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Joyous Yule, everyone! Krampusnacht was on December 5th, but it's never too late to caution your children not to go wandering in the woods. This piece was inspired by "Double Trouble", which was written by John Williams using Shakespeare's words. I wrote the lyrics and tune for this as a sort of Christmasy companion piece, and called on my brother Friar Funk to add his countertenor voice to my choir.

A bit of history about Krampus:
Krampus is a goat-like horned character from Central and Eastern Alpine European folklore. As the bad cop to Saint Nicholas's good cop, his name is invoked around Yuletide to scare children into behaving. On the night of December 5th, they visit each home, doling out gifts and punishment as they see fit. Well-behaved children receive toys and delicious goodies, while naughty children are punished with birch rods and given nothing but coal, or in some versions of the story, shoved into a sack or basket and carried away to hell.

The Art:
Krampus, depicted on an Austrian postcard, 1910.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Krampus

The Lyrics:
Curling horn and cloven hoof
Garnet red his tongue
On his back, a leather sack
For snatching up the young

Sable fur and jagged claw
Bronze his ringing bell
Thin and quick, his birchwood stick
For children who rebel


Hoofprints in the snow
To the woods we cannot go
Krampusnacht is nigh
Guard safe thy soul
Lest he come and give thee coal
Krampusnacht is nigh

Light the hearth and turn the lock
Sing a merry song
He doth roam in darkened home
Where shadows grow and throng

Heed our warning, little ones
Yuletide now is here
Keep in line, for in the pines
Is Krampus ever near.

Hoofprints in the snow
To the woods we cannot go
Krampusnacht is nigh
Guard safe thy soul
Lest he come and give thee coal
Krampusnacht is nigh

To the woods we cannot go
Krampusnacht is nigh
Guard safe thy soul
Lest he come and give thee coal
Krampusnacht is nigh