This is the fourth selection from the 1959 Dot LP album, "The Little Drummer Boy".

Music: Traditional German melody, arranged by Hugo Jüngst (1853-1923)

Words by American Theodore Baker (1851-1934) who was a truly outstanding music scholar.

The echoing device in "While By My Sheep" is so effective that one of the variant titles of Baker’s translation is "Echo Carol." That title was also employed by another translator who similarly appreciated the vividness of the echo simulation. Yet the song should not be just regarded as a gimmick piece, for this sixteenth-century German folk carol is overall a very esthetic composition. It is one of the more superb members of a class of carols which must be categorized as being of the second level. In this case, second level refers to its degree of international recognition and not its artistic quality. If judged solely on its musical merit, it would surpass some of the first level or international class carols.

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