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Show CHRISTMAS CAROLS PLAY IMPORTANT PART j IN HOLIDAY OBSERVANCE ALL OVER WORLD I If X, J t - 7i- l. . - i.rWMrtnrtf,..syfr1rlnl.lmll'fr'll in, Mil ing verse and became a great poet. "The First Noel," meaning the first Christmas, is one of the oldest old-est songs about the coming of Christ. One of the ancient medi- poem and "just set down the notes that fit the words": "It came upon the midnight clear That glorious song of old . . ." One of the most popular Yule-tide Yule-tide hymns, 'It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" follows the traditional tradi-tional carol style. The first two stanzas depict the angels hovering over the earth and singing their joyous song, the third brings words of comfort to the weary and the fourth prophesies the hap-oy hap-oy days when all the world shall join in the angel's song. "O Little Town of Bethlehem," another American contribution to the famous Christmas songs of the world, was written by Phillips Brooks, a Boston minister. On a trip to the Holy Land, Brooks stood on the starlit hills on Christmas Christ-mas Eve and looked down upon the little city of Bethlehem lying still and peaceful in the night.' On the next Christmas, back in America, Amer-ica, he wrote the song that was to become famous: "Oh little town of Bethlehem How still we see thee lie . . ." Written for Sunday school singing, sing-ing, the song at first was anonymous anony-mous but, when the hymn gained immediate favor, Brooks admitted authorship. Many musical settings of this beautiful poem have been made, the two most', commonly used being by the English composer, com-poser, Joseph Barnby, and the American composer, Louis H. Red-ner. Red-ner. Charles Wesley, young brother of John Wesley, founder of the Methodist denomination, shares with Isaac Watts the honor of being the greatest producer of hymns. His "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," first published in 1739, is among the most popular Christmas carols although it has undergone many changes. "Hark! the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born King . ." The music is by that distinguished distin-guished composer, Felix Mendel-ssohn-Bartholdy and hence was written long after Wesley died. Watts' principal contribution to the world's holiday joy is the carol, "Joy to the World." The tune, Antioch," is an adaptation of Handel's oratorio, 'Messiah." "Joy to the world, the Lord is come, Let earth receive her King . ." Watts, too, was a minister. While officiating as pastor of Market Mar-ket Lane church in England his health failed although he was still a young man. He turned to writ- Again at this Yuletide season the strains of Christmas carols are floating into the hearts and homes of millions of people, carrying carry-ing the spirit of Christmas. It is at this holiday season that the impulse to sing grips everyone, from the crooning infant to the oldest and most confirmed "monotone." "mono-tone." There are many kinds of carols, some for every mood and taste. Hymns or chants celebrating the Nativity have been sung since the earliest days of the Christian church. Some of the carols, like "Deck the Hall with Boughs of Holly," "Good King Wenceslas" and the wassailing songs, have no direct relation to the Nativity, yet they are fully expressive of various vari-ous phases of the Christmas spirit. Best loved and most frequently sung of the carols is "Silent Night." It was Christmas time in the hamlet of Obernsdorf, South Germany, in 1818 that this beau- eval carols, it probably is about 400 years old. The poetry is crude, merely a peasant's attempt to present the New Testament story in rhyme (thus making it easy to remember) but thoroughly sincere and devout. The music likewise is simple, being practically one little strain sung three times, but it is vigorous, joyous, fresh and virile. "The first Noel the Angel did say, Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay . . ." Caroling or wassailing is an old English custom. The original words of this traditional English Christmas song began .'Here we come a-wassailing" and continued in the chorus, "Love and joy come to you, and to your wassail too." The old song commonly was sung by groups of revelers, particularly par-ticularly young women, who went about offering a hot drink, a merry song and a pretty curtsey in exchange for a small gift. The word "wassail" comes from the Anglo-Saxon "Waeshael," meaning mean-ing 'Be in health." And, of course, Merry Christmas would be less merry to both children and adults without that little jingle, "Jingle Bells," to jingle all , the way through the Yuletide season with its mythical one-horse sleigh which in most parts of America belongs to another an-other day. But, sans the sleigh bells and the sleigh, who is there, child or adult, who does not love that gay and rollicking Christmas ditty to which dear old Santa , Claus comes skimming into town or to isolated country homes be- i hind his eight reindeer. :tiful song was composed. A young priest, Father Josef Mohr, was returning from the bedside of a parishioner when he looked down upon the sleeping hamlet surrounded sur-rounded by snow. It lay there silent in the dark night, lighted only by the bright stars and a few glimmering candles. That first Christmas, he thought, must have been like this and there came to him these words: "Silent Night, Holy Night! All is clam, all is bright . . ." In his study he finished the verses, then took them to Franz Gruber, the organist, who caught the spirit of a hymn. "Silent Night" was sung for the first time in the little wooden church in Obernsdorf that Christmas Eve. Later a group of Austrian Tyrol mountain folksong singers introduced intro-duced the carol to other parts of the world, including America. Published in 1840, it has been translated into almost every language lan-guage and is a favorite throughout through-out the world. "Oh, Come All Ye Faithful" or "Adeste Fideles" is another hymn of the ages which apparently is destined to live for centuries. It has been translated Into 76 languages. lan-guages. The words are sometimes ascribed as-cribed to St. Bonaventura, bishop of Albano, in the thirteenth century. cen-tury. It is most commonly believed, be-lieved, however, that it was not written until the seventeenth or eighteenth century. The hymn often is called the Portuguese hymn because it was sung in the Portuguese chapel in London about 1785 to the tune now inseparable in-separable from it: "Oh come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant; Oh come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem Beth-lehem . . ." An American song which carries car-ries the spirit of Christmas is the sweet and beautiful carol, "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear." The poem was written by Edmund H. Sears, a New England minister, in a religious journal. The music is by the American composer, Richard S. Willis, who was struck by the . unusual beauty of the |
