The Most Beautiful Christmas Carol I’ve Ever Heard…

…is an ancient sacred carol from Brittany (Celtic northern France). The language is Breton, not French, although the beauty of the music transcends language. The refrain translates as:

Descend from the Heavens, joyful spirits/Come once again to sing praise to Jesus/Proclaim his goodness in hymns of glory/Peace has just arrived on earth

I don’t know anything more about the song or the recording, and I don’t want to know. I don’t want to watch a YouTube video to see what the singers look like.

This song carved out and occupies an inviolate niche in my mind, a place of almost unreal beauty. It stirs me in a way no other recording does, and any further information I could learn about it would only break the spell.

I can find five minutes of perfect joy inside this song.

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