AChristmas carol is acarol(a song orhymn) on the theme ofChristmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surroundingChristmas and holiday season. The termnoel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French origin.[1] Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category ofChristmas music.
The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns such asVeni redemptor gentium, written byAmbrose,Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition toArianism. Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father's heart begotten) by the Spanish poetPrudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today.[2]
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas sequence (or prose) emerged in monasteries ofNorthern Europe, developing under the influence ofBernard of Clairvaux into a liturgicalsequence composed of rhymedstanzas. In the 12th century, the Parisian monkAdam of Saint Victor began incorporating melodic elements derived from popular songs, creating musical forms more closely resembling the traditional Christmas carol.
By the 13th century, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs written in regional vernacular languages had developed in France, Germany, and particularly Italy, under the influence ofFrancis of Assisi.[3] The earliest English Christmas carols appear in a 1426 manuscript by the Shropshire chaplainJohn Awdlay, who recorded twenty-five “caroles of Cristemas”, likely sung by groups ofwassailers traveling from house to house.[4]
The songs now identified as Christmas carols were originally communal festival songs performed during seasonal celebrations such as harvesttide. Only later were they adopted for church use and associated specifically with the Christmas season.
Many carols that later gained widespread popularity were printed inPiae Cantiones, a collection of late-medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. Early Latin forms of carols such as "Christ was born on Christmas Day", "Good Christian Men, Rejoice", and "Good King Wenceslas" appear in this collection.[5] "Adeste Fideles" (“O Come, All Ye Faithful”) appears in its present form in the mid-18th century, although its lyrics may date to the 13th century; the origin of its melody remains disputed.
Christmas carols increased in popularity following theProtestant Reformation, particularly in regions whereProtestant churches became dominant. Reformers such asMartin Luther actively promoted congregational singing and composed carols for worship, reflecting the Lutheran tradition’s strong embrace of sacred music.[6]
During the period of thePuritan ban on Christmas in England, semi-clandestine religious services commemorating Christ’s birth continued to be held, and carols were sung privately despite official restrictions.[7]
The publication of Christmasmusic books in the 19th century helped to widen the popular appeal of carols. "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen", "The First Noel", "I Saw Three Ships" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" appear in English antiquarianWilliam Sandys' 1833 collectionChristmas Carols, Ancient and Modern.[8] Composers such asArthur Sullivan helped to repopularise the carol, and it is this period that gave rise to such favourites as "Good King Wenceslas" and "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear", a New England carol written by Edmund H. Sears and Richard S. Willis. The publication in 1871 ofChristmas Carols, New and Old byHenry Ramsden Bramley and SirJohn Stainer was a significant contribution to a revival of carols inVictorian Britain. In 1916, Charles Lewis Hutchins publishedCarols Old and Carols New, a scholarly collection which suffered from a short print run and is consequently rarely available today. TheOxford Book of Carols, first published in 1928 byOxford University Press (OUP), was a notably successful collection; edited by the British composersMartin Shaw andRalph Vaughan Williams, along with clergyman and authorPercy Dearmer, it became a widely used source of carols in among choirs and church congregations in Britain and remains in print today.[9][10]
The singing of carols was further popularised in the 20th century when OUP published one of the most popular carol books in the English-speaking world,Carols for Choirs. First published in 1961 and edited byDavid Willcocks andReginald Jacques, this bestselling series has since expanded to a five-volume set. Along with editorJohn Rutter, the compilers included many arrangements of carols derived from sources such asPiae Cantiones, as well as pieces by modern composers such asWilliam Walton,Benjamin Britten,Richard Rodney Bennett,William Mathias and John Rutter.[11]
Today carols are regularly sung at Christian religious services. Some compositions have words that are clearly not of a religious theme, but are often still referred to as "carols". For example, the 16th-century song "A Bone, God Wot!" appears to be awassailing song (which is sung during drinking or while requesting ale), but is described in theBritish Library'sCottonian Collection as a Christmas carol.[12] As recently as 1865, Christmas-related lyrics were adopted for the traditional English folk song "Greensleeves", becoming the internationally popular Christmas carol "What Child is This?". Little research has been conducted on carol singing, but one of the fewsociological studies of caroling in the early 21st century in Finland determined that the sources of songs are often misunderstood, and that it is simplistic to suggest caroling is mostly related to Christian beliefs, for it also reinforces preservation of diverse national customs and local family traditions.[13]
A modern form of the practice of caroling can be seen in "Dial-A-Carol", an annual tradition held by students at theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, wherein potential audiences call the singers to request a performance over phone call.[14]
It is not clear whether the word carol derives from the French "carole" or the Latin "carula" meaning a circular dance.
