(Editor’s Note: Much of the following first appeared in GwinnettForum in 2002. We revisit it during this holiday season. —eeb)
By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
DEC. 21, 2018 | Christmas carols are a joy of the season. Ever think about how very diverse these songs are, coming from all parts of the Western world?
We got to thinking about carols and where they came from, often from many lands. Many come from England, though other countries contribute their share. How very diverse these songs are, coming from all parts of the Western world?
O Little Town of Bethlehem is an English carol, with one arrangement by Ralph Vaughan Williams. O Come All Ye Faithful is also from England, as is It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.
While John Wesley wrote the words to Hark the Herald Angel Sing, the music came from another land, that of Felix Mendelssohn of Germany.
All are not quiet songs. The rollicking Go Tell It On the Mountain is attributed to Afro-American music. What a wonderful song of the season it is.
From France we get Angels We Have Heard on High, a traditional carol in that country. Another of our favorite carols, Noel, is also from France.
Silent Night, of course, has German origins.
Another of our favorites is Joy to the World. The words are from the pen of Isaac Watts, an Englishman, while the music is straight George Frederic Handel, from Germany.
Then there is Good King Wenceslas, which has it origins in Czechoslovakia. We love its peppy cadence.
One of the more moving carols, In the Bleak Mid-Winter, comes from the poetic works of Christina Rossetti (1830-1894), who was also English.
And we haven’t even begun to list the American Christmas songs, which often deal less with religious themes, and more with Santa, and good times. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Remember Burl Ives?) is a favorite.
Perhaps the most famous classical Christmas work comes again from Handel, with his massive Messiah, with its famous Hallelujah Chorus, and its stirring ending: “King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and He shall reign forever and ever, Hallelujah!” (Revelation 19:16.) For the complete libretto of the Messiah, go to: http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/handel_messiah.html. Though born in Germany, Handel blossomed as a composer and performer in England. The first performance of the Messiah was in Dublin in 1742.
Another of the reasons that the Handel Messiah is so wonderful is that while it is great music, every one of the words in the entire orchestration is taken directly from verses of the Bible. It is a monumental work, very scholarly besides being beautiful musically!
It is said that in London, King George II was so deeply stirred with the exultant music of Messiah that when the first “Hallelujah” rang through the hall, he rose to his feet and remained standing until the last note of the chorus echoed through the house. From this began the custom of the audience standing for the Hallelujah chorus.
In the last 10 years of his life, Handel regularly gave performances of the Messiah, usually with about 16 singers and an orchestra of about 40, to benefit a charity, the Foundling Hospital in London, established in 1739. It’s said that Handel could have made a financial killing from the Messiah, but instead he designated that all the proceeds would go to charities.
The Christmas music cheers us this time of year. We hope you and your family have a most Merry Christmas!
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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