The story behind Christmas Carols
Christmas Carols are a timeless tradition that has been a huge part of Christmas for centuries and are typically sung to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But few of us truly know the origins behind them. Here at ChristmasTimeUK, we are telling the story behind Christmas Carols so you can understand more about the tradition we know and love.
Origins
According to Why Christmas, Carols first started being sung thousands of years ago in Europe by the Pagans to celebrate the Winter Solstice.
Once Christmas started to be celebrated at the same time as the Winter Solstice, early Christians would sing Christian songs instead of Pagan songs. Shortly after, composers all over Europe would write Christmas carols. However, Christmas carols weren’t liked by many people at that time because most of them were written in Latin, a language that much of the general public could not understand.
In 1223, St Francis of Assisi started Nativity plays in Italy, with Christmas Carols in the language of the audience. Because of this, the new carols spread quickly across Europe.
Christmas Carols were banned in England when the Puritans gained power in the 1640s. This led to the tradition of Christmas carols being sung from door to door. It wasn’t until the Victorian times that Christmas carols came back into the limelight and were sung as folk songs in pubs. This is down to William Sandys and David Gilbert, who collected old Christmas music from villages.
Local orchestras and choirs were also being set up in cities during this time and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so Christmas carols were once again popular among churches.
Christmas Carols today
Today, Christmas carols remain an ever-so-popular tradition with songs such as Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, and O Holy Night being sung year after year in homes, schools, and churches. Even the act of singing carols door to door has stuck with us through time.