Where did Christmas Carols
and Hymns Come From?*
and Hymns Come From?*
*The topic is adapted from http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/the-history-of-christmas-carols-and-hymns/article/120 with some additional Christmas carols culled from Wikipedia to enrich the discussion of Christmas carols.
Most of us know by heart at least a few Christmas songs, and have heard many others, both secular and religious. From Thanksgiving (and often even earlier) until Christmas we are inundated with them in stores, on the radio, at Christmas concerts, and once the secular world is putting away their Christmas decorations, Catholics get to continue to hear Christmas hymns and carols at Mass for another couple of weeks. Just listening to one of these any time during the year can conjure up visions of Christmas pageants, nativities, red and green decorations, Christmas trees, and stockings hung by the fireplace. But the holiday has not always been so inextricably linked with these songs.
Hymns written specifically for the feast of Christmas have been around, it seems, almost as long as the feast itself. Many of these early hymns were created for and added to the Divine Office, and weren't widely known. Some of these early hymn-writers included St. Ambrose, Prudentius, and Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers.
Carols, which are more joyful songs associated with dance (the word “carol” comes from either the Old French term for a circle dance, carole, derived from the Latin choraula, or the Greek dance choraulein), seem to have been first introduced in the 12th century by St. Francis of Assisi, who is also credited with creating the first Nativity scene. He wanted to teach people about the birth of Jesus through music, so he added religious lyrics to well-known tunes. The concept of Christmas carols then traveled throughout Europe, including to Germany where many carols were written in the 14th century. Carols today often retain the medieval choral patterns from the tradition of these early carols. As time went on, the popularity of Christmas carols and hymns grew, and from this we have some of the most popular Christmas songs today.
Probably one of the more well-known, mainstream Christmas hymns today is “Silent Night,” which was written in 1818 in Austria. As the story goes, on Christmas Eve Father Joseph Mohr, the pastor of St. Nicholas Church in Oberndorf, ran into a problem when the church organ broke. There would not be time to get it repaired before Christmas Mass, and faced with the prospect of Christmas services with no organ music, Mohr took a poem he had written two years before and asked the church organist, Franz Gruber, to compose a melody and guitar accompaniment to go with the poem. Thus “Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht”) was born and first sung that night at the church's midnight Mass.
The Latin hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful” (also well-known by its Latin name, “Adeste Fideles”), was composed by John Francis Wade in 1743. The lyrics may have been written as early as the 13th century, but it seems more likely that they were also written by John Francis Wade. The original version, written in Latin, had four verses, but four more were written – three by Etienne Jean Francois Borderies, and a fourth written anonymously.
Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau (1808–1877), a wine merchant and poet, who had been asked by a parish priest to write a Christmas poem. Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music, created a singing edition based on Cappeau's French text in 1855. In both the French original and in the two familiar English versions of the carol, the text reflects on the birth of Jesus and of mankind's redemption.
The First Nowell (also written The First Noël) is a traditional classical English carol, most likely from the 18th century, although possibly earlier. The word Noel comes from the French word Noel meaning "Birthday", from the Latin word natalis "birthday". In its current form it is of Cornish origin, and it was first published in Carols Ancient and Modern (1823) and Gilbert and Sandys Carols (1833), both of which were edited by William B. Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert Hymns and Carols of God. Today, it is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer John Stainer, first published in his Carols, New and Old of 1871. The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice, followed by a variation on that phrase. All three phrases end on the third of the scale. The refrain, also unusually, merely repeats the melody of the verse. It is thought to be a corruption of an earlier melody sung in a church gallery setting "The First O Well"; a conjectural reconstruction of this earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols.
"Joy to the World" is a popular Christmas carol. The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and worship. Watts wrote the words of "Joy to the World" as a hymn glorifying Christ's triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a Christmas song celebrating his first coming as a babe born in a stable. Only the second half of Watts' lyrics are still used today. The music was adapted and arranged to Watts' lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from Jandel, not least because the theme of the refrain (And heaven and nature sing...) appears in the orchestra opening and accompaniment of the recitative Comfort ye from Handel's Messiah, and the first four notes match the beginning of the choruses Lift up your heads and Glory to God from the same oratorio. However, Handel did not compose the entire tune. The name "Antioch" is generally used for the tune. As of the late 20th century, "Joy to the World" was the most-published Christmas hymn in North America.
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" is a popular Christmas carol. The text was written by Phillips Brooks (1835–1893), an Episcopal priest, Rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. He was inspired by visiting Bethlehem in 1865. Three years later, he wrote the poem for his church and his organist, Lewis Redner, added the music. Redner's tune, simply titled "St. Louis", is the tune used most often for this carol in the United States.
"We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr. who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns and Song in 1863. John Henry Hopkins, Jr., then an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church, was instrumental in organizing an elaborate holiday pageant (which featured this hymn) for the students of the General Theological Seminary in New York City in 1857 while serving as the seminary's music director. In 1872 Hopkins was ordained an Episcopal priest and later served as rector at Christ Episcopal Church (Williamsport, PA).
Do You Hear What I Hear? is a Christmas song written in October 1962 with lyrics by Noel Regney and music by Gloria Shayne Baker. The pair were married at the time, and wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists. Regney was inspired to write the lyrics "Said the night wind to the little lamb, 'Do you see what I see?' “and "Pray for peace, people everywhere," after watching babies being pushed in strollers on the sidewalks of New York City. Baker stated in an interview years later that neither could personally perform the entire song at the time they wrote it because of the emotions surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis. "Our little song broke us up. You must realize there was a threat of nuclear war at the time."
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” comes from England and was written sometime in the 15th century. It was one of the most popular carols for centuries, finally published around 1833. It is found in a wide variety of versions and with different numbers of verses, depending on the
version.
"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy puddings' that were very much like modern day Christmas puddings. It is one of the few English traditional carols that makes mention of the New Year celebration.
The “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley who was an early leader of Methodism. It was written in 1739, and originally the first line was “Hark! How all the welkin rings, / Glory to the King of kings” (welkin meaning heaven). It was altered many times until the version we know today became the most popular. It was sung with a variety of tunes at first, but eventually the majority settled on a tune by Felix Mendelssohn written in 1840.
"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is an English Christmas carol that enumerates a series of increasingly grand gifts given on each of the twelve days of Christmas. Although first published in England in 1780, textual evidence may indicate the song is French in origin. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 68. The earliest well-known version of the music of the song was recorded by English scholar James O. Halliwell in 1842, and he published a version in 4th edition The Nursery Rhymes of England (1846), collected principally from 'oral tradition'. In the early 20th century, English composer Frederic Austin wrote an arrangement in which he added his melody from "Five gold rings" onwards, which has since become standard. The copyright to this arrangement was registered in 1909 and is still active by its owners, Novello & Co. Limited.
song"
A bit of modern folklore claims that the song's lyrics were written as a "catechism song" to help young Catholics learn their faith, at a time when practicing Catholicism was criminalized in England (1558 until 1829). There is no primary evidence supporting this claim, and no evidence that the claim is historical, or "anything but a fanciful modern day speculation." The theory is of relatively recent origin. It was first suggested by Canadian English teacher and hymnologist Hugh D. McKellar in a short article, "How to Decode the Twelve Days of Christmas," published in 1979. In a later article published in the music journal The Hymn, he reiterates that the associations are his. The idea was further popularized by a Catholic priest, Fr. Hal Stockert, in an article he wrote in 1982 and posted online in 1995. Variations in lyrics provide further evidence against the "catechism song" origin. For example, the four Gospels are often described as the "four calling birds," when in fact the phrase "calling birds" is a modern (probably 20th century) phonetic misunderstanding of "colly birds" (blackbirds).
"Silver Bells" is a classic Christmas song, composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. It started out as the questionable "Tinkle Bells." Said Evans, "We never thought that tinkle had a double meaning until Jay went home and his [first] wife said, 'Are you out of your mind? Do you know what the word tinkle is?'" The word is child's slang for urination. This song was inspired by a tiny bell Livingston and Evans had on their work desk. The song charted in the United Kingdom for the first time in 2009 when a duet by Sir Terry Wogan and Aled Jones recorded for charity reached the Top 40, peaking at no. 27.
Maligayang Pasko at Masaganang Bagong Taon (English: Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year), also known as Ang Pasko ay Sumapit (English: Christmas has Arrived), is a traditional Filipino Christmas song. It was originally composed by Vicente D. Rubi and Mariano Vestil in 1933 as Kasadya ning Taknaa (English: How Blissful is this Season!). A version of the song in Tagalog was used by Josefino Cenizal as a marching song for "Ang Pugad ng Aguila" (Hawk's Nest) in 1938. National Artist Levi Celerio also wrote Tagalog lyrics to the song during 1950s. The song is still sung today in various communities, especially in Churches both in the Philippines and abroad.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_carols
