Vita Gazette

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The history of Christmas carols

Andira Vitale -We are in the most magical time of the year. We say “Christmas is coming” for this time when everyone has the same feelings. For children, Christmas means a tree decorated with joy in the family. It means waiting for the gifts that Santa will leave under the tree. And it is the smells of Panettone and Pandoro that permeate the houses… The sparkling lights cover the squares, the streets and the trees. It is snow that cleans nature, it is renewal, it is abundance, it is sharing, and it is hope. What would Christmas be without songs? Not! Because the voice of the spirit of the times is the songs. When December arrives, they start to play as if they have a music box in almost everyone’s ears… Christmas carols rise from the voices of artists, including Andrea Bocelli, Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin of the houses. The best known is the Jingle Bell. But we listen to them all with pleasure and accompany them…

But since when have we been listening to Christmas carols? In fact, for thousands of years! Carols were made in Europe thousands of years ago, but they weren’t carols. During the celebrations of the shortest day of winter, people danced in round stone circles and sang pagan songs. Ancient peoples organised their lives according to seasonal changes. Because their lives depended on nature and what nature had to offer. This is why they welcomed the first short day of winter with ceremonies and celebrations. Spiritually, these celebrations symbolised the opportunity for renewal, the disappearance of bad habits and negative emotions, and hopeful enlightenment in the dark as the days lengthen again. In these festivals, which are usually held on December 22, the shortest day of the year, people dance to the accompaniment of songs. They also usually danced in a round stone circle. The word song originally meant to dance. The word carol means dance or a song of praise and joy. But only the tradition of Christmas carols has survived to this day.

For example, the Saturnalia feast in Ancient Rome began on December 17 and lasted seven days. These celebrations were held in the name of Saturn, the ancestor of the gods. Sacrifices were made, banquets were held, and gifts were made in temples erected in his name. Enslaved people could also participate in the festivities …

The early Christians continued the pagan celebrations of the winter solstice to celebrate Christmas. And they replaced pagan songs with Christian songs. In AD 129, a Roman bishop decided to sing “Angel’s Hymn” during a Christmas service in Rome. Another famous Christmas hymn was written for the Greek Orthodox Church by Comas of Jerusalem in 760 AD. Soon after, many composers in Europe began writing “Christmas songs”. But many people didn’t like that they were written and spoken in Latin, a language that ordinary people couldn’t understand. Most people lost interest in celebrating Christmas in the Middle Ages (1200s).

This changed with St. Francis of Assisi when, in 1223, he began his sacred representation of the nativity. The people in the performance sang songs or ‘canticles’ that told the story, and sometimes, the choruses of these new songs were in Latin. Still, usually, they were all in a language that people could understand and that made them participate! The new songs spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries. The first canto, in this way, was written in 1410. But a small fragment of it has come down to us. The song was about Mary and Jesus in Bethlehem. Most of the Carols from this time and into the Elizabethan period are untrue stories, very loosely based on the Christmas story, about the holy family and have been viewed as entertainment rather than religious carols. They were usually sung in homes rather than churches!

When Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans came to power in England in 1647, the celebration of Christmas and singing cases stopped. However, the songs survived, and people are still singing them. The Carols remained mainly celebrated until the Victorian era when two men named William Sandys and Davis Gilbert collected several pieces of early Christmas music in villages in England.

Before public Carols became popular, there were sometimes official singers called Waits. These were groups of people led by prominent local leaders (such as council leaders) who had the sole power in towns and villages to take money from the public. They were called “Waits” because they sang only on Christmas Eve. But, at that time, many orchestras and choirs were being built in the cities of England, and people wanted to sing Christmas carols, so the melodies became popular once again. Many new songs, such as “Good King Wenceslas”, were written in the Victorian period. New songs for the Christmas mass were created and became popular, as well as the custom of singing Christmas carols in the streets. Both of these customs are still widespread today.

The Victorian era is considered a necessary time to return to carols. Singing was one of the most important forms of entertainment during this period. Above all, women have received a musical education. Most significant, ostentatious houses had a piano where women entertained their guests. The Christmas period was critical. Exchanges of visits were made, and the festively decorated houses echoed the notes of traditional songs and new arrangements. They were usually family songs sung in front of the tree.

For people with low incomes, today was no different. They continued to work for heat and food. Of course, they didn’t have time to sing. It was a new twist when Christmas carols began to be sung on the streets. In Victorian times, it was customary to go door to door asking for money so that the poorest could have a nice vacation. These social workers were singing Christmas carols in the process. As they walked, they conveyed their greetings and collected offerings for the soup kitchens. They were usually wealthy people.

And then there were the poor children who wanted to take home money, food and sweets. They also brought food home, singing street songs. Thus, the places where the rich shopped became open-air theatres. The notes of songs full of good feelings and joy began to resonate everywhere. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the streets of 19th-century London are filled with singers, turning them into the streets of a musical city. Usually, these were triplets: one singing, one playing the violin, and the third selling or begging for the songs they played. People who went shopping for Christmas stopped at the side of the road to listen to the hymns, often leaving a few coins for the artists.

Those who sang in the streets were people experiencing poverty who took advantage of these special moments to fill their stomachs. As we said above, Carole is a choral song that can be danced in a circle. It’s a dance song. It is a sung dance. But the Christmas carols were songs that accompanied religious services. Many songs were captured in those days and became Christmas carols with words. The list of songs increased in 1833 when the first collection was published. Victorian hits included “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear”, “Good Christian Men Rejoice”, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, Away in a Manger and “We Three Kings”.

Whether we listen to Jingle Bells or Silent Night, Holy Night … Let’s rejoice together.

                                                                                                                            Merry Christmas… 

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