Traditionally, carols have often been based onmedieval chord patterns, and it is this that gives them their uniquely characteristic musical sound. Some carols like "Personent hodie", "Good King Wenceslas", and "The Holly and the Ivy" can be traced directly back to theMiddle Ages, and are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung.
Compositions continue to be written that become popular carols. For example, many of the carols written byAlfred Burt are sung regularly in both sacred and secular settings, and are among the better known modern Christmas carols.
Almost all the well-known carols were not sung in church until the second half of the 19th century.[citation needed]Hymns Ancient and Modern 1861–1874 included several carols.Isaac Watts, the "father of English hymnody", 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".[15]A tune from a cantata,Festgesang, byFelix 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.[citation needed]
"Silent Night" comes from Austria. The carol was first performed in theNikolauskirche inOberndorf 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.[16] The first English translation was in 1871 where it was published in aMethodist hymnal.
Several different Christmas episodes, apart from thebirth of Jesus itself, are described in Christmas carols, such as:
In addition, some carols describe Christmas-related events of a religious nature, but not directly related to the birth of Jesus. For example:
Antiquarians in the 19th-century rediscovered early carols in museums. According to theEncyclopædia Britannica,[18] about 500 have been found. Some are wassailing songs, some are religious songs in English, some are in Latin, and some are "macaronic" — a mixture of English and Latin. Since most people did not understand Latin, the implication is that these songs were composed for church choristers, or perhaps for an educated audience at the Royal courts. The most famous survival of these early macaronic carols is "The Boar's Head". The tradition of singing carols outside of church services early in the 19th century is best illustrated byThomas Hardy's novelUnder the Greenwood Tree (1872). In England and other countries, such as Poland (kolęda), Romania (colindă) and Bulgaria (koledari), there is a tradition of Christmas caroling (earlier known aswassailing), in which groups of singers travel from house to house, singing carols at each, for which they are often rewarded with gifts, money, mince pies, or a glass of an appropriate beverage. Money collected in this way is now normally given to charity.
Singing carols in church was instituted on Christmas Eve 1880 inTruro Cathedral, Cornwall, (see article onNine Lessons and Carols), and now seen in churches all over the world.[19] The songs that were chosen for singing in church omitted the wassailing carols, and the words "hymn" and "carol" were used almost interchangeably. Shortly before, in 1878, theSalvation Army, under Charles Fry, instituted the idea of playing carols at Christmas, using abrass band. Carols can be sung by individual singers, but are also often sung by larger groups, including professionally trained choirs. Most churches have special services at which carols are sung, generally combined with readings from scripture about the birth of Christ; this is often based on the famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols atKing's College, Cambridge.
In the 1680s and 1690s, two French composers incorporated carols into their works.Louis-Claude Daquin wrote 12 noels for organ.Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote a few instrumental versions of noels, plus one major choral workMesse de minuit pour Noël.Johann Sebastian Bach included Christmas carols in hiscantatas for Christmastide, including hisChristmas Oratorio.Peter Cornelius included carol melodies in the accompaniment of his song cycleWeihnachtslieder, Op. 8. Other examples include:
In Austria, Belgium and Germany,Epiphany, the last feast of the Christmas season, is marked bystar singers, children dressing as theThree Kings, carrying a star on a pole. Going from house to house from New Year's Day to 6 January, the children sing religious songs and collect money for charity. They are often rewarded with extra sweets or money.[20]
In Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, where it is the middle of summer at Christmas, there is a tradition ofCarols by Candlelight concerts held outdoors at night in cities and towns across the country, during the weeks leading up to Christmas. First held in Melbourne, "Carols by Candlelight" is held each Christmas Eve in capital cities and many smaller cities and towns around Australia. Performers at the concerts include opera singers,musical theatre performers andpopular music singers. People in the audience hold lit candles and join in singing some of the carols in accompaniment with the celebrities. Similar events are now held all over Australia, usually arranged by churches, municipal councils, or other community groups. They are normally held on Christmas Eve or the Sunday or weekend before Christmas. A similar recent trend in South Africa and New Zealand are for smaller towns to host their own Carols by Candlelight concerts.
