Christmas Music

Carols have a long history. Traditionally carols were sung for many festivals, but Christmas muscled in and took over the racket sometime in the thirteenth century. Medieval chord patters can be detected in many of the carols that are still sung today. Christmas carols originally reflected the religious themes of Christmas, but, over time, were expanded to include seasonal themes as well. So the modern Christmas celebrations will include songs about Bethlehem and Jesus and also songs concerning the jingling of bells and the riding of sleighs. In modern times there are many songs that could never be considered as carols, but which are associated with the celebrations just as much. Songs about rocking around the Christmas tree and Mommy kissing Santa Claus abound and have become very much a part of the Christmas season.

Carols were very much a part of the Christmas celebrations up until the Protestant reformation. The Puritans and Calvanists considered them non essential and associated them with Roman Catholicism.

Carols were re-discovered and re-introduced into the Christmas celebrations in the 19th century. The tradition of roving groups of carolers, singing door to door, is credited to the Victorians. Often these carolers would be rewarded with cakes or an appropriate seasonal beverage for their efforts, and any monies they were given would be donated to charitable causes.

Today, as we are bombarded with Christmas music through the magic of mass-media, and anyone with a recording contract scrambles to release their new Christmas single, it is easy to become cynical about the whole thing. As a child I loved the songs that made Christmas special. Then, over time, as religion lost it's hold and shopping stole the mystery, Christmas came to lose it's charm and much of it's meaning for me. But there is still a place in my heart for the music of the season and there remains an ember of the spirit that the music once inspired.

Do They Know It's Christmas Time?