Christmas Carol

For the Charles Dickens novel, see A Christmas Carol.

A Christmas carol is a traditional song which is about with the birth of Jesus or otherwise addresses the religious foundation of Christmas.

History

Most of the Christmas carols we know today come from Europe during the 18th or 19th centuries, in large part because this was the time when congregations first became involved in the singing of music in churches. Before this, the singing of hymns and religious music was largely or solely the responsibility of a trained choir.

The result of the transition to full-congregation participation was the need for songs with simple melodies which could be sung reasonably well by anybody. While this resulted in a great deal of religious music for all occasions, back then, as now, church attendance was much higher on Christmas Day than other days.

Examples

• "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing"
• "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen"
• "Come Ye To Bethlehem"
• "Silent Night"
• "What Child is This?"
• "Angels We Have Heard on High"
• "The First Noel"
• "Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful"
• "Joy to the World"
• "Happy Birthday Jesus"
• "Oh Holy Night"

Songs like "Jingle Bells", "Rudolph the red-nosed Reindeer", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Frosty the Snowman", "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" or "White Christmas" are not Christmas carols, as they are secular in topic.