As we near the end of the year and diaries get filled with festive plans, make sure you schedule in time to listen to or sing along to some of the best Christmas carols.
After all, singing is renowned for bringing a wealth of mental and physical benefits – improving breathing, posture and muscle tension, as well as helping your body produce positive neurochemicals, such as dopamine and serotonin. It’s a great excuse to be social and engage with your local community, too.
Unlike a typical Christmas song, carols are religious in nature or have been part of long-standing traditions around Christmastime. Christmas songs, even though people love to sing them when caroling, don’t have this association with the church.
Keep your eye out for Christmas carol concerts in your local area, or singalongs around the town or village Christmas tree, or even plan a visit to one of England's best cathedrals. Perhaps you’re organising a caroling event, or simply like to have them on in the background as you get stuck into Christmas crafts or Christmas baking – take a look at some of the very best carols we love to sing at Christmastime and make sure they are on your playlist or song sheet.
Best Christmas carols
O Holy Night
When Songs of Praise counted down the top 10 UK's favourite carols as voted for by viewers in a online poll, it was O Holy Night that came out on top. This festive favourite's first iteration was actually a French poem called Cantique de Noël created by Placide Cappeau in 1843 to celebrate a reconditioned organ in his home town. Composer Adolphe Charles Adam set it to music and in 1847, opera singer Emily Laurey first performed it as a carol. It wasn't until 12 years later in 1855 that American music critic John Sullivan Dwight translated it to English.
Silent Night
It may not have come top of the Songs of Praise national poll, but Silent Night is another firm favourite of the UK's music lovers, sometimes averaging 45,000 searches across Google and YouTube in a month. It can be confused by some with O Holy Night, but has very different origins.
Originally written in German in Austria, Stille Nacht was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber with lyrics by Joseph Mohr written a few years earlier. There were six verses in all, though just three are usually sung today. Emily Elliott is credited with translating the carol into English in 1858.
Silent Night was so familiar that during World War I, when German soldiers sang it in the trenches, their British counterparts were able to respond with the English version.
Carol of the Bells
Noticeably absent from the Songs of Praise UK poll was Carol of the Bells, despite it being supremely joyful and a persistent earworm.
The original music was created in 1916 by Mykola Leontovych, a Ukranian composer who was asked by conductor Oleksander Koshyts to produce something inspired by Ukrainian chants. It was called Shchedryk and the lyrics told how a swallow promises a household wealth for the following spring.
It wasn’t until 1936 that new lyrics were written by Peter J Wilhousky, an American composer of Ukranian heritage. He said that the music reminded him of hand bells, which inspired the song's new lyrics.
In the Bleak Midwinter
Is it because the concept of a ‘bleak midwinter’ is still so relatable that this carol remains one of the UK’s favourite? English poet Christina Rossetti wrote the poem in 1972, before the carol, which has an equally simple and sombre tone, was composed by English composer Gustav Holst. The focus is on love, citing that the simple stable on the cold night is enough for the baby Jesus.
Joy to the World
It's always exciting to follow a more-sombre carol with something punchy and uplifting, and Joy to the World is just that. It was written by a prolific writer of hymns, English minster Isaac Watts, in 1719, the words inspired by Psalm 98 of the Bible. The composer of the music isn't so clearly identified: the melody most commonly paired with the words is Antioch, a melody often attributed to George Frideric Handel or American hymn composer, Lowell Mason.
Antioch could also have been around in England for several years before Mason published it in the US.
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Astonishingly, this popular carol, loved by children as well as seasoned carolers, is over 280 years old. It began life in 1739 as a Christmas hymn written by English clergyman, poet, and hymn writer Charles Wesley. However, it wasn't given the familiar melody until 100 years later – it came from a chorus of musical composition, Festgesang an die Künstler. Later, in 1855, singer William Hayman Cummings created the carol we know today.
The Holly and the Ivy
Decorating your house for the festive season with holly and ivy is a tradition that dates back to medieval times: holly, ivy and other evergreen plants were used around the winter solstice to celebrate new growth and ward off evil spirits. For Christians, holly thorns represent Jesus' thorny crown and the red berries, his blood; the ivy is said to represent the Virgin Mary. The popular carol we sing today was found in print in an early 19th century book.
- What are the lyrics to The Holly and The Ivy?
- Holly's enduring connection to Christmas: Unravelling its historical roots
Ding Dong Merrily on High
A great uplifting tune to round off any carol service, Ding Dong! Merrily on High is supposedly so rousing as the music began life as a dance called Branle de l'Official in the 16th century. English composer George Ratcliffe Woodward wrote the lyrics in 1924 in his The Cambridge Carol-Book: Being Fifty-two Songs for Christmas, Easter, And Other Seasons.
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