Christmas carol

Did You Know?

• In the 1680s and 1690s, Louis-Claude Daquin wrote 12 noels for organ, and Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote instrumental versions of noels and a major choral work Messe de minuit pour Noël.
• Johann Sebastian Bach included Christmas carols in his cantatas for Christmastide, including his Christmas Oratorio.

History

The earliest known Christmas hymns date back to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns like Veni redemptor gentium, composed by Ambrose, the Archbishop of Milan, were solemn theological statements defending the doctrine of the Incarnation against Arianism. Another hymn, Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's heart begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius, who died in 413, is still sung in some churches today. During the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas sequence, also called a prose, appeared in Northern European monasteries. Influenced by Bernard of Clairvaux, it developed into a liturgical form made up of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century, the Parisian monk Adam of Saint Victor started blending in melodic elements from popular songs, creating musical forms much closer to what we now call a traditional Christmas carol. By the 13th century, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs in local languages had emerged in France, Germany, and especially Italy, shaped by the influence of Francis of Assisi. The earliest English Christmas carols show up in a 1426 manuscript by John Awdlay, a chaplain from Shropshire, who recorded twenty-five "caroles of Cristemas." These were likely sung by groups of wassailers traveling from house to house. The songs we now identify as Christmas carols were originally communal festival songs performed at seasonal celebrations like harvesttide. They were only later adopted for church use and tied specifically to Christmas. Many carols that later became widely popular were printed in Piae Cantiones, a collection of late-medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. Early Latin versions of carols such as "Christ was born on Christmas Day," "Good Christian Men, Rejoice," and "Good King Wenceslas" appear in this collection. "Adeste Fideles" ("O Come, All Ye Faithful") appears in its current form in the mid-18th century, though its lyrics may date back to the 13th century; the origin of its melody is still debated. Christmas carols grew more popular after the Protestant Reformation, especially in areas where Protestant churches became dominant. Reformers like Martin Luther encouraged congregational singing and wrote carols for worship, reflecting the Lutheran tradition's strong support for sacred music.

Church and liturgical use

Almost all the well-known carols were not sung in church until the second half of the 19th century. Hymns Ancient and Modern 1861–1874 included several carols. Isaac Watts composed 'Joy to the World', which has become a popular Christmas carol even though it is widely believed that Watts did not write it to be sung only at Christmas. Charles Wesley wrote texts for at least three Christmas carols, of which the best known was originally entitled 'Hark! How All the Welkin Rings', later edited to 'Hark! the Herald Angels Sing'. A tune from a cantata, Festgesang, by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840 was adapted by William H. Cummings to fit Wesley's words. This combination first appeared in 'Hymns Ancient and Modern' in 1861. 'Silent Night' comes from Austria. The carol was first performed in the Nikolauskirche in Oberndorf on 24 December 1818. Mohr had composed the words much earlier, in 1816, but on Christmas Eve brought them to Gruber and asked him to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment for the church service. The first English translation was in 1871 where it was published in a Methodist hymnal.

Early examples

In the 1800s, researchers began finding old Christmas songs in museums, and around five hundred of these early carols have been identified. Some were wassailing tunes, others were religious songs in English or Latin, and a number were "macaronic," mixing both English and Latin. Because Latin was not widely understood, these mixed-language pieces were likely written for church choirs or educated listeners at royal courts. The best-known surviving example of this style is "The Boar's Head." The custom of singing carols outside church in the early 1800s is famously shown in Thomas Hardy's novel Under the Greenwood Tree from 1872. In England and in countries like Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, groups of singers still travel from house to house, performing carols and often receiving gifts, money, mince pies, or a drink in return. Money collected this way is usually donated to charity today. The practice of singing carols inside a church began on Christmas Eve in 1880 at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall, and it has since spread to churches worldwide. The songs chosen for these services left out the wassailing carols, and the terms "hymn" and "carol" came to be used almost interchangeably. Just two years earlier, in 1878, the Salvation Army under Charles Fry started the tradition of playing carols at Christmas using brass bands. Carols can be performed by solo singers, but they are also commonly sung by larger groups, including professional choirs. Most churches now hold special services where carols are sung alongside Bible readings about the birth of Christ, often modeled on the famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College, Cambridge.

By country

In places like Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand, Christmas falls in the middle of summer. There, a tradition called Carols by Candlelight has become popular. These are outdoor concerts held at night in cities and towns during the weeks before Christmas. The first such event took place in Melbourne, and now it happens every Christmas Eve in Australian capital cities and many smaller towns. The performers can be opera singers, musical theatre stars, or pop musicians. Audience members hold lit candles and sing along with the celebrities on stage. Churches, city councils, and other community groups now organize these concerts all over Australia, usually on Christmas Eve or the Sunday or weekend before it. In South Africa and New Zealand, smaller towns have recently started hosting their own Carols by Candlelight events.

William Garnet "Billy" James, who lived from 1892 to 1977, composed music for Christmas carol lyrics written by John Wheeler. Both men worked for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Their songs described the hot, dry December of the Australian outback, dancing brolgas (a native Australian crane), and other Australian features.

Several early Australian Christmas pieces exist. These include the 1852 Christmas Present Polka by John Howson, the 1862 Hymn for Christmas-Day by James Johnson, and the 1862 All My Heart This Night Rejoices by Charles E Horsley. Also from the 1860s are the 1863 Australian Christmas Song by Ernesto Spagnoletti, the 1864 Christmas in Australia by George Tolhurst, and the 1866 Victorian Christmas Waltz by Cesare Cutolo. Later works include the 1870 Christmas Anthem by Paolo Giorza, the 1883 Song of the Angels by Charles Sandys Packer, the 1890 Oh, lovely voices of the sky by Alfred Plumpton, and the 1899 While all things were in quiet silence by Henry John King. From the early 1900s come the 1900 In the Cathedral by George S De Chaneet, the 1900 Yuletide Gavotte by John Albert Delaney, the 1908 Australian Christmas Carol by Joseph Summers, the 1910 My Little Christmas Belle by Joe Slater, the 1910 Star of the East by August Juncker, and the 1929 The Night of Fear Is Over by Fritz Hart.

Canada’s oldest Christmas song is the "Huron Carol," also called "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime." It was likely written in 1642 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada.