30 Favourite Christmas Carols -

 Their Origins and History

 

1) In The Bleak Midwinter

In 1872 the poet Christina Rossetti wrote the words of 'In The Bleak Midwinter' in response to a request by the American 'Scribner's Monthly Magazine' for a poem in celebration of Christmas. Then in 1904, long after Christina's death, the poem was published in a collection of her works, and in 1906, the great composer Gustav Holst chose to set to music. The tune which Holst composed is known as 'Cranham', after the village in Gloucestershire in which he was living. In 1909 a second melody for the same carol was created by organist Harold Darke. Both versions became and remain very popular in Britain, and in 2008, a poll of leading choral experts chose the Darke version as the best Christmas carol ever written. I would respectfully disagree - not about Rossetti's words or the carol - but about the tune. For me, the Gustav Holst melody is perfect. It brings back the most evocative memories of my childhood as I trudged home from school in the snow, the welcoming lights in the houses, and my longing to get home to my mum's cooked supper, out of the dark and cold of the bleak midwinter. Even then this was my favourite carol, and 'In the Bleak Midwinter' remains for me the most beautiful carol of all.

2) The Holly And The Ivy

This traditional English carol is curious for the prominence the title gives to two plants which have no place in the Christmas story. And indeed one of those plants - the ivy - is scarcely even mentioned in the lyrics of the song. So why a carol about holly, and why is ivy even included in the title? Before Christianity, holly and ivy had long established roles in pagan rituals, and particularly in winter solstice festivities, perhaps because their evergreen leaves had symbolised continuity. One prominent ritual which involved both plants is believed to have been a singing contest. Men would perform songs which specifically extolled the virtues of the holly (considered a masculine plant) whilst women would perform songs which promoted the merits of the ivy (a feminine plant). And this rivalry between the two plants (or sexes) could then be resolved under the third very prominent evergreen of the winter season, the mistletoe (hence the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe). There is even a very ancient song called 'The Contest of the Holly and the Ivy' which refers to this battle of the sexes and their symbolic plants. The popular appeal of such pagan links between holly and ivy and the winter festivities made it difficult for the emergent Christian church to ignore. So instead it assimilated them into Christian ceremonies and Christian music, Which brings us to the carol 'The Holly and the Ivy'. The carol clearly uses holly as a metaphor for aspects of the Christmas story and the subsequent life of Christ. In the song the white of the flower is compared to Christ's purity, the red of the berry to Christ's blood, and the prickly leaves to the 'Crown of Thorns'. Fair enough. The carol may well have been based on one of those ancient pagan songs sung by the male sex - one which extolled the virtue of the holly. But what of the ivy? Why is that even mentioned in the title? The most likely explanation is simply that the link between holly and ivy was just too strong in popular culture for it to be completely omitted, even though its inclusion was irrelevent to the new Christian message. It was a throwback to the old pagan ritual. Whatever the truth, the carol's subsequent development is also sadly vague, and its author is unknown. One version of 'The Holly and the Ivy' is reported from 1710 which carries a first verse very similar to the modern lyrics. A manuscript from 1823 also mentions the carol. Most significantly, Cecil Sharp, a music teacher and avid collector of folklore and folk music, heard the carol sung by Mrs Mary Clayton of Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire in 1909. And Sharp subsequently recorded and published most of the lyrics and the beautiful melody we know today. The Holly and the Ivy

3) O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

The precise origins of this carol are unclear, and like 'The Holly and the Ivy', it is of unknown authorship. Undoubtedly however, this is one of the oldest of all carols, and is believed to have been derived from a set of Latin verses called the 'O antiphons' which were performed in monasteries around the 8th century AD. Each of these verses related the prophesy of the coming of the Messiah, and each referred to one of the titles of the Messiah. One referred to the Messiah as 'Emmanuel' as described in 'Isaiah 7:14', and it is believed that around the 12th century AD this text was adapted into a rhythmic poem, 'Veni veni Emmanuel'. The music which today accompanies the lyrics is thought to have been separately written for a 15th century Franciscan funeral hymn with influences from Gregorian chant. How and exactly when the words of 'Veni veni Emmanuel' became united with the funeral hymn is unknown, but certainly it had happened by 1851, when John Mason Neale translated the words from Latin into English (Neale was a prolific translator of hymns and carols from many other languages into English, as well as composing some carols of his own, including 'Good King Wenceslas'.) When Neale wrote the English language version of the carol, he titled it 'Draw nigh, draw nigh, Emmanuel', but later modifications of the text gave us the title and verses we know today. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel 

