Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 8, 1994 TAG: 9412300052
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Of course, by the time you've heard "White Christmas" for the 100th time at the mall while searching, in vain, for the perfect gift for that hard-to-please in-law, the music can lose its appeal.
Despite the "carol abuse" so prevalent this time of year, the music remains a powerful expression of the mood and spirit of the season.
Hundreds of songs - religious and secular - have been written and recorded for Christmas. Back, by popular demand, is a look at the history and background of some of the most popular religious carols of the season.
Much of the information for this story came from a book by Herbert W. Wernecke called "Christmas Songs and their Stories."
"Angels We Have Heard on High." Traditional, French/English melody. Sometimes called the "Westminster Carol" because of its association with the Westminster Abbey Choir. "Gloria in excelsis Deo" is Latin for "Glory to God in the highest."
"Away in a Manger." Long attributed to Martin Luther. Most music historians now think that story started because of a 19th century publication of the song in Pennsylvania that was illustrated with a picture of Luther and his children. The carol was published as early as 1885 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, which did not name a composer.
"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus." Lyrics by Charles Wesley, 1744; tune "Hyfrydol" by Rowland Prichard, 1855. Wesley, whose brother, John, is considered the founder of Methodism, was one of the most prolific Christian hymn writers.
This was one of Wesley's earlier hymns, and was published with 23 other Christmas works as "Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord." Like several of his hymns, the words were better than the original tune and the song didn't really catch on until it was set to a different melody. This one wasn't added to the denomination's hymn book until 1875, when the tune it now follows had been added to it.
"Deck the Halls." Traditional Welsh air. A favorite secular Christmas carol. The tune was once used by Mozart in a work for violin and piano. The line "Follow me in merry measure" means the singers were to dance as well.
"The First Noel (or Nowell)." Traditional. English or French in origin? Nobody really knows. It dates to the 17th century.
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen." Traditional, English. This song fell out of favor with mainline denominational hymn-book czars in the last decade, largely because its lyrics were viewed as so blatantly sexist. That apparently hasn't diminished its popularity with the masses, however. The first line - also the song's title - is frequently misread since the comma is omitted. It means "May God keep you merry, gentlemen." The song is mentioned in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as particularly infuriating to Ebenezer Scrooge.
"Good Christian Men, Rejoice." The song was written in a combination of Latin and German words. It was paraphrased in English in 1853 by John Mason Neale.
Another favorite target of some hymnal revisionists in recent years, its title and opening line are sometimes rewritten as "Good Christian Folk, Rejoice."
"Good King Wenceslas." Traditional Swedish melody, Bohemian story, English verse (by John Mason Neale). The story is told in a dialogue between King Wenceslas of Bohemia and his page. Wenceslas was known for his kindhearted generosity toward his people.
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing." Charles Wesley words to a Felix Mendelssohn tune. The words were written before 1739, and the current tune added in 1840. This is another example of a Wesley hymn that needed some touching up of lyrics as well as melody before it became really popular.
The first two lines originally read, "Hark! how all the welkin rings, Glory to the King of Kings." Practically nobody knows that "welkin" was an old word for "heaven." People may not have known that even about 140 years ago because in about 1859 a hymn compiler changed the opening lines to the current language.
"Here We Come a Wassailing." Traditional English. The wassail, which may come from Anglo-Saxon words meaning "Be in health," was a drink made of mulled ale, eggs, curdled cream, apples, nuts and spices. The hot drink may have been taken from door to door by young people who solicited gifts in exchange for a drink and a song.
"The Holly and the Ivy." Traditional English words and French melody. Evergreen holly was long used as a wintertime decoration. It sometimes is used to represent the crown of thorns Christ wore at his crucifixion.
"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1863, melody by J. Baptiste Calkin in 1872. Written just months after the battle of Gettysburg, Longfellow's poem is one of the darker, more reflective Christmas carols. Yet, after despairing that "There is no peace on Earth," it ends with the hopeful refrain, "The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on Earth, good will to men!"
"I Saw Three Ships." Traditional English. Only when you remember that this comes from an island nation does a carol with Christ and Mary arriving by ship make sense.
"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." Lyrics by Edmund H. Sears, tune by R. Storrs Willis, 1850. One of a relatively few popular carols to come from the United States. This strongly Trinitarian carol was written by a Unitarian minister.
"Joy to the World." Lyrics by Isaac Watts in 1719, set to an arrangement of a Handel melody by Lowell Mason in 1830. Watts and Charles Wesley would share the title of "Greatest English hymn writers." As popular as their work is, however, later generations and other denominations have felt free to alter their works, including this one, to reflect their own particular theology. The third stanza, referring to the curse upon the Earth after the fall of Adam and Eve, is omitted in some versions. Other groups change "the Lord is come" to "the Lord will come."
"O Christmas Tree." German folk song. This is believed to be an ancient tune - dating back at least to the Middle Ages. It is a more or less secular celebration of the evergreen, sometimes sung in German, "O Tannenbaum."
"O Come, All Ye Faithful." Adeste Fideles. Latin hymn, 18th century. Believed to have been written in about 1745 by an Englishman who copied music for Roman Catholics in France. It is still sung in Latin and English versions in the United States - Bing Crosby's version may still be the best-seller - and has been translated into 125 languages.
"O Come, O Come, Emanuel." 12th-century Latin words sung to 13th-century plain song. This was originally a seven-verse composition written for use during vespers on the seven days before Christmas. The English translation has been shortened to six verses, and is sung to a Gregorian melody. In a season in which Gregorian chants have gained renewed popularity, this song may have a special place for those who would like to sing along.
"O Little Town of Bethlehem." Lyrics by Phillips Brooks, music by Lewis Redner, 1868. Brooks was pastor and Redner was organist at Holy Trinity (Episcopal) Church in Philadelphia when this song was written.
Brooks, who was educated at Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, had recently spent a year in the Holy Land and was moved to write a song about the place for the children of his church.
"Silent Night, Holy Night." Lyrics by Joseph Mohr, music by Franz Gruber, Dec. 24, 1818. This is one of the most popular Christmas carols of all and fairly well documented in origin. It was written on short notice by an assistant Roman Catholic priest in the Austrian village of Oberndorf.
The story - related by a relative of Gruber - is that when the church organ refused to work for a Christmas Eve service, Father Mohr wrote a new hymn as a substitute song. He asked Gruber, the church organist, to come up with music for the guitar.
Within 40 years, the song was being sung widely throughout Europe and, at first, was believed to be a Tyrolian folk song. Gruber later wrote a letter attesting to its origins.
"We Three Kings of Orient Are." Lyrics and music by John Henry Hopkins Jr., 1857. Another American carol, this one was written by an Episcopal rector in Williamsport, Pa. It is an elaboration of the biblical account of the Wise Men or kings or Magi who visited the baby Jesus. Each of the three kings sings a verse about his gift, and they all join in two verses of praise.
"What Child Is This?" Lyrics by William Chatterton Dix (late 1800s), traditional English tune ("Greensleeves"). Dix was an insurance company manager who also wrote hymns in his spare time. This one was set to an arrangement of an old English folk song that has been around at least since Shakespeare's time.
by CNB