Christmas Carols
By Joy J. Fine
Christmas Carols are songs sung about the events of Christmas or wintertime leading up to the celebration of the festive Christmas season. The meaning of the word carol is actually that of a song that is sung in praise or thanks. Originally carols were sung to celebrate the coming of each new season. The tradition of singing these songs can be seen to go back hundreds of years when songs of celebration were sung during the harvest seasons and then later in the churches. Eventually these songs were sung by people walking around their towns sharing their Christmas cheer. They were later referred to as carolers. For a while the popularity of carols declined especially in the countries where the Protestant churches became stronger than the Catholic churches. This was a reflection of the religious attitudes. It was also due to the fact that the composers who were writing these songs wrote many of them in Latin, a language that few could speak.
By the early 1200s Francis of Assisi helped to increase the popularity of both the use of the nativity scene and nativity plays. During these plays there were Christmas Carols sung in the language of the people instead of in Latin. This inspired the singing of Christmas songs in the native languages of the people in various European countries. The interest in these religious Christmas songs remained steady and by the eighteen hundreds their popularity was once again on an upswing. When one thinks of Christmas Carols now we think of songs sung during church services or of those songs sung by carolers going door to door. Carolers go from home to home singing their carols which both praise the miracle of the birth of Jesus as well as singing about the joys of the festive season about to be celebrated.
Times have changed and Christmas Carols are not sung by carolers the way they used to be. There seem to be many reasons for these changes. It seems that unlike the days of close knit villages and small towns where neighbors enjoyed it when carolers knocked on their doors to serenade them with a few of their favorite carols many people do not appreciate the interruptions to their quiet time at home. As well, many people feel intimidated by singing in front of strangers. At one time the churches would encourage carolers to make the rounds, taking with them Christmas cheer and hoping to earn a little something for the church coffers. This too has changed though there are still carolers who can be heard, sometimes at the big shopping malls where it is safe for people to sing while crowds gather because they want to listen
.
Some of the most popular Christmas Carols include Silent Night, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Joy to the World, Away in a Manger and O Little Town of Bethlehem. These are Christmas classics, all with a religious undertone to them and are not to be confused with Christmas songs like White Christmas, Feliz Navidad Jingle Bell Rock or John Lennon’s Happy Christmas.
Related Information:
