Christmas Carols—Our Childhood
Revisited
We all have our personal favorite
Christmas carols, songs we learned as children. They touch our hearts and
awaken memories of Christmases long ago. They bring a spirit of warmth and
wonder to our holidays.
Silent Night is
one of our most beloved carols. There are several versions of why Joseph Mohr
composed the Lyrics. One tale says that while walking home one evening after
visiting a woodcutter and his wife to bless their new baby he was struck by the
similarities of this birth and Jesus’. He put these thoughts in a poem and
asked his organist, Franz Gruber, to write the music. Silent Night was originally
performed with guitar accompaniment in 1818. There have been more than 300 translations
of this song and has been an American favorite since being introduced here
around 1863.
White Christmas was
written by Irving Berlin for the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn”. The song was an
immediate success and the “official” theme song of homesick World War II soldiers.
When Irving Berlin wrote this song, there were few secular Christmas songs, but
Bing Crosby’s movie version became a classic and won an Academy Award in 1942
as the year’s best song. White Christmas continued to gain popularity and
was featured in the movie by the same name. To learn more about the history of
this song read White Christmas: The Story of an American Song by Jody
Rosen.
We all sang Away in a Manger as
children and grew up believing that Martin Luther wrote it. It seems, however,
that he was assumed to be its author after it appeared in a Lutheran Sunday
School book in 1887. The earliest date it can be traced to is 1885 when an old
hymnal said it was “anonymous”.
At least two men are credited with
writing the music although some say the tune closely resembles some German folk
tunes. Today’s two popular melodies only add to the song’s mystery. We may not
know who wrote the words, but we are grateful to this nameless gentleman for
the inspiration his song has brought us.
0 Little Town of Bethlehem was written by Phillips Brooks, in 1868.
During Christmas, 1865, he visited the holy Land and made the trip from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem by horseback on Christmas Eve.
Three years later, remembering his
time in Bethlehem he was moved to express his feeling in words. His church
organist, Lewis Redner, wrote the music and the song was
first sung December 27, 1868. 0 Little Town
of Bethlehem may not be as popular as some of our carols
but its words speak to us of our hopes and fears and our dreams of peace for us
all.
Singing Christmas carols is as traditional
to our holiday season as Christmas trees, eggnog and gifts. For most of us they
evoke childhood memories and give us the words to express the wonder of the
Christmas message. Let us be thankful this holiday season for those who have
given us these beautiful carols to enjoy.
by Marianna K. Neal, Staff Writer
News Magazine
December 2005/Toledo