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Show By ELMO SCOTT WATSON Drawing by Ray Walters. to -i -v 1 X E of the Interesting devel-lrfj devel-lrfj B opmonts of the celebration K?f,yrjp ' of Clirlslmns In America Is rM" "1C revivnl of the ancient i&t custom of singing Christmas fWp carols on Christmas eve wSiCS nlK' "ie 'ncreas'nS observ-hnce observ-hnce of that custom In all parts of the country. Of course, we have always had some Christmas carol singing, varying In prevalence in different parts of the country and confined con-fined mainly to the Christmas exercises exer-cises In church and school by the children chil-dren just before the holiday. But In the hurry and haste of this modern high-speed age and our departure In many respects from the old forms of observing the day, the singing of carols Is one custom which has been allowed to lapse to a great extent. It Is interesting to note, however, that the Christmas carol is "staging a eome-bnek" and that In places where Its nppearnnce seems all the more supprising because it is in the very center of our modern commercialism. In many of the big department stores In the large cities, In hotels and In restaurants groups of musicians, dressed in the costumes of Old Eng-land, Eng-land, are playing and singing Christmas Christ-mas carols during the week before Christmas. In some of the railroad stations In the big cities hurrying commuters and other railway travelers travel-ers are surprised to bear the sound of voices, singing old-fashioned Christmas Christ-mas carols, pealing out through the cathedral-like spaces of these great structures and upon pausing for a moment they see that the singing comes from a balcony overlooking the concourse and that It Is a trained choir of many voices which Is thus adding to the Christmas spirit in evidence evi-dence everywhere. The first Christmas carol Is said to be that sung by the heavenly host when the birth of Christ was announced an-nounced to the shepherds. Here Is a description of that singing as told by St. Luke: "There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And, o, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them ; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them. Fear not : for, behold, I bring yon good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. Tor unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you : ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying In a manger. And suddenly sud-denly there was with the angel a multitude mul-titude of the heavenly host praising God, and singing. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'' Trobably the practice of singing at Christmas rose in Imitation of this, as the majority of the carols declare the good tidings of great joy. The word "carol" itseif comes from two Latin words meaning "to sing joyfully." Or ns It was defined long ago in a curious old stanza: "Know you what is a carol? 'Tis singing, witli praise of God If you praise God and sing not, You utter no carol. If you sing and prs. j not God, You utter no carol. If you praise anything which does not appertain To the praise of God, Though, In singing, you praise, You utter no carol." It is a curious fact that the singing of carols, like many of our other Christmas customs, owes something to a pagan as well as a Christian origin. The early church found that all pagan religions celebrated the birth of a new year. The Druids gathered mistletoe on what Is our day of Christmas, the llomans held their saturnalia, the Persians held agricultural ceremonies, as did the Chinese. Theophilus, bishop of Caesarea, toward the middle of the Second century, cen-tury, recommended "the observance of the birthday of our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen." There follows a definite statement that the first official carol was "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and the year in which it was sung on the new date was 129 A. D. Thus the church was able to profit from the mood of merriment created by the pagans. The spirit of joy from many religions was merged Into that of one. Many high churchmen In the ancient times opposed the introduction of song into the solemn moments. Xo power, however, could stem the tide of Innocent song which had invaded in-vaded religious observance. The first crusade preached by Urban in 1095 gave impetus to the troubadour movement move-ment and the holidays for five centuries cen-turies were to resound with the songs of tlveir inspiration. By 1500 carol singing was widespread in Europe aDd was being introduced into England. In the England of today wandering bands of minstrels or "waits" preserve pre-serve the old customs by going from bouse to house piping Christmas tunes on reed instruments and singing carols. It may be this that they sing: "Wassail, wassail ! to our town ! The bowl is white, and the ale is brown ; The bowl is made of the rosemary tree. And so is the ale, of the good barlee. Little maid, little maid, tirl the pin!-Open pin!-Open the door, and let us come in !" Or' they may lift up their voices in this equally old carol : "Here us comos a wassailing, under the holly green. Here us comes a wandering, so merry to be seen. Good luck good Master Ilodgin, and kind Mistress also. And all the little children that round the table go! Your pockets full of money, your cupboards cup-boards full of good cheer, A merry Christmas. Gnizzards, and a Happy New Year !" The poor women and children also sing carols on the streets and are given cakes by those who listen. Some of the carol singers carry peaked lanterns lan-terns to light them on their way. The bringing in of the Yule log in Eng land was the occasion of a joyous ceremony and the singing of merry songs, such as the "Boar's Head" carol, still sung at Oxford at Christmas Christ-mas which goes as follows : "The boar's head in hand bear I Bedeckt with bays and rosemary; And I pray you, my masters, be merry. Quot estis in convivio Caput apri defero Reddens laudes Domino! "Our steward hath provided this In honor of the King of Bliss, Which on this day to be served Is, In Reginensi Atrio Caput apri defero Reddens laudes Domino !" Almost every land has its own Christmas carols. They are called Wiegenlieder or Kristlieder in Germany, Ger-many, Noels in France, and carols in England. In Russia the ancient Kolyada songs, once sung to pagan gods, now dedicated to the Christian saints, are sung about the streets. It Is to Austria, however, that we are indebted for one of our best known of all Christmas songs. For "Silent Sight" had its origin in a simple pre-Christmas party to which a young priest, Joseph Mohr, was Invited In-vited in Oberndorf, near Salsburg, Austria, in 1S18. At Oberndorf it was the custom shortly before Christmas for wandering comedians from the near-by village of Laufen to give crude representations of the Christmas Christ-mas story as recounted in the Bible. A shipowner named Maier invited Joseph Mohr, young assistant priest who had recently come to the village from Salzburg, to be his guest at a little party. As a special surprise for the priest, Maier arranged for the comedians from Laufen to stage their festival play at his home. The thoughtful hospitality of the .Maier couple and the touching simplicity sim-plicity of the festival play so stirred the young priest that instead of going straightway home he climbed the so-called so-called "Totenbnrg" (mountain of the dead), overlooking Oberndorf, and stood there in silent meditation. The silence of the night, the blinking blink-ing of the stars, the murmur of the Salzach river all inspired him. Quickly he descended to his parish house, and late that night the words to "Stilie Xaeht" were written. The next day he hurried to bis chum and co-worker, Franz Gruber, village organist and school teacher. He requested his friend to write the music for his song. Happy at this opportunity, Gruber composed the melody that is known perhaps to more people" than any other single melody. Christmas eve of ISIS came and the priest and the teacher were ready to offer the song for the first time. Unfortunately Un-fortunately the organ of St. Nicola was out of commission that night. For a moment it seemed as though the congregation were to be cheated out of this unique premiere. But Gruber ran back to his home and got his guitar. gui-tar. To its accompaniment Mohr and Gruber then sang "Stilie Nacht" for the first time as a duet. (l by Western Newspaper Union.) |