4) O Little Town Of Bethlehem

In the winter of 1865, Phillips Brooks, the rector of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia, visited the Holy Land, and included in his itinerary was a horseback ride from Jerusalem to Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Three years later, and inspired by this experience, Brooks composed the lyrics of this song, and his organist Lewis Redner was asked to add music so it could be performed by the church's children's choir at Christmas. Neither Brooks nor Redner really expected much more from their carol, but in 1874, the Reverend Huntington, the rector of All Saints’ Church in Worcester, Massachusetts, chose to publish it in his Sunday School hymn book, 'The Church Porch'. In so doing, he introduced the carol to a much wider audience. Gradually the song lyrics grew in popularity across the world, though a strong dichotomy in the choice of music to accompany the words would also develop. Redner's original tune known as 'Saint Louis' remains the music most often used for this carol in America. However, in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, the same lyrics are sung to a markedly different tune called 'Forest Green'. This is a melody adapted from the folk song 'The Ploughboy's Dream' by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and named after the village in Surrey in which he first heard the song. It was published in the English Hymnal (a collection of hymns) in 1906. Another alternative tune was composed by H. Walford Davies in 1905, and called 'Wengen'. This less familiar version is performed by most notably at the famous service of Nine Lessons and Carols in Kings College, Cambridge.

5) Away In A Manger

If any carol is particularly associated with children, then it is most probably 'Away in a Manger'. Certainly this is one of the first carols which I can remember as a child, and it is a song which remains popular because of its gentle melody and words. 'Away in a Manger' was first published as two verses by James R Murray in Philadelphia in the Lutheran song book 'Little Children's Book for Schools and Families' in 1885. The verses were subtitled 'Luther's Cradle Hymn', which has led to a common belief that they were actually written by Martin Luther himself, but it seems there is absolutely no evidence of this. A third verse ('Be near me, Lord Jesus') was added by John T. McFarland in 1904, having been originally written for another song by Charles H Gabriel in 1892. As with 'O Little Town of Bethlehem'there is a distinct difference in choice of melody between America and the Old World. The music to which the lyrics are usually performed in America was composed and published by Murray in 1887 under the title 'Mueller'. But by far the best known version in England is a tune composed in 1895 by William J Kirkpatrick and known as 'The Cradle Song' This is the version to be found here. Away in a Manger 

6) Cherry Tree Carol

The tale this carol tells is clearly not the traditional Nativity story. Instead it speculates on Joseph's initially sceptical view of a miraculous virgin pregnancy, as he refuses to help Mary pluck cherries from a tree. Some have read symbolism into the tale, associating cherries with fertility, but it's not clear exactly how the story first arose. Most probably it derives from ancient Christian writings called the 'New Testament Apocrypha' and a text known as the 'Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew', which relates the story of a later flight by Joseph, Mary and Jesus into Egypt. In this tale there is a scene where Joseph attempts to pluck fruit from a date palm - fruit which is tantalisingly out of reach. The carol itself has its roots in a 15th century work performed during the Feast of Corpus Christi, although the words have subsequently been sung to a variety of different tunes. And the picture is confused by the fact that several other carols with similar titles and 'doubting Joseph' themes such as 'When Joseph was an Old Man', and 'The Cheery Tree' also exist. Indeed, 'The Cherry Tree Carol' as performed today, is believed to be a composite of three songs, set to a traditional English melody, and published in a collection of 305 Old and New World ballads by Francis James Child in the late 19th century.

