Can't Carry A Tune In A Bucket
With the start of the Christmas season, they are everywhere. They're on the radio, in the elevators and all through the department stores. Christmas carols are as much a part of the holiday season as Christmas cards and the Christmas tree, but while you are singing or humming along with them, have you ever wondered where they came from? Let's take a look at the history of the carol and the stories behind some of the favorites.
Early carols had hardly anything in common with Christmas or even Christianity. The melodies were written as an accompaniment to an ancient form of dance called the circle dance. In medieval Celtic countries in Europe, circle dances were associated with pagan festivals and fertility rites. As the Christian church began to grow, this music made its way into its celebrations and meetings. The Church eventually banned Christians from singing carols in the mid-7th century. This ban continued into the 12th century.
Eventually things changed and the carols were merged with folk songs. The priests of the order of St. Francis of Assisi developed a religious style of folk song called a lauda, a joyful dance rhythm that spread across Europe in the 14th century. The religious lauda eventually became mixed up with the pagan custom called wassailing. Wassailing involved people going from door to door singing to drive away evil spirits and drinking to the health of those they visited. Wassailing and the lauda became the custom of caroling.
Christmas carols were banned in England from 1649 to 1660. When Protestants fled to Europe they took the Christmas carol with them. In 1649, John de Brebeur wrote "Jesus is Born," the first American Christmas carol. The popularity of Christmas carols continued during the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact it was during this period that some of the most popular carols were written.
Let's start with the carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," which was written by Charles Wesley. Wesley wrote over 600 songs in his lifetime, making him one of the most prolific songwriters of all time. Wesley may have written the lyrics, but Felix Mendelssohn wrote the melody almost 100 years later. How did the two finally come together?
Wesley wanted his lyrics to be with slow, solemn religious music. Mendelssohn wanted his music to be used for secular purposes only. Long after they were both dead, an organist by the name of Dr. William Cummings combined the two to create the carol we know today.
"Jingle Bells," written by James Pierpoint in 1857, is an American contribution to the world of Christmas carols. He wrote both the words and music of the song for part of a church Christmas program. The song was so popular that every year the children in the choir asked to sing it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Bishop Phillips Brooks wrote "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in 1868 in Philadelphia. Brooks wrote the words as a way to recall his trip to the Holy Land. Lewis Redner, Brook's organist, decided to compose music to go along with the lyrics so the children could sing it at Christmas.
"Silent Night" started out as a poem written by Pastor Joseph Mohr in 1816 in Austria. As fate would have it, two years later the organ at Mohr's church broke down on Christmas Eve. Not wanting to have mass without music, Mohr asked Fanz Gruber, the organist, to compose a melody to the poem he had written two years before. Gruber's arrangement was for two voices, choir and guitar. To this day "Silent Night" is one of the most performed and recorded Christmas songs in history.
Not exactly a Christmas carol but extremely popular nonetheless is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." From the film Holiday Inn, "White Christmas" has sold more than 30 million copies, making it the largest selling Christmas single of all time.
Let's leave you with a little piece of Christmas carol trivia. One of the earliest known Christmas songs was "Jesus refulsit omnium", composed by St. Hilary of Poitiers in the 4th century. Just imagine over the years how many people who "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket" sang these carols we still sing today.
With the start of the Christmas season, they are everywhere. They're on the radio, in the elevators and all through the department stores. Christmas carols are as much a part of the holiday season as Christmas cards and the Christmas tree, but while you are singing or humming along with them, have you ever wondered where they came from? Let's take a look at the history of the carol and the stories behind some of the favorites.
Early carols had hardly anything in common with Christmas or even Christianity. The melodies were written as an accompaniment to an ancient form of dance called the circle dance. In medieval Celtic countries in Europe, circle dances were associated with pagan festivals and fertility rites. As the Christian church began to grow, this music made its way into its celebrations and meetings. The Church eventually banned Christians from singing carols in the mid-7th century. This ban continued into the 12th century.
Eventually things changed and the carols were merged with folk songs. The priests of the order of St. Francis of Assisi developed a religious style of folk song called a lauda, a joyful dance rhythm that spread across Europe in the 14th century. The religious lauda eventually became mixed up with the pagan custom called wassailing. Wassailing involved people going from door to door singing to drive away evil spirits and drinking to the health of those they visited. Wassailing and the lauda became the custom of caroling.
Christmas carols were banned in England from 1649 to 1660. When Protestants fled to Europe they took the Christmas carol with them. In 1649, John de Brebeur wrote "Jesus is Born," the first American Christmas carol. The popularity of Christmas carols continued during the 18th and 19th centuries. In fact it was during this period that some of the most popular carols were written.
Let's start with the carol "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," which was written by Charles Wesley. Wesley wrote over 600 songs in his lifetime, making him one of the most prolific songwriters of all time. Wesley may have written the lyrics, but Felix Mendelssohn wrote the melody almost 100 years later. How did the two finally come together?
Wesley wanted his lyrics to be with slow, solemn religious music. Mendelssohn wanted his music to be used for secular purposes only. Long after they were both dead, an organist by the name of Dr. William Cummings combined the two to create the carol we know today.
"Jingle Bells," written by James Pierpoint in 1857, is an American contribution to the world of Christmas carols. He wrote both the words and music of the song for part of a church Christmas program. The song was so popular that every year the children in the choir asked to sing it. The rest, as they say, is history.
Bishop Phillips Brooks wrote "O Little Town of Bethlehem" in 1868 in Philadelphia. Brooks wrote the words as a way to recall his trip to the Holy Land. Lewis Redner, Brook's organist, decided to compose music to go along with the lyrics so the children could sing it at Christmas.
"Silent Night" started out as a poem written by Pastor Joseph Mohr in 1816 in Austria. As fate would have it, two years later the organ at Mohr's church broke down on Christmas Eve. Not wanting to have mass without music, Mohr asked Fanz Gruber, the organist, to compose a melody to the poem he had written two years before. Gruber's arrangement was for two voices, choir and guitar. To this day "Silent Night" is one of the most performed and recorded Christmas songs in history.
Not exactly a Christmas carol but extremely popular nonetheless is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." From the film Holiday Inn, "White Christmas" has sold more than 30 million copies, making it the largest selling Christmas single of all time.
Let's leave you with a little piece of Christmas carol trivia. One of the earliest known Christmas songs was "Jesus refulsit omnium", composed by St. Hilary of Poitiers in the 4th century. Just imagine over the years how many people who "couldn't carry a tune in a bucket" sang these carols we still sing today.