William Garnet "Billy" James (1892–1977) wrote music for Christmas carol lyrics written by John Wheeler (both men worked for theAustralian Broadcasting Commission). These referred to the hot dry December of the Australian outback,[21] dancingbrolgas (a native Australian crane),[22] and similar Australian features.
The "Huron Carol" (or "Twas in the Moon of Wintertime") is a CanadianChristmashymn (Canada's oldest Christmas song), written probably in 1642 byJean de Brébeuf, aJesuitmissionary atSainte-Marie among the Hurons in Canada.[39]
In accordance with amedieval tradition, theChristmas Peace is declared every year onChristmas Eve inPorvoo, Finland, with a local band and male choir performing Christmas carols.[40]
"Dans cette étable" and "Venez Divin Messie" are also popular Christmas carols. Perhaps the best known traditional French carol, "Il est né, le divin Enfant", comes from the region ofProvence.[41]
Some carols familiar in English are translations of German Christmas songs (Weihnachtslieder). PastoralWeihnachtslieder are sometimes calledHirtenlieder ("shepherd songs").Martin Luther wrote the carol "Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her", which can be acted as a play of theChristmas story. He also wrote "Gelobet seist du, Jesu Christ" and "Christum wir sollen loben schon". The carol "Vom Himmel hoch, o Engel, kommt" was written byFriedrich Spee in 1622 to an older melody, a lullaby singing "of Jesus and Mary", and for peace.
Two well-known later examples are "O Tannenbaum" (O Christmas tree), from a German folksong arranged byErnst Anschütz and "Stille Nacht" ("Silent Night") by the AustriansFranz Xaver Gruber andJoseph Mohr. The carol most familiar in German besides those two is probably the 19th-century "O du fröhliche".
Other popular and widely sung Christmas carols are "Herbei, o ihr Gläub’gen", which is a German version of "Adeste fideles" (English: "O Come, All Ye Faithful"),Alle Jahre wieder ("Every year again"),Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (lit: "A rose has sprung up"), "Leise rieselt der Schnee" "(Silently the snow is falling)", "Tochter Zion, freue dich" (Daughter Zion, rejoice) and "Es ist für uns eine Zeit angekommen" ("Unto us a time has come").
"Lasst uns froh und munter sein" ("Let us be happy and cheerful"), "Kling, Glöckchen", ("Ring, Little Bell"), "Ihr Kinderlein, kommet" ("Oh, come, little children") and "Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen" (lit.: "tiny snowflake, white, tiny skirt") are popular German songs introduced inKindergarten andprimary school.Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann wrote a scientific book on German Christmas carols which is also a song book.
Greek tradition calls for children to go out withtriangles from house to house on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve andEpiphany Eve, and sing the corresponding folk carols, called theKalanta orKalanda orKalanta Christougenon, the word deriving from the Romancalends). There are separate carols for each of the three great feasts, referring respectively to theNativity, toSt. Basil and the New Year, and to theBaptism of Jesus in theRiver Jordan, along with wishes for the household. In addition to the carols for thewinter festive season, there are also the springtime orLenten carols, commonly called the "Carols ofLazarus", sung on theSaturday before Palm Sunday as a harbinger of theResurrection of Christ to be celebrated a week later.
In older times, caroling children asked for and were given edible gifts such as dried fruit, eggs, nuts or sweets; during the 20th century this was gradually replaced with money gifts – ranging from small change in the case of strangers to considerable amounts in the case of close relatives. Caroling is also done by marching bands, choirs, school students seeking to raise funds for trips or charity, members of folk societies, or merely by groups of well-wishers. Many internationally known carols, e.g. "Silent Night" and "O Tannenbaum", are also sung in Greek translation.
Many carols are regional, being popular in specific regions but unknown in others, whereas some are popular throughout the two countries. Examples of the latter are thePeloponnesian Christmas carol "Christoúgenna, Prōtoúgenna" ("Christmas, Firstmas"), theConstantinopolitan Christmas carol "Kalēn hespéran, árchontes" ("Good evening, lords"), and the New Year's carol "Archimēniá ki archichroniá" ("First of the month, first of the year"). The oldest known carol, commonly referred to as the"Byzantine Carol" (Byzantine Greek: Άναρχος θεός καταβέβηκεν,Ánarkhos Theós katabébēken, "God, who has no beginning, descended"), is linguistically dated to the beginning of theHigh Middle Ages,ca. 1000 AD; it is traditionally associated with the city ofKotyora in thePontos (modern-dayOrdu, Turkey).