7) A Thousand Christmas Candles

The majority of the carols on this page have English, American, German or French origins, but 'A Thousand Christmas Candles' is different. 'Nu tändas tusen juleljus' is a Swedish carol composed in its entirety by hymn writer Emmy Köhler in the year 1898. The beautiful melody and lyrics has made this one of the most popular of carols in Sweden, and led to it being translated into many other languages including, of course, English. A Thousand Christmas Candles

8) I Saw Three Ships

'I Saw Three Ships' is another carol like 'The Holly and the Ivy' with a strange title and strange symbolic references. The reference to 'ships' is not fully understood. An old interpretation of the original lyrics is that this refers to three genuine ships which took relics of the three wise men to Cologne Cathedral in the 12th century. A more common interpretation is that 'ships' refers to camels - the 'ships of the desert' - and specifically the camels which were the mounts of the three wise men. As with many other carols, numerous variations have existed with different lyrics being composed in the different regions of England, which only serves to further confuse the origins of the song. It does seem however, that the carol derives at least from the 16th century. According to 'The New Oxford Book of Carols', the earliest printed version dates to 1666, at a time when the sea was a major part of the life of the nation. One author suggests the excitement and elation of a ship arriving in port after a long voyage, was analogous in the song to the excitement of the arrival of the Messiah. The carol is sometimes entitled 'On Christmas Day in the Morning.' I Saw Three Ships 

9) Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this carol's creation is that neither lyric writer Charles Wesley nor melody writer Felix Mendelssohn, would have ever wanted their words and music to be married together in the way that they are! Charles was the prolific hymn writer brother of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, and he wrote the lyrics in the year 1739. He originally called it 'Hark! How All the Welkin Rings, Glory to the King of Kings' ('welkin' is a word for the vault of heaven, the place where stars and angels dwell). In 1753, Wesley's colleague George Whitefield changed the title, cut some of the verses and altered a few of the lines to produce the familiar modern lyrics which he published in a collection called 'Hymns and Sacred Poems'. Then, nearly 100 years later in 1840, the great composer Felix Mendelssohn wrote some music for a cantata to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the invention of the Gutenberg printing press, and in 1855 after Mendelssohn's death, organist Dr William Cummings chose to use this melody to accompany the old lyrics of Wesley and Whitefield. Neither Wesley nor Mendelssohn would probably have welcomed this because Wesley had preferred a slow and solemn tempo to his religious music, whilst Mendelssohn had intended his upbeat tune to be secular. And yet this fusion of two very different visions has become one of the most popular of all carols, and indeed one of only two which is never omitted from the world famous Service of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Cambridge. (The other is the next on this list). Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 

10) Once In Royal David's City

'Hark the Herald Angels Sing' (see above) is the recessional hymn played at the end of the Service of Nine Carols at King's College. The processional hymn is 'Once in Royal David's City', and a solo rendition of the first verse by a boy chorister has opened the service every year since 1919. The lyrics of this carol were written by Miss Cecil Frances Humphreys - a noted songwriter who composed more than 400 poems and hymns in her lifetime, including the well known 'There is a Green Hill Far Away' and 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'. In 1848 a compilation of her lyrics entitled 'Hymns for Little Children' was published, and included in the volume was 'Once in Royal David's City' (David's City is Bethlehem). One year later, Henry John Gauntlett set her words to music to produce the carol we know today. Most of Miss Humphrey's works were aimed at children with the intention of making the Bible easy to understand, and today her lyrics for this carol remain as popular as ever in school choirs. And her compassion was manifested in other ways too - Miss Humphreys, who later became Cecil Francis Alexander, wife of an Irish Bishop, would one day give the profits from all her hymn books to support disabled children in the north of Ireland. Once In Royal David's City

11) The Huron Carol

The lyrics of 'The Huron Carol' may be the most interesting of any carol, though the origins of those lyrics are less obscure than some. Also known as 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime' this is considered the oldest Canadian carol in existence. It was written in 1643 by Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary who had worked among the Huron Indians for many years. He wrote the lyrics of the carol in the Huron language, and although the lyrics have been amended since, it seems the intention was to make the Christmas story understandable to the Hurons (who had no knowledge of Palestinian lifestyles) by using analogies from their own lives and spiritual beliefs. Thus for the Hurons, Jesus is born 'within a lodge of broken bark', and wrapped in 'a ragged robe of rabbit skin'. He is surrounded by hunters instead of shepherds, and the wise men or kings are chiefs who bring him 'fox and beaver pelts' instead of gold, frankincense and myrrh. God is referred to as 'Gitchi Manitou'.In 1649, de Brébeuf was killed by Iroquois Indians who attacked and destroyed his mission. But some of the Hurons who survived the attack retained memories of the carol, and when they resettled at Loretto in Quebec, another missionary, Father Étienne de Villeneuve, wrote down the words and translated them into French. The English adaptation of the lyrics was written in 1926 by Jesse Edgar Middleton, and the melody of 'The Huron Carol' comes from a French folk song, called 'A Young Maid'. The Huron Carol

