Whether you’re a lifelong music lover, a regular visitor to services, or simply someone who adores the magic of Christmas, carols are a key part of the festive season.
We’ve dusted off our sheet music and uncovered some charming stories behind five beloved carols, timeless favourites steeped in history, yet all too often now have delightful modern twists.
1. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
More than a century before it became the Christmas classic we know today, Methodist writer Charles Wesley penned the original hymn, “Hark, how all the welkin [sky/heaven] rings,” set to a slow and solemn tune.
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840, he famously dismissed it as being too “soldier-like” for sacred words. It wasn’t until 1855 that William Cummings combined Wesley’s text with Mendelssohn’s lively melody, creating the joyful and lively version we now sing.
2. Adeste Fideles – O Come, All Ye Faithful
Composed of four verses written in Latin ‘Adeste Fideles’ true origin remains unclear. Eventually expanding to eight verses, in 1841, English Catholic priest Frederick Oakeley rendered it as “O Come All Ye Faithful,” which became widely popular in English-speaking countries and as we know it more widely known today.
This carol also features in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, played by a symphony orchestra at Carnegie Hall composed by John Williams.
Listen below:
3. Silent Night
Originally written in German, ‘Stille Nacht’ was composed for guitar by priest Joseph Mohr (lyrics), and Franz Xaver Gruber (melody). Myth has it that the church organ was broken as Gruber was an organist, however nobody actually knows the true reason why it came to be composed on guitar.
Depicting a calm, snowy peaceful night in 1818 Austria, it was then spread by traveling singers, reaching Europe, the Prussian king, and New York by 1839. Translated into over 300 languages, it was sung even during the Christmas truce in World War I and more recently a version of Silent Night seen below recorded by Bing Crosby in 1935 which sold a whopping 30 million copies.
It was also given the status of UNESCO ‘intangible cultural heritage’ in 2011.
4. The First Nowell
This Cornish carol probably has earlier origins but was first published in 1823 by Gilbert and Sandys, in a book of folk carols they had collected from singers in various parts of the UK. This carol is frequently but mistakenly thought to be French, though its melody may have been touched by French medieval styles, creating a fusion of sacred storytelling and folk tradition.
Gilbert and Sandy’s work contributed to a resurgence of interest in the Christmas carol and marked the beginning of what is sometimes considered as the ‘golden age’ of Christmas carols.
Listen below:
5. There Is No Rose
This haunting carol can be traced and found on the Trinity Carol Roll (early 15th century) and is one of the earliest examples of polyphonic music. Compiled shortly after 1415, many of the texts on the Trinity Carol Roll are composed in Middle English or alternating between Latin and Middle English known as macaronic reflecting a linguistic and musical richness of the period.
Listen to the carol on the Trinity Carol Roll recorded by Alamire and directed by David Skinner here:
In 2009, Sting recorded his own version of There is no Rose, demonstrating how the carol and choral music more broadly can span genres, moving seamlessly from medieval sacred roots to contemporary popular interpretation.
As well as carols at this time of year, Advent music can also be heard at Mass/Eucharist, Matins or Evensong or Vespers in many cathedrals and churches.
Find out more about music for Advent here.
Alternatively, tune into BBC Radio 3 to hear a broadcast of Choral Evensong at 3pm every Wednesday afternoon and repeated at 3pm the following Sunday.
