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Christmas Carols

Many carols which have gained popularity today were printed in Piae Cantiones.

A Christmas carol (also called a noël, from the French word meaning ‘Christmas’) is a carol (song or hymn) whose lyrics are about Christmas. Carols are traditionally sung on Christmas Day itself or during the surrounding holiday season. Christmas carols may be regarded as a subset of the broader category of Christmas music.
The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to fourth century Rome. Latin hymns such as

The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to fourth century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni, redemptor gentium (Come, Redeemer of the nations), written by Ambrose, the Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism.

Corde natus ex Parentis (Of the Father’s heart begotten) by the Spanish poet, Prudentius, who died in 413, is still sung in some churches today. The early history is detailed in several books, including Noel: The History and Tradition Behind Christmas Carols.

In the thirteenth century, in France, Germany, and Italy, under the influence of St Francis of Assisi, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs in regional native languages developed. Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain, who lists twenty five ‘caroles of Cristemas’, probably sung by groups of ‘wassailers’, who went from house to house.

The songs we know specifically as carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest time as well as at Christmas. It was only later that carols began to be sung in church, and to be specifically associated with Christmas.

Many carols which have gained popularity today were printed in Piae Cantiones, a collection of late medieval Latin songs which was first published in 1582. Early Latin forms of carols such as ‘Christ was born on Christmas Day’, ‘Good Christian Men, Rejoice’ and ‘Good King Wenceslas’ can be found in this book.

Carols gained in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence (as well-known Reformers like Martin Luther authored carols and encouraged their use in worship). This was a consequence of the fact that the Lutheran Reformation warmly welcomed music.

Today carols are regularly sung at Christian religious services.
Some compositions have words that are clearly not of a religious theme, but are often still referred to as ‘carols’. For example, the sixteenth century song ‘A Bone, God Wot!’ appears to be a wassailing song (which is sung during drinking or while requesting ale), but is described in the British Library’s Cottonian Collection as a Christmas carol.

As recently as 1865, Christmas-related lyrics were adopted for the traditional English folk song Greensleeves, becoming the internationally popular Christmas carol ‘What Child is This?’. Little research has been conducted on carol singing, but one of the few sociological studies of caroling in the early 21st century determined that the sources of songs are often misunderstood, and that it is simplistic to suggest carolling is mostly related to Christian beliefs, as it also reinforces the preservation of various national customs and local family traditions.

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