12) The First Noel

'The First Noel' is a traditional English carol which dates at least to the 17th century, and possibly to much earlier than this. According to some, the melody may in fact be an ancient French tune, but the lyrics are undoubtedly English, probably from South West England. Originally the title was 'The First Nowell', but much later on this was changed to the French spelling of 'Noel'. The earliest publication which survives today is from 'Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern' edited by William B Sandys and Davies Gilbert in 1833. In their collection, Sandys and Gilbert arranged and added some lyrics and wrote down the melody to be used, and with some further amendments by John Stainer in 1871, this is the version we sing today. The First Noel

13) God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

'God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen' is of uncertain origin. It is believed to be one of the most ancient carols in this list, probably written more than 500 years ago, at a time when its exuberant tone did not go down well with church leaders who preferred more sombre devotional songs. However, our first record of the song is from an 18th century manuscript, and the oldest surviving publication is from 1833 in the same Sandys and Gilbert compilation as 'The First Noel'. From then on, the festive joy of the words and the rich melodic tone allowed the carol to grow hugely in popularity and at least two English sources from late Victorian times described it as the nation's favourite carol. Indeed, one special claim to fame is that this song is the only one mentioned in Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol'. It is - in effect - the Christmas carol of the title. One final point of note concerns the much misunderstood title. The words 'Rest' and 'Merry' have both changed in meaning over the centuries. 'Rest' may have meant 'to keep', and 'merry' may once have meant 'strong' or 'mighty', as in the phrase 'Robin Hood's merry men'. (Both these original definitions are disputed). As far the comma is concerned, the natural assumption may be to place it between 'rest' and 'ye', but this would be wrong. It belongs after 'merry'. In other words, this is not about merry gentlemen being urged to rest! Depending on word interpretations, the title may be an assurance to the men that when they sleep it will be happy and peaceful because Christ has been born, or it may be seen as a reassurance that God will keep these men safe and strong through Christ.

14) O Come Little Children

This is the first German carol in this list, and it was originally written as a poem 'Ihr Kind­er­lein, kom­met' by the Catholic priest and writer Christoph von Schmid in 1798. It was first published in 1811, and then again in 1818 in a collection called 'Flowers Dedicated to the Flowering Age' . Almost at the same time as Schmid was writing his poem, Johann Abraham Peter Schulz was independently creating a new melody called 'Wie reizend, wie wonnig' ('How charming, how pleasant') from a traditional tune of unknown origin. Sometime between 1830 and 1840, Schmid's poem and Schulz's melody were united in a songbook by Friedrich Heinrich Eickhoff called 'Sixty German Songs for Thirty Pennies'. Today, the tune and the song have spread around the world, but different translations have led to a number of versions of the lyrics being performed to the music. O Come Little Children

15) Ding Dong Merrily On High

The melody of this very well known jolly song perhaps unsurprisingly began life as a secular tune in a 16th century dance book 'Orchésographie' written by Jehan Tabourot, a priest in the town of Langres in eastern France. He titled the music 'Le branle de l'Official'. 'Branle' refers to a circular dance, and it is believed that 'l'Official' refers to the servants quarters of a great house. If so the title implies that this was a dance for everyone including servants - not just the nobility for whom most dance tunes were written. Often as we have already seen, the words precede the music in the writing of Christmas carols, but in this case the lyrics are very much more recent than the tune. They were written by English composer George Ratcliffe Woodward and published in 1924 in 'The Cambridge Carol-Book: Being Fifty-two Songs for Christmas, Easter, And Other Seasons'. Woodward was a man with an interest in rearranging and presenting old tunes such as 'Le branle de l'Official', but also a strong interest in church bell ringing - so perhaps it was inevitable that the lyrics of 'Ding Dong Merrily on High' should come from his pen. Ding Dong Merrily on High

