I periodically include song histories about various song in our repertoire. This issue I decided to write about Christmas Carols and put it in the form of a quiz. I provide some facts; you guess the carol.

Carol 1
Sometimes given the English spelling, Nowell, it first appeared in print in England in a collection of William Sandy (1833). The words and music are traditional. Most think it is from 16th or 17th century France; others claim it never had any French origins and is very English.

Carol 2
The words for this American carol are based on a poem written by Unitarian minister Dr. Edmund Sears in 1849. The following year, inspired by the poem, Richard Storrs Willis, a composer as well as editor and critic for the New York Tribune, wrote a melody called "Carol" to which the words were adapted.

Carol 3
When Scrooge, in Dicken's "A Christmas Carol", heard this cheerful carol, he grabbed a ruler and the singer fled in terror. It is traditional English going back to the 16th or 17th century. The usual harmonization, like that of "The First Noel" is from Sir John Stainer (1840-1941).

Carol 4
This traditional American carol is generally considered anonymous, although it may have been written by Wiff Carter, who was also known as cowboy singer Montana Slim.

Carol 5
This carol 'was written by Adolphe Charles Adam (1803-1856), the French composer best known for his ballet "Giselle." At the time, it was frowned upon by church authorities who denounced it for lack of taste and "total absence of the spirit of religion." The French text is by Cappeau de Roquemaure; the English by American clergyman John Sullivan Dwight (1812-1893).

Carol 6
Frequently thought to be much older than it is, the words and music for this American carol were written in 1857 by John Henry Hopkins as part of a Christmas pageant for the General Theological Seminary in New York City.

Carol 7
This melody is the beautiful Greensleeves. It dates from Elizabethan time, possibly even earlier. The song was first registered in 1850 to Richard Jones with lyrics that were neither religious nor respectable. Shakespeare mentions it by name in "The Merry Wives of Windsor" in which it is played while traitors are hanged. In 1865 William Chatterton Dix (English) wrote "The Manger Throne", three verses of which became this carol.

Carol 8
The music is an old Welsh melody. Mozart used it in a piano and violin duet in the 1700's. The words are believed to be American from the 19th century.

Carol 9
Bishop Phillips Brooks (1835-1903) wrote the words in Philadelphia in 1868. He was recalling his trip to the Holy Land three years earlier, especially the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine at night. His church organist, Lewis Redner wrote the music for the Sunday school children's choir.

Carol 10
This carol is sometimes attributed to John Wade, a British exile living in France. Otherwise it is considered to be an anonymous Latin Hymn. Around 1751, Wade put the text to music, probably by John Reading. In 1853 the familiar translation first appeared, attributed to Rev. Frederick Oakley.

[answers appear on page 12]

Jingle Bells!

Believe it or not, Jingle Bells, one of the most famous American Christmas songs, was originally written for Thanksgiving! The author and composer of Jingle Bells was a minister named James Pierpoint who composed the song in 1857 for children celebrating his Boston Sunday School Thanksgiving. The song was so popular that it was repeated at Christmas, and indeed Jingle Bells has been reprised ever since.

The essence of a traditional Christmas is captured in the lyrics of Jingle Bells and the sound effects using the bells have become synonymous with the arrival of Father Christmas or Santa Claus to the delight of children of all ages!