Entre le bœuf et l'âne gris (Between the Ox and the Grey Donkey)

A lullaby in the stable

It is one of the oldest French Christmas carols, often traced back to the early 16th century. Its title means "between the ox and the grey donkey": it describes the manger, where an ox and a donkey are traditionally shown; according to popular tales, the breath of the two animals kept the newborn warm.

The two animals do not come from the Gospels. They probably come from a verse of the prophet Isaiah: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib." The ox is the usual occupant of a stable; the donkey, led by Joseph, is said to have carried Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

The carol is a lullaby: each verse ends with "Dors, dors, dors" ("sleep, sleep, sleep"), and the refrain describes the angels flying around the child.

A rocking verse, an answering refrain

Sixteen bars in E minor, in two beats (counted in half notes), the first verse then the refrain. My map reads four four-bar phrases:

• A (bars 1 to 4): "Entre le bœuf et l'âne gris". The melody starts on E, rises to G, then settles on a long B.
• B (5 to 8): "Dort, dort, dort le petit fils" ("sleeps, sleeps, sleeps the little son"). Two long notes, the high E then the B, like rocking a cradle, and an ending in suspense on a B7 chord (a half cadence).
• C (9 to 12): "Mille anges divins, mille séraphins" ("a thousand divine angels, a thousand seraphim"). The melody climbs step by step from E to A, then comes back down to E: a perfect cadence.
• C' (13 to 16): "Volent à l'entour de ce grand Dieu d'amour" ("fly around this great God of love"). The same start, climbing this time up to B, then the same ending on E.

The chords revolve around E minor, G and B7, the chord that leads back to E.

How to approach it

I rate it as a beginner piece, with a 8-day plan. The melody stays within an octave and almost always moves by step.

1. Count in half notes: two beats per bar, without rushing. It's a lullaby: let it breathe.
2. The right hand: thumb on E, hand open up to the B; only the high E in bar 5 makes you move it.
3. The passages I flag: bar 9, the drop from B back to the low E to start the refrain; bar 14, the dotted rhythm of "à l'entour". Tap that rhythm before playing it.
4. The left hand: one chord per bar, two at the ends of phrases. Listen for the D-sharp in B7, the note that makes you want to go back to E.

That's how my plan moves forward: the map, the chord framework, each phrase one after another, the tricky passages, then everything put together and brought up to tempo, all the way to playing it by heart.