16) Silent Night

This is probably the most famous carol of all, and certainly the carol with the best known story surrounding its origins. That story however, has been much embellished and mythologised over the years. In 1816 Pastor Joseph Mohr wrote the words of 'Stille Nacht' as a poem in Mariapfarr, Austria. Two years later, Mohr had moved to the Church of St Nicholas in Oberndorf, and according to the legend the organ in this church crucially broke down - on Christmas Eve of all nights! Music was desperately required for the Christmas Mass, so Mohr suddenly thought of his two year old poem, and gave it to his friend Franz Gruber, Gruber, a local schoolteacher and composer, was struck by the beauty of the words and immediately sat down and composed a melody for guitar, rather than church organ. Remarkably, the melody was completed in time for the Midnight Service, and so was born on the eve of Christmas, the carol 'Silent Night'. Unfortunately the real truth may be a little less romantic. Neither Mohr nor Gruber ever revealed the details of the song's creation, and the broken organ story comes from much later in America. It may simply be that Mohr had specifically requested a guitar accompaniment instead of organ instrumentation for his poem. Whatever the truth, the song took off, first in Austria where a singing family called the Strassers performed 'Stille Nacht' at a Leipzig concert in 1832, and then in America, where the Rainer family performed the carol outside Trinity Church in New York City in 1839. Two decades later, John Freeman Young published an English translation of the German original. Then in December 1914, 'Silent Night', already a popular carol, took on a new sentimental edge during the first Christmas truce of World War One. It was, it seems, one of the few carols which both English and German soldiers knew, so as the guns fell silent for an all too brief period, the strains of 'Silent Night' filled the air instead. Silent Night

17) Torch! 

The carol 'Torch!' or 'Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella', comes from the Provence region of Southern France. First published in 1553 by Émile Blémont, this ancient carol was originally a dance song, the melody of which possibly dates even further back to the 14th century. The carol tells an off-beat story, a fictional tale associated with the Nativity in which two milkmaids, Jeanette and Isabella, go to milk their cows one day in Bethlehem, and they find the baby in the manger. They run to inform the townspeople and everyone gathers (with torches) to take a look for themselves. They have to watch very quietly to avoid disturbing the baby - hence the distinctive repeated refrains which begin with 'Hush!, hush!', 'Torch!' was translated into English in the 18th century by organist Edward Cuthbert Nunn, and today the carol is as popular in English speaking countries as in France, where annual re-enactments of the scene still take place in Provence, with villagers dressing up as shepherds and milkmaids carrying torches.

18) Mary's Boy Child

'Mary's Boy Child' is one of the more recent songs in this list, yet very much fits into the categorisation of a Christmas carol. It was written in 1956 by Jester Hairston, a versatile actor, songwriter, arranger, and choral conductor. (He appeared in more than 50 movies including 'In the Heat of the Night', and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' and wrote more than 30 film music scores including 'Lilies of the Field'). Jester Hairston was also the grandson of American slaves, and he was dedicated to preserving Negro spirituals, and the history behind them. After writing 'Mary's Boy Child' the song was quickly taken up by Harry Belafonte and recorded on the album 'An Evening with Belafonte'. The song was released as a single and only reached No 12 in the American charts, but in the United Kingdom, it became a huge hit, topping the charts for 9 weeks in 1957. Many others have since recorded the song, including Nat King Cole, Jim Reeves and Tom Jones, and the classical singer, Kiri Te Kanawa. Boney M's version in 1978 became one of the UK's best selling singles ever, whilst a Scandinavian version topped the Swedish charts in 1979. However, I still believe the origiinal is the best, and it is Belafonte's rendition which is linked to here. Mary's Boy Child 

19) The Calypso Carol

On the face of it this may sound the most exotic of carols, conjuring up images of the tropical palm fringed Caribbean islands - a very different image from the traditional snow-bound winter scene of the Nativity. But really the carol's title refers only to the tempo which is typical of West Indian calypso. An English musician and hymn writer, Michael Perry, wrote the song in its entirety in 1964 for a carol concert at Oak Hill Theological College, at which he was studying. That might possibly have been the end of it, had it not been for the well known British pop star Cliff Richard who was hosting a radio broadcast and looking for a replacement song for a missing record he had wanted to play. He happened upon 'The Calypso Carol', and the exposure the song received on the radio led to it being included in a Christian song book called 'Youth Praise'. The calypso tone was embraced by the West Indian island of Nevis in 1983 which printed the chorus on a set of Christmas stamps, (Nearby St Kitts had honoured 'Mary's Boy Child' in a similar way.) And in 2005, the popularity of the song was such that it was voted one of the nation's ten favourite carols in an opinion poll conducted by the British religious programme 'Songs of Praise'. Calypso Carol

