673. O Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks, Lewis Redner)

Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Philadelphia, wrote the words to this song in 1868, following a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. three years earlier. He was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine especially at night time. His church organist Lewis Redner (1831-1908) wrote the melody for the Sunday school children's choir. This tune, usually called "St . Louis" is used mainly in the US. In England, another tune, "Forest Green" adapted by Ralph Vaughan Williams, is more often used. When I sing this with the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir, we sing the latter tune, but the version I do here uses the Redner tune. Here is my playlist of Christmas Songs: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=6A87F72E113CE495 For lyrics and chords of my songs, please see my website: http://www.raymondcrooke.com