What Child Is This?

“Where did he come from, and why? What does his coming mean for me? What child is this?”

Photo — What Child Is This? CD cover. Photo — What Child Is This? traycard.

What Child Is This? features hammered dulcimer with bowed psaltery, guitar, recorder, and fiddle. Some of the pieces are familiar, such as “Silent Night” and “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” while others are new (“Fallen”) or less well-known (“The Lord at First Did Adam Make”). Together, these tunes tell a broad story of Christmas, looking back to the Fall in Eden that Christmas promises to redeem, and looking forward to Easter when that promise was fulfilled.

For more information, see WCIT Notes, WCIT Press, and the WCIT Recording Journal.

For digital download of individual tracks or the whole album, please visit Amazon.com

Click on the tune title to hear an MP3 soundclip.

  1. Fallen (© M. Prochaska)
  2. The Lord at first did Adam make (setting © Martin Shaw)
  3. Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus / Planxty Irwin
  4. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
  5. He Shall Feed His Flock
  6. Three Ships Medley
  7. Noel Nouvelet / The Wexford Carol
  8. What Child Is This? / Menuet
  9. Easter Thursday / O Sacred Head Now Wounded
  10. O Little Town of Bethlehem
  11. Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star
  12. Christ Child Lullaby
  13. Gesù Bambino
  14. Hewlett / Silent Night