20) We Three Kings Of Orient Are

This carol arose out of the need to write something new for a Christmas pageant in New York City. John Henry Hopkins Jr, was a man of many talents - author, illustrator of books, designer of stained glass windows, and a clergyman. He was also the musical director of the General Theological Seminary in New York, and it was his job in 1857 to organise the music for the pageant. He set to work and produced several compositions, of which the most inspired creation was the music and the lyrics for this carol. It was first published six years later in a collection called 'Carols, Hymns and Song', and it is believed that this carol subsequently became the first purely American carol to be published in England. We Three Kings Of Orient Are 

21) O Come All Ye Faithful

Evidence about the history of this very famous carol is conflicting, which makes it difficult to ascertain the truth. Dealing first with the lyrics, at various times the original words of the carol have been attributed to the Franciscan Order of monks and the 13th century Italian theologian Saint Bonaventure, and to various authors from the 14th to the 17th centuries. A royal author has also been proposed - namely Portuguese King John IV, a noted musical patron and composer. (According to one source, the hymn was briefly known as the Portuguese Hymn, as it was frequently played during the visits of the King's daughter Catherine of Braganza to England in the mid-17th century, during her courtship of her future husband, King Charles II). Other suggested authors have included the composers Handel, Gluck, and Thomas Arne. However, it must be said that the evidence for any of these is very limited, and there is no clear proof of the existence of the lyrics before the middle of the 18th century. At this time, a noted Catholic hymn writer and supporter of Bonnie Prince Charlie's rebellion against King George II of England fled across the sea to France to escape fears of persecution. His name was John Francis Wade and around the year 1743, he wrote down the lyrics of four verses of 'O Come all ye Faithful'. He wrote in Latin, and the hymn was named for the opening words of the first verse, 'Adeste Fideles’. It was first published in 'Cantus Diversi' in 1751. What was the purpose of the hymn? A belief has developed that 'O Come all ye Faithful'was in reality a coded show of support for the Catholic Jacobean cause in England, and that the song was actually imploring 'the faithful' to come to the aid of Prince Charles. Whatever the truth of that, John Francis Wade is now seen as the most likely original author of these four verses. The authorship of the melody is also very unclear; Wade may have composed the music too, although a similar tune also appears in a contemporary comic opera by French composer Charles Favart. Samuel Webbe, a colleague of Wade's, published the music and Wade's Latin verses together for the first time in 1782. Four additional French verses were later penned by Abbé Étienne Jean François Borderies and others. The definitive English text dates to 1841, when John Francis Wade's four verses were translated into English by Reverend Frederick Oakley, who called the carol 'Ye Faithful, approach ye'. The four additional French verses were then translated by William Thomas Brooke in 1885. Thus was created the great choir carol we know today. (If readers wish to learn more about the history of this carol, the 'The Hymns and Carols of Christmas' website gives perhaps the most authoritative account to be found on the Internet). O Come All Ye Faithful

22) Come All Ye Shepherds 

This is another carol of rather vague origin. It is undoubtedly Czech, but there is no direct evidence of the song in old compilations of Czech music. Most commonly it is associated with 'Ne­sem vám no­vi­ny', an old folk song. One source has it that the tune dates to 1605 when it was known as the 'Bohemian Christmas Song'. All that is known for certain is that the German composer and arranger Carl Riedel made the carol popular in Europe by publishing a version in his collection of 'Old Czech Songs for Mixed Choir' In 1870, under the title 'Kommet Ihr Hirten' which translates into the English language as 'Come, All Ye Shepherds'. Full translation of the text into English was by Ma­ri Ruef Ho­fer in 1912. The version to be found here is in the Indonesian language! Sorry about that, but it was the nicest video I could find, so I hope you find it interesting. Come All Ye Shepherds

