Merry Christmas Day - Coventry Carol by Maddy Prior

The Massacre of the Innocents, by Pieter Breughel the Elder; this is the subject matter of the Coventry Carol 

Many people's favourite sad carol - the Coventry Carol - is here performed by the unsurpassed Maddy Prior. 

The song includes perhaps the most famous example of a "Picardy Third" cadence, at the end of the chorus. 

Coventry Carol is in a "tragic" minor key, as befits the subject matter; but the last chord includes a major third, so that the tune ends on a "happy" note. 

Apparently, this was normal in ancient times, when (presumably because of our expectation of salvation) it was felt inappropriate for Christians to end musical pieces in a tragic way. 

So the last chord of any piece should either be an open or "bare" fifth (sounding the tonic and fifth notes) or else needed to have a major third interval of four semitones; rather than finishing with a minor third of just three semitones interval. 

Merry Christmas Day.