You can hear them on radio and television, in the churches and on the streets, in school auditoriums and on concert stages. They are as peaceful as the shepherd tending his flock, as familiar as the first snowfall. Carols speak from the well of antiquity but celebrate the timelessness of man.
Carols, seasonal religious songs with simple tunes, originated in the 13th Century. The earliest carols (from the French carole, a round dance with musical accompaniment) were written mostly by clerics or court musicians and passed orally from generation to generation. Some, however, came from mystery or miracle plays. Others, such as the popular ”Twelve Days of Christmas,”
with its french hens and colly birds, bordered on nursery rhyme territory.
Less formal and solemn than the typical church hymn, carols are usually associated with Christmas. But there are carols for other liturgical seasons as well, including Advent (the first four weeks before Christmas), Epiphany
(Jan. 6 or Twelfth Night) and Easter. Italy is considered the birthplace of the Christmas carol and St. Francis of Assisi its father.
During the 15th Century, carols began to break away from monotonous church chants. Writers started experimenting with different melodies. Some such as ”I Saw Three Ships” were stark and unaffected, while others such as ”The Cherry Tree Carol” were earthy and pastoral. Many possessed the simple narrative form and repetitive refrain characteristic of folk song.
Despite the predominance of angelic hymns and songs of the shepherds, not all carols were religious. There were May Day carols, Midsummer carols, even Robin Hood carols. The earliest printed collection of carols was published in 1521.
In addition to the yule log and the mummers play (a nonreligious folk drama with performers are in disguise), the English introduced the ancient tradition of carol singing to the New World. For several nights before Christmas, singers in the villages of rural England would go from house to house, traveling together in small groups called ”waits.” They often were welcomed inside as a respite from the cold night air.
In some communities, however, carols were strictly forbidden. In Puritan England, for example, the Roundheads, the ruling class at that time, opposed the celebration of religious feast days. Antagonism culminated in 1643 when the Parliament of Oliver Cromwell outlawed the Christmas holiday altogether. Their American ancestors across the Atlantic perpetuated these beliefs. The General Court of Massachusetts passed a law in 1659 making the observance of any yuletide celebration a penal offense. Indeed, the Puritan legacy was so strong that Christmas did not become a legal holiday in New England until 1856.
But other immigrant groups adopted a more festive approach. They brought their joyful holiday traditions to America and created a rich yuletide tapestry. The notion of exchanging gifts, for example, was first introduced to the U.S. by early Dutch settlers. It is widely held that German immigrants brought with them the Christmas tree (for the origins of other Christmas customs, see accompanying story).
During the 19th Century, Christmas celebrations in Sunday schools helped to promote a uniform national folklore, such as the belief in the existence of Santa Claus. But it was the work of Charles Dickens, particularly ”A Christmas Carol,” that did much to create the secular image of Christmas as a time of general goodwill and charity toward all.
Yet some still think the custom of small children singing carols outside the front door for pennies a strictly Victorian invention, unaware perhaps that modern-day counterparts can be found in most American cities. Chicago offers organized and unorganized groups of singers celebrating the holiday season. They may be dressed in authentic period costume strolling through modern shopping malls or crooning within the confines of busy, gaily-festooned department stores. Perhaps they are Salvation Army members huddled together for warmth at windy street corners. Probably the best place to hear carol singing at its most pristine, however, is in church.
The Service of Lessons and Carols, performed by the Kapelle Choir of Concordia College in River Forest, is one of the best-known carol events in the city–and one of the most dramatic. Popularized by the choir at Kings College, Cambridge, England, the service begins in darkness using candlelight to symbolize the coming of Christ.
Other area churches that will be offering a generous mixture of traditional readings and carol singing include the Moody Church on Clark Street, the Fourth Presbyterian Church on Michigan Avenue, St. Luke`s Episcopal Church in Evanston, First St. Paul`s Lutheran Church on LaSalle Street and the Church of St. Paul the Redeemer in Hyde Park.
Most of the popular Christmas carols date from the 18th and 19th Centuries. ”Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” written by English hymn-writer Charles Wesley (brother of John) with music adapted from Felix Mendelssohn`s
”Festgesang,” was reputedly inspired by the chime of church bells as Wesley walked to church one Christmas morning. Handel`s ”Messiah” prompted London minister Isaac Watts to write ”Joy to the World.” John M. Neale set the verses of ”Good King Wenceslaus” to a 16th Century hymn. ”O Come All Ye Faithful” was translated from the Latin ”Adeste Fideles” by Frederick Oakeley in 1841 under the title ”Hymn for Christmas Day.” And ”Silent Night, Holy Night” was written by Joseph Mohr, a parish priest in Obendorf, Austria, on Christmas Eve 1818.
Carols began to be written in the U.S. in the 19th Century. ”O Little Town of Bethlehem” was penned by Phillips Brooks, an Episcopal minister, after he visited the Holy Land in 1868. Edmund H. Sears, another minister, wrote the lyrics and Richard Willis composed the music of ”It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.”
Down through the ages, the carol has retained its timeless quality. Occasionally, its popularity has waned only to be renewed again with even more vigor.
