Coventry Carol

The English sixteenth-century Christmas carol "Coventry Carol" is a lullaby sung by an anxious mother. After the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, King Herod heard that a new king had been born. He became afraid of the idea of a dangerous competitor. In his anger, he ordered his soldiers to kill all boys under the age of two in the vicinity of Bethlehem. While soldiers are looking for the innocent children in the area, a mother sings this song in an attempt to soothe her little son and save him from certain death.

Habraken's instrumental version of “Coventry Carol” starts in the first verse with the original notes from 1591. Later on, the arranger abandons the original and works the arrangement towards two orchestral climaxes, intended to musically express the threat of danger.