Most carols follow a more or less standard format: they begin by exalting the relevant religious feast, then proceed to offer praises for the lord and lady of the house, their children, the household and its personnel, and usually conclude with a polite request for a treat, and a promise to come back next year for more well-wishing. Almost all the various carols are in the commondekapentasyllabos (15-syllableiamb with acaesura after the 8th syllable) verse, which means that their wording and tunes are easily interchangeable. This has given rise to a great number of local variants, parts of which often overlap or resemble one another in verse, tune, or both. Nevertheless, their musical variety remains very wide overall: for examplecarols fromEpirus are strictlypentatonic, in the kind ofdronepolyphony practised in theBalkans, and accompanied by C-clarinets andfiddles; just across the straits, onCorfu Island, the style istempered harmonic polyphony, accompanied bymandolins and guitars. Generally speaking, the musical style of each carol closely follows the secular music tradition of each region.
The most popular Italian Christmas carol is "Tu scendi dalle stelle", written in 1732 by SaintAlphonsus Liguori.[42]
Christmas carols in predominantlyCatholic Philippines exhibit the influence of indigenous, Hispanic and American musical traditions, reflecting the country's complexhistory. Carollers (Tagalog:Namamaskô) begin wassailing in November, with mostly children and young adults participating in the custom.
Christmas carols are very popular in Poland, where they have a long history, the oldest dating to the 15th century or earlier.[43] There is a tradition of singing Christmas carols until 2 February which is celebrated by western Christians as the Feast of thePresentation of Jesus at the Temple.[citation needed] Among the most prominent Polish carols areGod Is Born (Bóg się rodzi),Midst Quiet Night (Wśród nocnej ciszy),Miserable, Quiet (Mizerna cicha) andInfant Holy, Infant Lowly (W żłobie leży).
During theSocialist Republic of Romania in the 20th century, Christmas carols were banned by the government ofCeausescu. Days following theRomanian Revolution in 1989, Christmas carols were sung for the first time in 42 years.[44]
Thevillancico (orvilancete in Portuguese) was a common poetic and musical form of theIberian Peninsula and Latin America popular from the late 15th to 18th centuries. With the decline in popularity of the villancicos in the 20th century, the term became reduced to mean merely "Christmas carol". Important composers of villancicos wereJuan del Encina,Pedro de Escobar, Francisco Guerrero, Gaspar Fernandes and Juan Gutiérez de Padilla. Popular Spanish villancicos include "Los pastores a Belén" and "Riu, riu, chiu: El lobo rabioso" and "Los peces en el río".
TheNadala orCançó de Nadal (in pluralnadales) are a popular group of songs, usually requiring a chorus, that are song fromAdvent untilEpiphany. Their written versions starts in the 15th century. In the past were usually being song byshepherds and their families in market squares and in front of churches.
TheNadala origins are uncertain but usually cited to be related with theMontseny andPedraforca mountains inCatalonia (by the counties ofOsona andGirona). As quite a few have references to mythological events and powers, some authors claim that they contain part of the religion that was present in the territory beforeChristianity arrived as it was kept alive in these mountainous regions.
Thenadala is usually paired with thecaramella, being one for thewinter solstice events while the other to thespring equinox.
Ukrainian Christmas carols are namedkolyadka (Ukrainian:колядки).[45] They were originally sung to celebrate the birth of the Sun (winter solstice).[46] After the incorporation into Christianity, their theme has been shifted to Christmas, celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
The Ukrainian carol most known in theWestern world is the "Carol of the Bells", with English lyrics by the American composer of Ukrainian descentPeter J. Wilhousky, composed by the Ukrainian composerMykola Leontovych as "Shchedryk", and premiered in December 1916 by a choral group made up of students atKyiv University. Although it is a Christmas carol in Wilhousky's English lyrics, in original Ukrainian lyrics it is aGenerous Eve carol (shchedrivka [uk], Ukrainian:щедрівка), having nothing with Christianity.
Christmas music performed in the United States ranges from popular songs, such as "Jingle Bells", to Christmas carols, such as "Away in a Manger", "O Little Town of Bethlehem", and numerous others of varying genres. Church and college choirs celebrate with special programs and online recordings.
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