Season’s Greetings

ONE of the customs that feature in the runup to December 25, is carol singing, a familiar tradition that warms hearts and sets the mood for Christmas celebration.

Carol singing was not always associated with Christmas. The first devotional songs hailing the birth of Jesus Christ were sung in churches at different times through the year.

Around the 15th century, bands of minstrels went ‘wassailing’ — an old English custom in which choral groups went from house to house, wishing the residents good fortune through song, in exchange for food or money. Wassailing is considered the forerunner of modern-day carol singing.

Most of the Christmas carols that we sing today were composed in the 19th century in response to the growing popularity of the festival. These songs not only honour the sacredness of Christ’s birth but also celebrate the other fun-filled aspects of Christmas like Santa Claus, snowmen, mistletoe, etc.

Silent Night is perhaps the most famous carol of all time. It was Christmas Eve in 1818 in the small town of Oberndorf, Austria. Young Father Joseph Mohr of St Nicholas church was making plans for his congregation when he recalled a poem he had written two years earlier, describing the night of Christ’s birth. He sought the help of the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, to set the words to music. But as the church organ was broken, Gruber composed a melody that could be sung with a guitar. A few hours later, the melodious strains of Stille Nacht resonated through the nave of the church during Midnight Mass.

In 1857, songwriter James Lord Pierpont had written and composed a song called One Horse Open Sleigh for Thanksgiving at the church where he worked as an organist. The churchgoers liked it so much that it was sung again on Christmas day. You know it better as Jingle Bells!