Words: French poem, Minuit Chrétiens translated by Jonathan Sullivan Dwight Tune: Cantique De Noël by Adolphe Adam. This folk hymn compares Jesus to the tree of life from the Garden of Eden. The simple rhyme scheme of the text and the soaring melody are a welcome addition to any carol service. The text has been set by various composers including Jeremiah Ingalls, Elizabeth Poston and John Rutter. Still, an immortal Christmas classic that requires no introduction. Recommendable, for the right audience. Shaw, Martin; Dearmer, Percy; Vaughan Williams, Ralph, eds. (1964). The Oxford Book of Carols. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780193533158.

I don´t know where this kind of moral storytelling originated, probably tens of thousands of years ago when the first shaman or chief thought it would be cool to use vision, prophecy, the power of dreams, imagination and a grain of indoctrination to communicate the right behavior to her/his people. Ethics and moral are important, omnipresent, and timeless topics that shouldn´t be reduced to the few holidays of different religions to give people, working against the interests of humankind to enrich themselves the whole year, a bad conscience (as if this would be possible, as if they would even realize what monsters they are as they don´t directly kill, but just indirectly support the misery by playing key roles of a dysfunctional system), but used in everyday life, politics, and every single decision. Ok, before it gets completely unrealistic, I´ll better end this review.A Christmas Carol (2009). An animated film made by Disney. A reasonably faithful adaptation, with many direct quotations and stars like Carrey, Oldman and Firth performing voice acting. Remarkable special effects and action scenes that not necessarily go well with the book. Recommendable mostly for children, and adults with a child at heart that don’t mind going a bit off script. The words for this carol were written by Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander who also wrote the words to ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’. There is nothing quite as Christmassy as hearing the soaring voice of a treble singing the solo at the beginning of this piece. In fact, the tune has been the first carol sung in the annual ‘Carols from King’s’ service in Cambridge for the last 95 years. Giorza, Paulo (12 March 1888). Jesu, Redemptor omnium: Christmas anthem. New York: G. Schirmer – via Trove.

Reaching No. 1 in Christmas 1990, Saviour’s Day was written by Chris Eaton and shown to Cliff Richard at a Christmas party. The music video was filmed in front of the famous Dorset landmark Durdle Door.A Christmas Carol hits on some important societal issues, and it has iconic, unforgettable characters. It also has some laugh-out-loud moments. In the 13th century, in France, Germany, and particularly, Italy, under the influence of Francis of Assisi, a strong tradition of popular Christmas songs in regional native languages developed. [3] Christmas carols in English first appear in a 1426 work of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain, who lists twenty five "caroles of Cristemas", probably sung by groups of ' wassailers', who went from house to house. [4] The songs now known specifically as carols were originally communal songs sung during celebrations like harvest tide as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols began to be sung in church, and to be specifically associated with Christmas. Giuseppe Cacciatore (1960). "Alfonso Maria de Liguori, santo". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol.2. Treccani. Plumpton, Alfred; Hemans Mrs (12 March 1890). Oh, lovely voices of the sky: hymn for Christmas. [Melbourne: David Syme & Co.] – via Trove. Tolhurst, George; T, J. B. (12 March 1864). Christmas in Australia: prize song. Melbourne: Printed and published for the proprietors by Robert Stewart at the Herald Office – via Trove.

Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander was a country schoolmistress who wrote the words to help her pupils understand the mystery of the birth of Jesus and it was never intended to be kept only for Christmas. It was put together with Henry Gauntlett's simple tune Irby and has become a Christmas standard. O Come All ye Faithful Many of today’s most popular carols are dignified 19th-century offerings with tuneful melodies, rich harmonies and Christmassy sounds abundant. Isaac Watts, the "father of English hymnody", composed " Joy to the World", which has become a popular Christmas carol even though it is widely believed that Watts did not write it to be sung only at Christmas. Carols gained in popularity after the Reformation in the countries where Protestant churches gained prominence (as well-known Reformers like Martin Luther authored carols and encouraged their use in worship). This was a consequence of the fact that the Lutheran reformation warmly welcomed music. [6] During the years that the Puritan ban on Christmas was in place in England, semi-clandestine religious services marking Christ's birth continued to be held, and people sang carols in secret. [7] 19th-century carol books such as Christmas Carols, New and Old (1871) helped to make carols popularA contemporary carol written by British composer and clergyman Michael Perry in the 1960s. Lyrics from the carol have appeared on postage stamps from the Carribean islands Nevis and St. Kitts. This lively and energetic carol first shot to fame in 1969.

Coghlan, Alexandra (2016). Carols from King's. Random House. p.84. ISBN 9781785940941 . Retrieved 7 October 2016. This uplifting Advent carol was a relatively recent addition to the canon of Christmas music, written by Roman Catholic composer Bernadette Farrell in the early 1990s. It describes the waiting for Christmas as a journey through darkness towards light. Dating from the 18th century, "Les Anges dans nos Campagnes" (known as "Angels We Have Heard On High" in English) is another famous French carol. The ghostly visitors are not of the Christian kind, but ghost stories were popular in Victorian England. Each ghost is very distinctive in appearance and manner.

Christmas Traditions and Customs

Certainly Scrooge had sunk to nasty depths, and maybe " It was all the same to him" reflects Scrooge's conscious and observable attitude, rather than the deeper, painful mix of happy and sad memories that he tried so hard to suppress, even though Scrooge would have denied it and believed his denial.