23) O Christmas Tree

Evergreen plants have had associations with winter festivities for as long as history records, symbolising eternal life and reliability. And the decorating of trees and the bringing of evergreen leaves and branches into the home, have been customs of many religious and ethnic groups including Druids, Jews and early Romans. And it was perhaps inevitable that these customs would be adopted by Christianity. In German speaking nations in the 16th century, the tradition developed of bringing very small fir trees inside and decorating them on the table next to a Nativity scene (the very first Christmas tree is apocryphally attributed to Martin Luther). This habit was later brought to the New World by German immigrants. Then, around the mid 19th century, Prince Albert's love of Christmas festivities gave the royal seal of approval to Christmas tree decoration - the result of which was the prominence which the tree has throughout the Western world in Christmas celebrations today. And of course this evergreen aspect of the festivities would often become celebrated in song, though as in the case of 'The Holly and the Ivy', the carol which evolved around the Christmas tree actually has little to do with the Nativity. Apart from the use of the word 'Christmas' there is no mention of the Biblical story at all. It seems 'O Christmas Tree' derived from a 16th century folk song 'Ach Tannenbaum'by Melchior Franck. New lyrics to the folk song were written by Joachim August Zarnack in 1819, with more lyrics added in 1824 by Leipzig organist Ernst Anschutz. The words have further changed in numerous versions over the years, (including four non-carol versions used as the state songs of Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan, and Iowa) and the title has also undergone variations such as 'The Christmas Tree,' 'O Faithful Pine,' 'Oh Tree of Fir,' and many others.

24) Deck The Hall

'Deck the Hall' is the finest example on this page of a carol with clear melodic roots to its traditional form as described in the section 'Carols - The Linguistic Origins'. This was music originally designed to accompany a dance - perhaps a circular dance of a secular or pagan nature. Dancers would perform in a ring around a harpist, and there would be friendly rivalry as they made up verses to sing on the spur of the moment. The intervals between the verses would be filled with the harp refrain. And if there was no harp or other musical accompaniment available, then it was necessary to fill the intervals in some other way; hence the introduction of the repeated nonsense lines 'Fa la la la la ...' which would form such an integral part of the lyrics of many songs such as this. The melody of 'Deck the Hall' is believed to come from North Wales, where it was originally known as the 'Nantgarw Flower Dance'. Although the tune is ancient, the earliest surviving manuscript is by the Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall in the 18th century. Towards the end of the 18th century, it reached the ear of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who used it in his Sonata No18, and at a similar date it was also presented for the first time in accompaniment with a 'New Years Eve' song entitled 'Nos Galan', published in Welsh in 1784 and in English in 1794 in Edward Jones's 'Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards.' Between 1862 and 1874, the modern lyrics of 'Deck the Hall' made their first appearance in John Thomas's 'Welsh Melodies with Welsh and English Poetry'. Soon after this, the song crossed the Atlantic, appearing in the 'Pennsylvania School Journal' of December 1877. In both 'Nos Galan' and in the modern lyrics, there is no reference to Christmas - only to the seasonally associated time of New Year, and the traditions of yule logs and holly. Even so, this has become one of the best loved of carols. One final point - should the title be singular or plural? The original title does seem to be 'Deck the Hall', and the change to 'Deck the Halls' seems to date only to the 20th century. Deck the Halls

25) Go Tell It On The Mountain 

A very different carol is 'Go Tell it on the Mountain', one of a number of spirituals which were included by John Wesley Work Jr in 'Folk Songs of the Amer­i­can Negro', a book published in 1907. Work was a professor at Fisk University in Nashville, and he compiled his collection to preserve the music of African Americans from the slave days. Some believe the song was actually composed by Work's father, Frederick Jerome Work, but the concensus view is that 'Go Tell it on the Mountain' was first written by a slave and had been sung by slaves or ex-slaves at least since 1865. The song did take on a different life in the 1960s when the great folk group Peter Paul and Mary rewrote some lyrics to turn it into a civil rights anthem, and it has become a popular song with children too. These diverse themes mean the song has been sung in a wider range of settings than almost any other 'carol' including concert halls and schools, on protest marches, and of course in churches. Go Tell It on the Mountain

26) It Came Upon The Midnight Clear

The lyrics of this carol were written as a poem in 1849 by the Pastor of the Unitarian Church of Wayland, Massachusetts, Edmund Sears, and it first appeared in print in the 'Christian Register' in Boston on 29th December 1849; it was one of the earliest American carol compositions, and destined to become one of the most popular. Two melodies have been used to adapt the poem to a carol. One simply known as 'Carol', was composed by Richard Storrs Willis, a music critic on the New York Tribune, and a student of Felix Mendelssohn. 'Carol' was written just one year after Sears's poem, and is the better known tune in America. The second melody was adapted by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) from an English tune in 1874. It was called 'Noel,' and this is the more common accompaniment in the United Kingdom. Here on the video, the tune 'Noel' can be heard, but the uploader of the video, '1finch2finch', has had the bright idea of also providing a link to the alternative 'Carol' version after a few seconds of play time. It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

