From Nainip Tittulautingit, Inniksalik

From Pillorikput Inuit, Kausuit nuijototit

kâppâ

kataniannagu

kina anânait

kititsisonguven

tammavunga

"Hosianna Jêsus nakudlarpok" (1783) by Christian Gregor, performed by the Nain Choir (1967).

In Nain on December 13th 1820 Sr. Elizabeth Kohlmeister recorded in her diary “a festival day to us all. . . At the conclusion they [the Inuit choir] sang that anthem: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, Peace, goodwill towards men,’ . . . alluding to the coming of our Saviour into the world, it being the Advent-Season.” Gregor’s Hosiana anthem was written in 1783 to celebrate Christ’s re-entry into Jerusalem after his exile in the desert on Palm Sunday. But in Labrador it’s also sung on the first and fourth Sundays of Advent to mark the return of Inuit who have been away from the mission stations at their hunting and fishing camps throughout the summer and fall. Almost 200 years after it was first heard in Labrador, the Hosiana continues to be sung to mark the coming together of community in celebration. 

This recording was made by the Nain Choir in 1967 and released on its 1971 LP. Re-mastered, it’s available again on the newly released anthology Ahâk! Ahâk! Moravian Music of the Labrador Inuit (https://www.mun.ca/mmap/research_pub/back_on_track/ahakahak/).

Hosianna Jêsus nakudlarpok

Sorutsit performed by Nain Brass Band (2016).

One of the most magical moments of the season was the singing of Sorutsit (O Come, Little Children) by the children of the congregation in the flickering candle light of the Christmas Eve service. It was sung again in church on the Children’s Festival Day, December 28th, and whenever people gathered together to make music during the two weeks of celebrations that led to Nalujuk’s Night (January 6th). It is also a favourite with the brass bands which play Sorutsit along with other Christmas carols like Napartole (O Christmas Tree) and Unnuak opinak (Silent Night) as they parade through the village during the Christmas season. 

This recording is from the Nain Brass Band’s self-titled CD Nainip Tittulautingit (2016) which is available through the Band’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/nainbrassband/.

Sorutsit

Unnuak Opinak by Gruber, performed by Karrie Obed & Mark Turner (2016).

Silent Night may well be the most beloved Christmas hymn in the western world, but nowhere does it conjure more nostalgic emotion than in Inuit Labrador. For the last 200 years it has been sung throughout the Christmas season at devotions in churches and in homes all across Moravian Labrador. For many along the Labrador coast, its reverential evocation of the long-ago birth of the infant Jesus summons powerful memories of Christmases past and of those with whom they were shared. 

This performance is by the late Karrie Obed. Teacher, leader, and extraordinary musician, “Mister” was the longtime lead tenor in the Nain choir and a member of the brass band. In 2016 he recorded many of his favourite hymns with trumpet player Mark Turner on Imgiguset | Trumpet Hymns. This performance comes from that CD.

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