One of the highlights of the Christmas season is certainly the sound of festive music everywhere.
Although carolling from house to house is prohibited in Malaysia this year, you can always enjoy these carols in your own homes to get you in the Christmas mood.
But if you’ve ever been curious about the history behind some of these evergreens, read on to learn their intriguing stories.
Joy to the world
This upbeat Christmas carol was written by hymn writer, Isaac Watts and published in 1719.
Although it can be easy to think that the carol is about the birth of Jesus, typically associated with Christmas, it is actually about His second coming. It is believed that Watts drew inspiration from the books of Psalm 98, Psalm 96:11-12, and Genesis 3:17-18 from the bible.
But it wasn’t until the 19th century that one Lowell Mason introduced the music arrangement of the song that we are familiar with today. Apparently, he also attributed the arrangement to the Baroque composer, George Frideric Handel, due to certain similarities with Handel’s Messiah.
Mason was an established hymn composer and music arranger in his time. He is also credited for the tune of a popular nursery rhyme, “Mary had a little lamb”.
God rest ye merry gentlemen
It is believed that this is one of the oldest carols as it can be traced back to the 16th century, while the earliest published version is dated to the 18th century.
The carol is also known as “tidings of comfort and joy”, as these words are repeated at the end of every verse. It is believed that the words “God rest ye merry” actually means “may God grant you peace and happiness”.
It was also mentioned in Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”.
Hark, the herald angels sing
This carol was written by Charles Wesley, who was a leader in Christianity’s Methodist movement along with his brother, John Wesley.
Charles was also a hymn writer, and it is believed that he wrote more than 6,000 hymns. In 1739, the Wesleys published “Hymns and Sacred Poems” which included “Hark the herald angels sing”.
In the original hymn, Charles initially wrote: “hark, how all the Welkin rings”. However, the line was changed to “hark, the herald angels sing” by George Whitefield, another leader in the Methodist movement. The word “welkin” is an old English term for “heaven”.
The tune of the carol that people are familiar with today is credited to German composer Felix Mendelssohn, who originally wrote it to commemorate the anniversary of Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press. The music was adapted by William Hayman Cummings, an English musician.
O holy night
The words of the beautiful “O Holy Night” were written in French by a poet named Placide Cappeau in 1843, and it was originally titled “Cantique de Noel”.
Cappeau wrote it at the request of a parish priest in Roquemaure, Southern France, where he was from.
The rousing music was subsequently composed by Adolphe Adam, a well-known French composer. However, it wasn’t until 1855 that the carol was translated into English by John Dwight, a unitarian minister.
English version:
French version:
Silent Night
The ethereal-sounding song was first introduced to the world during a Christmas Mass in 1818. However, the words were actually written two years before that by an Austrian priest, Joseph Mohr.
The melody of the song was then composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber, a teacher, composer, and church organist. Both Mohr and Gruber performed the song during the mass.
The song is a beautiful depiction of the birth of Jesus Christ, and the appearance of an angel to the shepherds in the fields following His birth. In 2011, it was declared as an intangible cultural heritage by Unesco, which reported that it has since been translated into approximately 300 languages.