BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BURT FAMILY CAROLS (more at www.alfredburtcarols.com)
In 1922, Rev. Bates G. Burt, a self-taught musician, began composing Christmas carols and sending them out as seasonal greeting cards to his friends, family, and parishioners. Twenty years (and 19 original carols) later, he passed the job of composing the music to his son, Alfred S. Burt, a jazz trumpeter who had just received his music degree from the University of Michigan. The father-son team produced five carols together before Bates' death in 1948.
Alfred Burt went on to write a total of 15 Christmas carols, including the popular “Caroling, Caroling,” and “Some Children See Him,” made famous originally by the Voices of Jimmy Joyce and now recorded by artists all over the world. Alfred Burt died in 1954, leaving behind his wife and young daughter. He was 33.
In 2001, then singing with the Dale Warland Singers, I opened my folder one day to find two of Alfred Burt's carols there, on our Christmas program. I ran up to Dale at the next rehearsal, excited to tell him that this was my great uncle! Surprised and thrilled, he invited me to speak at the pre-concert talk about the family tradition, and to introduce there what he called "the first Abbie Burt Betinis carol."
Below is the Burt family lineage as it relates to the Christmas carol tradition.
Rev. Bates G. Burt (1878-1948): my great grandfather
Bates wrote annual Christmas carols and sent them as cards from 1922-1941. He was a self-taught musician and wrote both text and music for his carols. Bates' cards were sent to his parishioners in Marquette, MI, and then in Pontiac, MI.There are 19 published carols by Bates Burt, available from Fred Bock Music Company in the collection "The Family Carols of Bates Burt." The publication includes:|
Christmas Minuet Come, Youths and Maidens Gloria tibi domine Good News Breaks from on High Happy Voices Sweetly Singing Heav'nly Choirs In a Far Judean City Let Christmas Be Merry Let's Have a Merry Song Tonight Little Child Jesus, Tender and Fair |
Lying in Thy Manger Lowly Now Lightly Falls the Christmas Snow On Christmas Eve, When Fields Are White Soft Sings the Mother Tell Me, Tell Me, Shepherd, Pray What Wonder Is Hid in the Heart When Christ Was Born of Mary Free When I View the Mother Holding When All the Earth Was Dark and Dreary |
Alfred S. Burt (1920-1954, 33 yrs old): Bates' son, my great uncle
Uncle Al wrote annual Christmas carols and sent them as cards from 1942-1954. He first used texts by his father, then by Wihla Hutson, a family friend and organist at Bates' church in Pontiac, MI.Al's carols are:|
1. Christmas Cometh Caroling (1942) 2. Jesu Parvule (1943) 3. What Are the Signs (1944) 4. Ah, Bleak and Chill the Wintry Wind (1945) 5. All on A Christmas Morning (1946) 6. Nigh Bethlehem (1947) 7. Christ in the Stranger's Guise (1948) 8. Sleep Baby Mine (1949) |
9. This Is Christmas (1950) (a.k.a. Bright, Bright, the Holly Berries) 10. Some Children See Him (1951) 11. Come, Dear Children (1952) 12. O, Hearken Ye (1953) 13. Caroling Caroling (1954) 14. We'll Dress the House (1954) 15. The Star Carol (1954) |
Rev. John H. Burt (b. 1918): Bates's son, Al's brother, my grandfather
Grandpa wrote a few annual Christmas poems, sending them to his parishioners throughout his years as a Reverend in CA, then as Bishop of Ohio.Emily Burt Betinis (b. 1950): John's daughter, my mother
As an artist, my mom designs the covers for the cards our family sends out each year, which, for the past six years, have included my carol.Diane Bates Burt (b. 1950): Alfred Burt's daughter, my mom's cousin
Founder of “The Caroling Company” in California, Diane and her husband Nick D'Amico have just released a CD entitled "A Christmas Present from The Caroling Company," which includes 8 carols by Alfred Burt.Abbie Burt Betinis (b. 1980)
I have written seven annual Christmas carols, beginning Christmas of 2001:1) In a Far Judean City (2001)Text: Bates G. Burt (a re-setting of his carol from 1933)2) He Might Have Come on Clouds of Heaven (2002)Text: Abbie Betinis (some text extracted from a speech by Bates G. Burt)3) Hail, Christmas Day! (2003)Text: John H. Burt, from a poem he sent out as his Christmas Card in 19534) Prayer for Peace (2004)Text: Abbie Betinis (some text extracted from sermons by Bates G. Burt)5) Song of the Pines (2005)Text: Abbie Betinis6) Shem Speaks (2006)Text: Wihla Hutson7) Run, Toboggan, Run (2007)Text: Holly Windle