What are the most favorite Christmas carols? That is a dangerous question, isn’t it? There are all sorts of variables that lead to various answers, even arguments. And probably directs the conversation to controversial answers depending on our tastes, cultures, settings and moods.
Each December certain carols I want to hear: O Come O Come Emmanuel, O Holy Night, and of course Silent Night by candlelight on Christmas Eve. Over the radio I sing along with It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas and I’ll Be Home for Christmas. Confession: I want to hear at least once: I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas.
OOO, there are so many and too many to mention!
Did you know December 20 is Go Caroling Day? I haven’t seen as many carolers in the past few years and wonder if that tradition is dying out. A victim of Covid? I hope not. I did read that a Pew research study showed in 2013 that nearly 80% of Americans put up Christmas trees and 65% of Americans send Christmas cards, yet only 16% of Americans go Christmas caroling. I imagine that may be lower now.
Caroling traces its roots to the Festival of Yule when Northern Europeans sang and danced to honor the winter solstice. In fact, the Old French word “carole” means “kind of dance.” Eventually, the songs became Christian hymns and the dancing receded.
In 1223 St. Francis of Assisi began encouraging the use of music during the holiday season, and he brought sayings and songs of well-wishes into his Christmas services. The songs he incorporated were upbeat and less somber than songs previously used in services. Many of these songs, which commemorated the birth of Jesus, had been written centuries earlier, but weren’t associated with Christmas until this time.
Most of the Christmas songs we’ve come to enjoy from traveling carolers are less than 200 years old. Reportedly the very first Christmas hymn ever written is “Jesus Refulsit Omnium” (“Jesus, Light of All the Nations”), written by St. Hilary of Poitier in the fourth century. The second is “Corde natus ex Parentis” (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”) which was composed by Roman Christian poet Prudentius, also in the fourth century.
The words and music of Christmas carols were not always written at the same time. The music for Ding Dong Merrily on High dates back to the mid-1500s but the lyrics are from the 1800s. The tune for Good King Wenceslas is a medieval dance tune from the 1200s, while the words were written in the 1800s.
England’s oldest surviving carol is While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, which has a 16th-century tune and 17th-century words, but these were not put together until the 19th century. The oldest popular carol, where music and words were written at the same time, is likely to be O Come All Ye Faithful at the end of the 18th century.
What a fun history all this music holds! And what a wide variety of delightful lyrics, catchy tunes, and memories each song brings to our hearts. Christmas music adds so much to our celebration of Jesus’ birth – reminding us of THE story of God’s greatest gift, helping us to savor family and friends, and encouraging us to pause and appreciation the beauty, comfort, and richness of this season.
Take time this month to listen. Listen to the words as if in prayer. Hum a little. Even twirl and spin and smile. Savor singing along with others. Breath in the music that connects us and fills us with a deep joy.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16