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”I have a hunch (its longevity has) something to do with the real understanding of the birth of Christ,” says Thomas Gieschen, conductor of the Kapelle Choir of Concordia College. Gerald Edmonds, director of the Moody Church Choir, says ”the theological content, the beauty of phrase and the music itself” have kept carols among the holiday traditions.
Familiarity is a key factor as well. ”It`s the one time of the year where there is a common ground where we all can meet,” Geischen says. ”After all, everyone knows at least the first few words of most carols.”
Each December, carol singing bridges the gap between the secular and the religious. People who would otherwise never enter a church attend the services to hear the lovely melodies. They may do so because it`s ”something familiar, something heartwarming,” Gieschen says. ”There`s always been an aspect of nostalgia attached to it, a fondness for childhood memories.”
Without carols–from ”The First Noel” to ”Jingle Bell Rock”–
Christmas wouldn`t seem like Christmas.
DURING HANUKKAH CELEBRATION, JEWS REKINDLE THE LIGHT THAT WOULDN`T
DIE
From darkness to light–that is the theme of Hanukkah.
While carols celebrate the birth of the Saviour, Hanukkah, an eight-day religious holiday beginning this year on Dec. 27, commemorates the lifelong struggle of a people to achieve independence. Yet a universal quality pervades this very ancient Jewish celebration.
”The whole world should be celebrating Hanukkah because it`s the first time a people fought for religious freedom,” says pianist Arnold Miller, who with his wife, Sima, will be performing the ”Songs of Hanukkah” Dec. 22 at the Chicago Public Library Cultural Center.
The earliest observance of Hanukkah (meaning ”dedication” in Hebrew)
dates back to Palestine in 165 B.C. ”The Feast of Lights” celebrates the victory of Judah and the Maccabees over Antiochus Epiphanes, king of the Syrian Greeks. The victors purified the Temple and sought to rekindle the sacred lamp but found enough undefiled oil to last only one day. By a divine miracle, the precious liquid lasted eight days. From one days` oil came eight days` light.
The songs of Hanukkah sing of this miracle but also of the rebuilding of the temple, of the battle between two opposing forces and especially of the candles themselves and the light that refused to be extinguished.
Many aspects of the Jewish heritage are included in the Hanukkah pantheon of songs: anonymous folk songs, Hebrew folk songs, Israeli songs, Yiddish songs, Sephardic songs, Hassidic songs, Jewish-American songs and contemporary songs. ”Each separate Jewish cultural group really has its own music and its own particular expression,” says Roz Ebstein, music consultant to the Board of Jewish Education.
A large number of the Hanukkah songs performed today are no more than 150 to 200 years old and possess a strong Eastern European influence. Some of the ceremonial songs, however, date back many centuries.
Each night of Hanukkah a candle is lit, beginning with one light and lasting until all eight receptacles of the menorah (candelabra) are filled; a ninth light or shammas is used to light the others. On the first night, the shammas is lit and three blessings are said. Among the Ashkenazic communities descended from Central and Eastern Europe, the household sings ”Ma-oz Tzur” or ”Mighty Rock” (the English version is ”Rock of Ages”).
Each evening`s lighting of a candle is accompanied by the recitation of various blessings and the singing of ”A Psalm, a Song for the Dedication of the House.” Daily prayer includes the recitation of Psalms 113-118 known as Hallel or Psalms of Praise.
THE CREATION OF CUSTOMS
The following are origins of some of the most popular Christmas customs:
Burning the yule log: Adapted from the ancient Scandinavian practice of kindling huge bonfires in honor of the winter solstice.
Christmas cards: First card for commercial use credited to John Calcott Horsley of England. The father of the American Christmas card is Louis Prang, a German native who settled in Boston and entered the lithography business.
The Christmas tree: Widely believed that Martin Luther began the custom in Germany. The sight of an evergreen tree on Christmas Eve, reaching toward the stars above, is said to have made a great impression on him.
Kris Kringle: The Pennsylvania Dutch believed that ”Christkindl,” the Christ Child, brought gifts for children on Christmas Eve.
Mistletoe: Druidic symbol of hope and peace. It is believed that the custom of kissing under the mistletoe grew out of an ancient practice whereby enemies would drop their arms, forget their differences and embrace.
Santa Claus: Alias St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra in 4th Century Asia Minor noted for his generosity. Exiled and imprisoned during the persecution of Diocletian and finally freed by Constantine the Great, he died in A.D. 350. Patron saint of Greece, Russia and Sicily and of cities in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Italy. Patron saint also of merchants, mariners and children. Dutch called him Sinterklaas. Became Anglicized into Santa Claus when English settlers arrived. Red and white, formerly the colors of his religious vestments, became the familiar Santa Claus uniform. From 1863 to 1886, cartoonist Thomas Nast broadened the myth by producing a series of Christmas drawings for Harper`s Weekly. From these drawings the fat and rosy- cheeked Santa we all know was derived while the poem, ”A Visit from St. Nicholas” (” `Twas the Night Before Christmas”) by Dr. Clement Moore, introduced the sleigh and reindeer imagery.
Wassail: From Anglo-Saxon, ”wes hal” (to your health). Centuries-old beverage consisting of ale, roasted apples, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, cloves and ginger.