Even after Christmas day, many people all over the world are still squeezing out that last bit of Christmas Music in their car, home and work! Tis’ the season to spread love and of course your favorite holiday music. As you bake cookies for Santa, wrap presents, and sip eggnog we’d like to talk about some of our favorite Christmas carols. And give you some facts on each.
Get Into the Spirit
Christmas carols have a history of creating holiday spirit, and as much as we have evolved as humans, we still sing most of the same songs every single year. It’s actually pretty awesome that we think to the same carols because they can be quite nostalgic. Bringing you back to previous holiday seasons that you enjoyed so much.
Songs like “Silent Night” and “What Child is This” date back to centuries ago so just imagine how many happy memories these carols hold within so many people. From 1744-2019 there have been new additions to the classic Christmas carol list. However, they all give you that warm and fuzzy feeling that’s associated with the holidays.
The Original Christmas Carols 1744-1865
“O’ Come All Ye Faithful” was originally written in Latin and titled “Adeste Fideles.” The song was written by John Francis Wade who began teaching music in England in 1745. Fifteen years later the song was published and then translated to English by Frederick Oakley and William Brooke in 1841. The song wasn’t composed specifically for Christmas at first but it is said that people would sing it on Christmas at the Portuguese Embassy.
This is one of the oldest Christmas songs we know of and it is still popular today!
“Silent Night” is one of the most loved classics of them all, sung from Austrian villages all the way to today’s radio. This song was first performed in an Austrian village Empire on Christmas Eve. The lyrics were written by Father Joseph Mohr who brought them to a composer named Franz Xaver Gruber. Paired with a guitar, they both performed the song at their mass service on Christmas Eve of 1818.
“O Holy Night” is a song that was first sung by a French soldier in 1847. He sang it in the middle of the Franco-Russian war on Christmas Eve. The song was so beautiful that it caused a ceasefire and both sides held on fighting to enjoy Christmas Day. This is what spreading love on the holidays looks like, putting aside numerous differences to relax and revel in gratefulness and people who you consider family.
“What Child is This” was written in 1865 while William Chatterton Dix was experiencing a religious revelation. This hymn paints you a picture of the Nativity scene where Jesus Christ had just been born. It is believed that the tune this hymn was written to was from “Greensleeves,” and English folk song that which was not originally a Christmas tune.
The 20th Century Christmas Carols
“Little Drummer Boy” was sang and recorded by the Trapp Family singers in 1951. This family actually fled from the Nazi regime in Austria and traveled to America to make a better life for themselves and their family.
The family of singers are also responsible for inspiring the world renown musical “the Sound of Music.” As far as the Christmas carol, nobody is completely sure who wrote the original lyrics or composed the original music. Credit is given to Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, and Harry Simeone. This song has been sung in seven different languages and released over 220 times.
“Mary, Did You Know” is a beautiful carol written by Mark Lowry in 1984 which focuses on the sort of perspective of Jesus’ mother Mary.
The songwriter was inspired by her strength and knowing of how special her child was. He began writing the song by jotting down questions he would have asked Mary. This song makes you think about what she must have been through as a woman who literally carried a gift from God.
It also brings you back to the true meaning of Christmas, which is to celebrate the life of Jesus Christ.
“All I want for Christmas is You” may be the most famous song Mariah Carey has ever sung. It definitely made her an International success. Released in 1995, this song gave a new fun vibe to Christmas carols and it became the 12th best-selling single of all time.
Christmas Carols in the 21st Century
Today we hear Christmas carols that have been updated by singers like Christina Aguilera and Michael Buble. Usually artists sing a newer version of the traditional songs, giving you that nostalgic feeling that we talked about earlier.
New Christmas songs are rare these days but people like Ariana Grande do make attempts to create their own. Grande’s Christmas EP entitled “Christmas and Chill” was released in 2015. It is full of original songs that sound like pop music but still have the traditional Christmas lyric content. This year, the album became her highest charting body of work on U.S. Apple Music and she expressed her gratitude on Twitter.
It is safe to say that each year this album will become more popular because it totally reflects what music sounds like today which means newer generations can relate.
As Christmas Day approaches, we at Voicercise want to inspire you to listen to find your favorite Christmas carols if you don’t already have one. You could even make your own Christmas playlist and play them at your holiday party. People will be impressed by how many facts you now know about these songs and where they came from. Thanks so much for reading and we hope you have an extremely cheerful Christmas and Happy Holidays!