scottish film ''[[Filth (film)|Filth]]'', Dr Rossi sings the song with altered lyrics. *Two ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episodes have referenced the song. In the first episode of the 1975 series "[[Genesis of the Daleks]]", the Doctor and his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry find themselves in the middle of a minefield on the Dalek home planet Skaro. The Doctor turns to them and says, "Follow me and tread in my footsteps." Sarah Jane looks at Harry and remarks, "Good King Wenceslas." In the 2007 Christmas special entitled "[[Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)|Voyage of the Damned]]", an alien tour guide on board an alien spaceship replica of the ''[[Titanic]]'' mistakenly believes that Good King Wenceslas is the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|current monarch]] of the United Kingdom while explaining Earth's history. *In the television special ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'', Gonzo sings this song. *In the movie ''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]'', Bean Bunny sings this song to Scrooge. An instrumental rendition of the song is also played during the opening credits. *In the 1987 film ''[[Dragnet (1987 film)|Dragnet]]'', LAPD Detective ''[[Pep Streebeck]]'' closes his eyes and starts singing this song during a high-speed chase when told to "think about Christmas" by his partner, Detective [[Joe Friday]]. *In Telltale's story driven videogame ''[[The Walking Dead: Season Two]]'' the character Sarita sings the carol in the second episode titled "A House Divided". Sarita talks about the meaning of the song with a young girl named Sarah as they decorate a massive christmas tree in the ski lodge. *In the [[Discworld]] book ''[[Hogfather]]'', the carol is slightly 'twisted' during a scene when [[Death (Discworld)|Death]], while acting as the Hogfather, encounters a king trying to give a beggar his feast as an act of charity, even though the beggar keeps protesting that he doesn't actually want any of the king's rich food. Death criticizes the king's actions as simply wanting to be praised on Hogswatch night as he has never shown any concern for the beggar before nor will so in the future. Having forced the king out, Death leaves the beggar with a smaller meal of plainer food that is nevertheless more to the beggar's tastes. *Buford and Baljeet sing this song with altered lyrics in ''A [[Phineas and Ferb]] Family Christmas''. *The song is begun by guests of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' in "[[White Christmas Blues]]". Marge, who doesn't like second verses of Christmas carols, remarks this one creeps her out from the beginning and leaves the room to listen to a blender.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?f=431&t=22400|title=25x08 - White Christmas Blues - The Simpsons Transcripts - Forever Dreaming|website=Transcripts.foreverdreaming.org|access-date=13 December 2017}}</ref> *In the 1983 movie, ''[[A Christmas Story]]'', the song is played by the Salvation Army Band outside of Higbee's Department Store. *In ''[[The Polar Express (film)|The Polar Express]]'', the song is played briefly in one scene where the Polar Express passes the [[Herpolsheimer's]] store and in another scene, where the hobo sings it while playing the [[hurdy-gurdy]]. *The setting of Gene Wolfe's novel ''[[The Devil in a Forest]]'' is based on the second verse of the carol, which is given as the [[Epigraph (literature)|epigraph]] to the book. *The 1987 BBC radio play ''Crisp and Even Brightly,'' by [[Alick Rowe]], is a comedic re-telling of the story in the carol, starring [[Timothy West]] as Wenceslas, and featuring a page called Mark and other characters not found in the carol.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jqsz|work=[[BBC Radio 4 Extra]]|title=Alick Rowe - Crisp and Even Brightly|access-date=22 December 2016}}</ref> *On the ''[[Will & Grace season 5|Will & Grace]]'' season 6 episode "All About Christmas Eve", Karen sings the song with both Jack and Will to a bellman at her suite at the Palace Hotel. *On the ''[[The Big Bang Theory season 6|Big Bang Theory]]'' episode "The Santa Simulation", [[Sheldon Cooper|Sheldon]] sings the song while playing ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' with [[Leonard Hofstadter|Leonard]], [[Howard Wolowitz|Howard]] and Stuart, so that his character in the game can avoid danger. Sheldon insists on singing the entire song, even though he only needs to sing the first verse to complete his task. *In a blooper reel of the [[Game of Thrones season 4|fourth season]] of TV series ''[[Game of Thrones]]'', [[Peter Dinklage]] ([[Tyrion Lannister]]) and [[Nicolaj Coster-Waldau]] ([[Jaime Lannister]]) start singing and dancing to the carol when entering the throne room during Tyrion's trial. *In an episode of ''[[The Colbert Report]]'', [[Stephen Colbert (character)|Colbert]] sings the song with [[Michael Stipe]] and [[Mandy Patinkin]]. *In the ''[[Porridge (1974 TV series)|Porridge]]'' Christmas Special, "[[No Way Out (Porridge)|No Way Out]]", [[Norman Stanley Fletcher]] and his fellow inmates sing the carol - until they are hushed by Mr. Mackay. In place of "When a poor man came in sight gathering winter fuel" comes: "When a Scotsman came in sight hollerin’...". *Comedian [[John Finnemore (writer)|John Finnemore]] wrote a sketch for his ''[[John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme|Souvenir Programme]]'' based on the carol, in which the poor man criticises King Wenceslas for bringing unnecessary fuel and flesh, and for making his page carry them in the cold weather.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZjtdudO6dU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/-ZjtdudO6dU |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme: Good King Wenceslas|website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=14 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref> *In an episode of ''[[Hogan's Heroes]]'', several of the POWs loudly and repeatedly rehearse the song in order to distract the guards from the covert activities of the rest of the team. *At the ironic ending of [[Frederik Pohl]]'s science fiction novel ''[[Jem (novel)|Jem]]'', human colonists on a faraway planet developed the habit of celebrating Christmas by taking off their clothes and engaging in a wild [[orgy]], their copulations accompanied by a chorus of the planet's enslaved indigenous beings singing "Good King Wenceslas", whose Christian significance was long forgotten. *The song was parodied by the British children's television programme, ''[[Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)|Horrible Histories]]''. In this version, carol singers attempt to give a more historically accurate portrayal of the king, including a line about his murder.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6OAckrih9A |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/G6OAckrih9A |archive-date=2021-12-21 |url-status=live|title=Horrible Histories - Good King Wenceslas|website=[[YouTube]] |access-date=7 April 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> *The song is parodied by [[Peter Schickele]] (aka [[P. D. Q. Bach]]) as ''Good King Kong'', though the melody quickly diverges from the original. *The Song Is Parodied By [[Butthole Surfers]] as "Good King Wencenslaus" on their Single with the same name.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Discogs.com |date=10/17/24 |title=Butthole Surfers - Good King Wencenslaus |url=https://www.discogs.com/release/368874-Butthole-Surfers-Good-King-Wencenslaus |url-status=live |archive-url=https://www.discogs.com/release/368874-Butthole-Surfers-Good-King-Wencenslaus |archive-date=10/17/24 |access-date=10/17/24 |website=Discogs.com}}</ref> ==See also== * [[List of Christmas carols]] ==References== {{Reflist}} == Literature == * Scott, Brian (2015). ''But Do You Recall? 25 Days of Christmas Carols and the Stories Behind Them'', Anderson, {{ISBN|978-1-329-91959-4}} ==External links== {{wikisource}} * Free arrangements for [http://cantorion.org/music/10/Good+King+Wenceslas piano] and [http://cantorion.org/music/53/Good+King+Wenceslas voice] from ''Cantorion. org'' * Gumpoldus Mantuanus Episcopus [0967-0985]: [http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0967-0985__Gumpoldus_Mantuanus_Episcopus__Vita_Vencezlavi_Ducis_Bohemiae__MLT.pdf.html Vita Vencezlavi Ducis Bohemiae]. 'The Life of King Wenceslas' Latin text by [[Migne]] [[Patrologia Latina]], Vol. 135, col. 0919 - 0942C. {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Good King Wenceslas}} [[Category:1853 songs]] [[Category:Christmas carols]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Czech people]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of kings]] [[Category:Piae Cantiones]] [[Category:Songs about kings]] [[Category:Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia]]'