Teresa Pollard ’21
It’s Christmas! Well, not quite, but December is here and that means it’s officially time, for all those who haven’t already, to begin putting up their trees, decorating their houses, buying gifts for relatives and friends, enjoying some hot chocolate (maybe with a little peppermint), or just thoughtfully reflecting on the holiday and enjoying the atmosphere. Regardless of exactly what you’re doing, one tried and true way to brighten up your day is to put on some Christmas music. Whether you’re listening to “Joy to the World” or “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” or even “Santa Baby,” Christmas music has a special way of making everything seem more festive.
It all began with Christmas carols. Toward the middle of the 2nd century, Christian hymns began replacing traditional pagan songs sung during the Winter Solstice. Sometime around 129 A.D., the first Christmas carol, “Angels Hymn,” was popularized, and throughout the ensuing centuries similar hymns popped up, though they were more somber than many of the carols we know today. The tradition of caroling as we know it today really blossomed during the Victorian Era, when the celebration of Christmas in families became more prominent. Many of our most popular carols today have tunes originating in the 19th century, while the lyrics date much further back. During this time period, people began making an effort to collect carols that had sprung up throughout the years, and collections of these carols were printed and distributed widely throughout Europe.
It was also during the 19th century that carolers first began gathering. They were commonly called “waits,” and the act of caroling was called “wassailing,” as carolers were traditionally given “wassail,” a thick, spiced beverage served hot, as a sign of good-will and to keep warm on cold nights. While wassailing was originally a pagan tradition, it’s also possible that caroling began with poor peasants who sang on the streets in order to get some food from passers-by, or possibly because these lively carols weren’t allowed in churches. Either way, carols became increasingly popular. The first Christmas carol service was held in 1880 in Truro, England, thanks to Edward White Benson, the future Archbishop of Canterbury
Nowadays, many Christmas songs wouldn’t typically be classified as “carols”; these songs span across different genres of music, and as long as you’re feeling somewhat festive, there’s very likely a Christmas song to fit your mood. We can thank caroling for its role in making music such an important element of the Christmas season. As you listen to your favorite seasonal music this December, here are some songs with interesting histories to think about:
The Twelve Days of Christmas:
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” likely originated as a memory game, which may not come as a surprise to anyone who’s had to sing through the entire song and didn’t get to stop after the first chorus; as part of the game people would compete to see who knew more of the song, and you could pay minor penalties for each verse you forgot. However, some historians also believe the song was created to function as a sort of code for Catholics who weren’t allowed to practice publicly. In this vein it’s thought that the “true love” referred to in the song is God, the partridge represents Jesus, the two turtle doves are the Old and New Testaments, and ending with the twelve drummers representing the twelve points of the Apostles Creed.
Jingle Bells:
This Christmas song is interesting in part because it was never intended to be a Christmas song. James Lord Pierpont, who just so happened to be J.P. Morgan’s uncle, wrote “Jingle Bells” for Thanksgiving, possibly to be played during a Thanksgiving service in the 1850s. It was originally called “The One Horse Open Sleigh,” but the song was renamed in 1857 upon its publishing. Though it took some time for the song to become a classic, it did gain national attention in 1965 as the first song broadcast from space by the crew of Gemini 6; the astronauts had managed to sneak a harmonica and some bells aboard the craft, and began to play after reporting an alleged sighting of Santa Claus on December 16th.
Hark the Herald Angels Sing:
This song has changed a lot since its creation in 1739. It was originally written by Charles Wesley, brother of the founder of Methodism, John Wesley, with a slower tempo and beginning with “Hark how all the welkin rings”, “welkin” being an antiquated word for heaven. The first line was later revised by George Whitefield, and after being put to several different tunes, an English musician named William H. Cummings paired the lyrics with a tune entitled Fetgesang, composed by Felix Mendelssohn some years earlier. The combination stuck, and we continue to sing to this same tune. This is somewhat funny in retrospect, as Mendelssohn was a strictly secular composer, and Wesley wouldn’t have approved of such a spirited tune. While neither creator of the song would be happy with its present form, we can thank them for the carol nonetheless.
O Little Town of Bethlehem:
While we can all make somewhat of a spiritual journey to Bethlehem as we prepare for Christmas during Advent, it may be interesting to know that this song was inspired by an actual journey to said little town. Phillip Brooks was a distinguished preacher in the late 19th century; he earned degrees from Oxford and went on to teach at Yale while serving parishes in Philadelphia and later in Boston. In 1865, he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, riding from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and then participating in a nativity service on Christmas day. The journey left a deep impact on him, and upon returning to his parish, he began to integrate his experience into songs sung during his services, with O Little Town of Bethlehem first being performed by a children’s choir at his church in 1868.
All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth:
This song was created after Donald Yetter Gardner and his wife spent a day doing Christmas activities with their class of second graders.They were trying to help the young students compose a Christmas song with the opening line “All I want for Christmas is…,” and though nobody specifically asked for their two front teeth, Gardner was amused by their pronounced lisping. After returning home from work, he wrote “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.” Following a performance of the song at his school, it was noticed by a music company, and was recorded by Spike Jones and his City Slickers in 1948. Gardner went on to become a music consultant, and continued to earn royalties on the song until his death in 2004.