Acarol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected withChristian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance.[1] Acaroller (orcaroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to becarolling (orcaroling).
Today the carol is represented almost exclusively by theAdvent carol, theChristmas carol, and to a lesser extent by theEaster carol; however, despite their present association with religion, this has not always been the case.
The wordcarol is derived from theOld French wordcarole, acircle dance accompanied by singers (in turn derived from theLatinchoraula). Carols were very popular as dance songs from the 1150s to the 1350s, after which their use expanded as processional songs sung duringfestivals, while others were written to accompany religiousmystery plays (such as the "Coventry Carol", written before 1534).[2]
Sacred music was traditionally sung in Latin by clergy or appointed cantors of the Catholic church. Following the ProtestantReformation, reformers aimed to bring music "back to the people". To enable the common person to sing church music, great efforts were made to translate musical texts from Latin into the native languages that people spoke.Martin Luther, the father ofLutheran Christianity, encouraged congregational singing during theMass, in addition to spreading the practice of caroling outside the liturgy.[3] Composers such asWilliam Byrd composedmotet-like works for Christmas that they termed carols; and folk-carols continued to be sung in rural areas. Nonetheless, some famous carols were written in this period, and they were more strongly revived from the nineteenth century and began to be written and adapted by eminent composers.[4]
In modern times, songs that may once have been regarded as carols are now no longer classified as such (especiallyChristmas songs), even those that retain the traditional attributes of a carol – celebrating a seasonal topic, alternating verses and chorus, and danceable music.
Some writers of carols, such asGeorge Ratcliffe Woodward who wrote "Ding Dong Merrily on High" andWilliam Morris who wrote "Masters in This Hall", reverted to a quasi-mediaeval style; this became a feature of the early twentieth-century revival in Christmas Carols.
Some composers have written extended works based on carols. Examples includeBenjamin Britten (A Ceremony of Carols),Ralph Vaughan Williams (Fantasia on Christmas Carols) andVictor Hely-Hutchinson (Carol Symphony).
Important anthologies of carols include:
Luther sought reforms in music, as he sought change in theology, ethics, ritual, and art. He loved polyphony and wanted music that moved people by fusing faith and song. He encouraged a greater participation by the congregation in singing, and he simplified the music from choir plainsong to easy harmony … Luther published hundreds of hymn texts to be sung to popular melodies and simple chants. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Reformation extended the range of religious choral music beyond the liturgy, and the informal group singing of songs was highly encouraged, leading to a greater familiarity with Christmas hymns.
The dictionary definition ofcarol at Wiktionary
