.jpg)
sung outside of church and became intermingled with folk music (carols) having a religious theme. Wassailing carols
(Christmas drinking songs) had secular Christmas themes. Christmas music now includes classical pieces, oratorios, popular
tunes, rock music — every form of music.
The word carol derives from the Middle English carole (ring) — a ring-dance with a song. The medieval church discouraged
dancing to music. Originally carols were primarily folk songs for celebrations. Christmas became the holiday of carols in the
16th century, but condemnation of caroling by the Puritans in the 17th century dampened the tradition in England for over 160
years. Carols can include both religious songs, such as "Silent Night" & "Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" as well as the
nonreligious "Jingle Bells" & "White Christmas", although some distinguish between carols and popular songs.
Early hymns written for church use that became popular as carols included "Joy to the World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful".
Early secular carols included "Deck the Halls" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen".
The "Twelve Days of Christmas" is a fanciful English folk song without hidden symbolic meanings. It was probably used to
teach children how to count. A legend holds that the song was symbolic for English Catholics when their religion was
forbidden in England (prior to the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829).
Handel's Messiah is an oratorio (musical composition with orchestra and thematic singing, but lacking in the costumes and
acting of an opera) that is performed primarily at Christmastime. The oratorio is primarily concerned with the birth and
crucifixion of Christ. Handel composed the piece for Easter performances before Christmas became the predominant Christian
holiday.
"Silent Night" (the most popular of all Christmas carols) was first written as a poem in Germany in 1816 by a young priest
named Joseph Mohr who was assigned to an Austrian pilgrimage church. The church organ was too rusted to play for the 1818
Midnight Mass so Mohr asked his friend Franz Gruber (a local teacher) to compose a tune. Mohr and Gruber sang the song
together, with Gruber playing a guitar. The piece might been forgotten except that a visiting musician took the music and it
grew in popularity as it was played throughout Austria & Germany.
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" had long been a popular folksong before being published in 1833 in Christmas Carols Ancient
and Modern by William Sandys. Few people nowadays notice the placement of the comma — imagining that the title refers to
"Merry Gentlemen". In fact, the title is an exhortation for gentlemen to "rest ye merry" in the same somewhat obsolete use of
the word "rest" as occurs in the phrase "rest assured" — "remain merry".
"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem" was written as a poem by Phillip Brooks, a Philadelphia pastor who ministered to Union soldiers
during the Civil War. The poem was set to music three years later in 1868 and was sung by a children's choir in Brooks's
church, but was unknown outside his parish for a decade. "Jingle Bells" was composed in 1857 by James Pierpoint, who became a
Confederate soldier in the Civil War. Although Pierpoint never rose out of poverty, his nephew James Pierpoint Morgan
(J.P.Morgan) became one of the wealthiest businessmen in America.
Nutcracker Ballet is a traditional Christmas performance which was set to music by the Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky. It
represents the Christmas Eve dreams of a girl whose nutcracker doll leads a squadron of toy soldiers against an army of mice
around a Christmas tree. She also dreams of snowflakes, the Kingdom of Sweets and a Sugarplum Fairy. The dreamy fantasy
setting allows for the creation of fantastic costumes, dancing and special effects — making it the most popular ballet in the
world.
In 1938 a Melbourne, Australia radio announcer organized a Christmas Eve sing-along concert which became a radio sensation.
"Carols by Candlelight" has become an annual tradition all over Australia as well as in other countries.
The song "White Christmas" was composed by Irving Berlin, a Jew, for the movie "Holiday Inn" and received an Academy Award in
1942. Bing Crosby sang the song to troops who were moved by memories of what their homeland was before the war — and would be
after the war. Sentimental association of snow with Christmas has long been a tradition of the season. "White Christmas" is
the biggest selling Christmas song of all time.
From the late 1920s Hollywood Boulevard has been renamed Santa Claus Lane every December for a Christmas Parade that includes
many movie stars. In 1946 singing cowboy Gene Autry rode his horse in the parade and was thereby inspired to write "Here
Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)".
Other popular Christmas songs that would not be called carols include "Frosty the Snowman", "Silver Bells", "Jingle Bell
Rock", "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" and "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth".
Mumming arose from a pagan tradition where men & women swapped clothes, dressed in animal skins, wore masks and visited
neighbors for merry-making (a tradition still observed in rural Newfoundland) — although the mummers also trace their origins
to the Roman Saturnalia & Kalends festivals. Plays were sometimes performed with masked, costumed mimes (who could be "mum").
Mummers' costumes sometimes provided opportunity to disguise malicious mischief and criminal acts. The drinking, rowdiness
and often unwelcome visits of mummers did much to give Christmas a bad name. Philadelphia repeatedly attempted to ban mumming
until 1901 when the first New Year's Mummers' Parade tamed the energies of the noisy revelers into a more manageable form.
