“In dulci jubilo” (Latin for “in sweet rejoicing”) is a macaronic text, originally Latin and German. It was probably written by the German mystic and Dominican friar Heinrich Seuse in around 1328. God sent angels to comfort Seuse in his suffering, and he joined them in a dance of worship. The tune may originate before Seuse.
The song was been published in manuscripts from the 13th century onwards, in many languages. It was also used as the tune for the carol Good Christian Men (or Good Christians All) Rejoice, the bar used for the “News News”/”Joy Joy” bit resulting from the writer Thomas Helmore making a mistake when transcribing the polyphonic notation.
A “macaronic” song is one with more than one language in the text. The obvious question is has this got anything to do with macaroni? Surprisingly the answer is yes! The name macaroni originally referred not to small pasta tubes but to a general culinary mashup of whatever was available. The word macaronic was originally coined a joke meaning that the song was a general mish-mash of languages, and the word caught on.
Here it is by King’s College Cambridge (in a different arrangement), and here for your especial pleasure is Mike Oldfield’s classic version.