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The History of the Christmas Carol
Carols were originally
sung to accompany 'round dances' or caroles which were used to celebrate annual
pagan festivals, notably Saturnalia which fell on or around 17th December. As
Christianity progressed throughout Europe the pagan festivals became
assimilated within the wider church and the singing and dancing at the Winter
Festival became associated with the 'new' celebration of Christmas.
The earliest
reference to the carol in Britain was in 1300 in a text called Cursor mundi, but Wynken de Worde (what a name to conjure with)
produced the first collection of carols in 1521. Carols during these early
years were not restricted to Christmas, each major religious feast had its
carols to be sung & danced. Not all Christmas carols deal with the Nativity
e.g. Adam Lay Y Bounden and even some did not stick to
purely religious text e.g. The Boars Head Carol. However in France the
development of the Noel in the late fifteenth century was dedicated to
Christmas time and has produced some of the most well known carols e.g. Angels
From The Realms of Glory, which is still sung to its old French tune. Il Est Ne also stems from this period.
Further south the Basque region gave us Gabriel's Message at around the same time (give
or take a few hundred years!). The mystery plays, which are still performed in
York, provided another stimulus for the writing of carols in the fifteenth
century. The unusually sad Coventry Carol heralds from this period.
The Reformation, which resulted in the
dissolution of the monasteries, temporarily halted the development of the
carol. This was because the Franciscan Monks had brought the French assiduity
of the Noel and applied it to the carol. The carol was strong enough to survive
this. It was during this time that the tune we know so well as the Coventry
Carol was written to accompany the much earlier lyrics. Christmas was still a
strong festival in Tudor England and after the Union with Scotland the reign of
James I/VI saw the most expensive Court festivities to date, however within 50
years Christmas was abolished by the Long Parliament. It was during this turbulent
time that Hail Blessed Virgin Mary was written in Italy. But such
a popular festival was hard to wipe out and Christmas survived the Puritans
time in power to arise anew with the Restoration.
During the next one hundred and fifty years carols became confined to the "lower orders" of society and the less sophisticated country churches where it survived well, but with little invention. Still, at least the old traditions were kept alive until the Victorians began a revival with the publication of the first modern collection of traditional carols. It was during Queen Victoria's reign that new carols were written, e.g. Once in Royal David's City or old text was translated and given new music e.g. Hark The Herald Angels Sing and O Come All Ye Faithful. It was during this time that America started to influence the music sung at Christmas with carols such as Away in a Manger and We Three Kings.