Balfour: The Wyandot's Realm

Balfour writes: "The original version of The Huron Carol dates from 1641 and was created in Huron by the French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf (1583-1649). He wrote the words to the music of a 16th-century folk tune called Une jeune pucelle (A Young Maid). The Huron were more properly called the Wyandot
or Wendat. For several centuries, the Wyandot were the most powerful native empire in North America. At the time this was written, the Iroquois had conquered much of their land and, within a century, the once mighty tribes of the Wyandot were almost extinct. Andrew Balfour, a Manitoba Cree, was moved by the story of the extinction of the Wyandot. His composition is powerful with flashes of anger. His concept was to superimpose the melody in medieval mode on an aboriginal rhythmic chant, representing the meeting of two worlds. (AB)