27) The Christ Child's Lullaby 

'Tàladh Chrìosda' ('Christ's lullaby'), also known as 'Tàladh ar Slànaigheir' ('The Lullaby of our Saviour'), is a Scottish carol from the Outer Hebrides, originally composed in Gaelic by Father Ranald Rankin of Fort William, and published in 1855 for the children of his parish to sing. It seems to have been something of a parting gift, as Father Rankin was departing for Australia that same year. The carol was sung to a tune called 'Cumha Mhic Àrois' - 'The Lament for Mac Àrois' - said to have been written by the bereaved lover of the heir of Aros on the Island of Mull who had sadly drowned in a local loch. The song became known as 'The Christ-Child's Lullaby' through the performances of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser, a popular singer of Scottish songs in the early 20th century.

28) Come Rejoice

Christmas Carol composition is not just a skill from times gone by. Many talented musicians are still producing new carols to enjoy. Judy Collins is one such artist. Best known as a folk singer, Judy has been creating great music since the 1960s, And in 1994 she produced her first Christmas album. It was called 'Come Rejoice!', and it is a pleasure to introduce one of several new songs composed for this album. To the best of my knowledge, the title track has not been recorded by any other artist to date, and should not be confused with other songs of the same or similar titles, such as 'Come on Rejoice' and 'Come and Rejoice'. Come Rejoice

29) Joy To The World

Isaac Watts, one of the most prolific of all English hymn composers, published the words of 'Joy to the World' in 1719, but without intending it to become a Christmas carol. At this time, it was a belief of the Puritan tradition that only the Biblical psalms should be sung in worship - human compositions were not worthy to be compared with these 'divine pieces'. But some - including Watts - felt that the psalms were not at all easy to sing. They could be said to be dreary. 'Joy to the World' was Watt's adaptation of Psalm 98 to turn it into a popular, singable hymn. Initially he chose to title it 'The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom', and it was published in 'Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament'. The tune 'Antioch' to which the words are usually sung, was added to the lyrics of Watts in a collection of hymns put together by the American church musician Dr Lowell Mason more than a hundred years later in 1839. 'Antioch' contained a brief notation 'from Handel' leading to the belief that the the tune was at least partially based on a theme by the great composer Handel, though it seems most likely that the primary composer was Lowell Mason himself. And his combination of this tune and Isaac Watts's words has made 'Joy to the World' one of the most familiar of all carols. Joy to the World

30) Good King Wenceslas

This is an unusual carol because it tells a story far removed from the Era of Christ. Indeed, more than 900 years removed. It speaks of the 'good king' who braves appalling weather to give aid to a poor peasant on 'The Feast of Stephen' (Boxing Day). In so doing, the carol conveys a message of charity and Christmas kindness towards our fellow man. The real life figure on which the carol was based was not, in fact, a king, but rather Wenceslas (Vaclav in Czech), who was Duke of Bohemia between 907 and 935 AD. According to the chronicler Cosmas of Prague writing in the 12th century, this privileged man had regularly given alms to widows, orphans and prisoners. Sadly, Wenceslas's life ended when he was assassinated by his brother, but after his death he was viewed as a martyr and canonised for his piety and goodness. He subsequently became the patron saint of Bohemia. The melody is believed to be a 13th century Scandinavian tune, later set to a spring carol called 'Tempus adest floridum' ('Spring Has Now Unwrapped the Flowers'), which was published in 1582 in Finland in a collection of 74 songs for children. In the 19th century, composer John Mason Neale received a copy of this from Queen Victoria's envoy in Stockholm, and in two volumes of 24 songs, he created new carols from the music it contained. For 'Tempus adest floridum' Neale decided to ignore the old lyrics and instead chose to commemorate Wenceslas with lyrics which may be be a loose translation from a Czech poem by Václav Alois Svoboda. These lyrics did come in for criticism from some who regarded them as 'poor doggerel'. However, the lively old tune, the good natured lyrics, and the imagery of a man trudging through snow to do festive deeds, have all helped to make this carol a favourite with many.