Mike Oldfield has at all times been mainly an album artist, however that doesn’t imply he hasn’t had a number of moments of glory on the singles chart. One in all them was not simply his first UK High 5 single, however has change into part of the sound of Christmas in his residence nation. The jaunty instrumental “In Dulci Jubilo” entered the British bestsellers on December 20, 1975.
Oldfield had been a part of the singles scene solely as soon as earlier than, when “Mike Oldfield’s Single (Theme From ‘Tubular Bells’)”, because it was idiosyncratically titled, reached No.31 in 1974. This time, the multi-instrumentalist was going particularly for the Yuletide market along with his distinctive model of a Christmas carol that had its origins within the 14th century.
“In Dulci Jubilo” (typically spelt “dulce”) interprets as “in sweet rejoicing.” The music, often with phrases (initially from a mix of German and Latin), was widespread all through Europe in numerous incarnations by the centuries. There have been two separate nineteenth century translations of the lyrics into English, firstly by composer Robert Lucas de Pearsall after which by priest, scholar and hymn-writer John Mason Neale.
Formally a double A-side
Oldfield recorded his model specifically for the Virgin Data single launch, which got here out formally as a double A-side. “On Horseback,” the closing observe from his then just-released third album Ommadawn, was listed alongside it. The only debuted on the UK chart at No.42. The album, which held at No.16 that week, climbed again into the High 10 at No.9 on the ultimate chart of the 12 months.
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Though it had a festive air, “In Dulci Jubilo” wasn’t a Christmas melody as such, so its enchantment unfold nicely into the brand new 12 months of 1976, when it peaked at No.4 in mid-January, as Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” got here in direction of the tip of its run at No.1.
The expertise was so successful that Oldfield repeated it the next 12 months with one other instrumental single for the Christmas market, “Portsmouth.” That was a fair greater hit, reaching No.3 and successful a silver disc. Each hits have been added to the Mercury Data reissue of Ommadawn in 2010.
Purchase or stream “In Dulci Jubilo” on The Playlist – Christmas Hits 2015.
