As we go about our business in the run up to Christmas, we will often find ourselves involuntarily singing a Christmas tune. This may be a traditional carol, or song, that we only listen to at this time of year. The majority of our songs and carols have come through the ages, and they all have a story behind them.
Silent night is one of the best loved Christmas carols across the globe. There are many stories behind the origins of this tune but this is the most popular one: In the winter of 1818 in the village of Obendorf, Austria, a young Joseph Mohr, was facing a huge dilemma. It was almost Christmas, when everyone came to church to herald the birth of Christ, but the organ was broken. There wasn't an organ mender in their village, so the chances of it getting mended in time were zero. Two years earlier Mohr had written a simple poem expressing his wonder at the birth of Christ. He asked his friend, Franz Gruber, to write some music to go with it, and on Christmas Eve 1818, theses two young men sang this song to the congregation, accompanied by a guitar. Whatever the circumstances surrounding its inception, this little carol know has world wide fame.
Once in Royal David's city was written in 1848 by Mrs C F Alexander. She wrote it purely as a teaching aid to help young children learn about the birth of Christ. It was used for this purpose across the world, and was such a lovely song that it soon became a favourite carol.
Although Good King Wenceslas is known as a Christmas carol, it isn't about Christmas at all. The king who struggles against the elements to feed a poor peasant is all about St. Stephens day. This is one of only a few songs that we think of as Christmas carols, but actually have no mention of Christmas, Jesus or Santa in them. Jingle bells is another. Nowhere in the lyrics is there any mention of Jesus or the nativity, it's simply a happy little tune about have fun at winter time.
O holy night comes from a traditional French hymn that was written by Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam. The song itself, known as "cantique de noel" was completed in 1847. It was instantly popular and was soon translated into many languages. There is an interesting bit of trivia about this song. The first radio broadcast was made in 1906 from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, USA, by a Canadian inventor called Reginald Fessenden. His short broadcast included him playing O holy night on a violin, thus making it the first song to be ever broadcast on radio.
Whatever tunes you may find yourself humming along to, there will be an interesting story behind them, happy Christmas.