A History of Christmas Hymns and Carols

I've decided to reinstate this section of the site ... with all it's warts and deficiencies in the usage of commas ... for the simple reason that I've recently run across some truly dreadful "histories" of Christmas carols. Without providing any links (I never publically rebuke others), these "histories" contained information that was in no case even remotely accurate. Thus, with its drawbacks and lack of recent research, this history is still significantly better than what I've seen, and will at least allow the reader to have an accurate starting point in his or her researches into the history of Christmas hymns and carols.

There are probably some broken links in here; I'll get those repaired as quickly as I can.

The history of Christmas hymns goes back much further than the history of Christmas carols.

Christmas hymn. Typically a religious song, most frequently heard in a Church or in the context of a religious Christmas play or presentation. Christmas hymns have been dated to the 4th century.

Christmas carol. Typically a song that celebrates the Christmas season in a joyous manner, originally accompanied by dance. The carol, as an art form, arose about the 13th century.

Today, Christmas carols include many types of Christmas songs.

And now, on with the show: Preface to The History.

WWW This Site   Hymns & Carols Poetry & Prose Links Search Page What's New / F A Q Table of Contents Site Map Privacy Policy News & Sports Weather Collections of Christmas Carols & Poetry Compiled and Edited by Douglas D. Anderson Just Released! New for 2008! The Bridegroom Cometh Poetry For The Advent Putting the Coming of the Messiah back into the celebration of Advent. Victorian Visions A Christmas Poetry Collection Divinely Inspired A Christmas Poetry Collection The Bridegroom Cometh Poetry For The Advent Once A Lovely Shining Star A Christmas Poetry Collection   So Gracious Is The Time A Christmas Poetry Collection   How Still The Night The Christmas Poems of Father Andrew, S.D.C.   Father and Daughter Christmas Poems by Frances and William Havergal Now, Now The Mirth Comes Christmas Poetry by Robert Herrick   What Sudden Blaze Of Song The Christmas Poems of Rev. John Keble   A Holy Heavenly Chime The Christmastide Poems of Christina Georgina Rossetti   All My Heart This Night Rejoices The Christmas Poems of Catherine Winkworth A Victorian Carol Book Favorites from the 19th Century — Still favorites today! Please Visit Douglas Anderson's Christmas Storefront All purchases help support this web site. *** Errata *** See additions and corrections to these published works.   The Hymns and Carols of Christmas Douglas D. Anderson © Copyright 1996, All Rights Reserved. (See Frequently Asked Questions for additional details) The Hymns and Carols of Christmas is not responsible for the content of external sites.   Advent - Dom Prosper Guéranger, OSB   Looking For These Songs   My Daily Devotions   News and Sports and The Weather   Search Page   Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam charity christmas cards     Visit My Mini Mall - shop online and save your feet! Proceeds help support this site.   This ChristmasWebring site owned by Doug Anderson. Previous| Next| Random Site | List Sites | Join     Powered by WebRing.   Sing We Now Of Christmas   Bringing together those who love to sing, or want to get involved in group singing, at the time of year that is most closely associated with singing, a project of the Huntsville Community Chorus Association. For singing events all year round, visit Sing We Now.       Do you know somebody who loves to sing? Join us in the Barbershop Harmony Society or The Sweet Adelines and sing to your heart's content!      Christmas in the Northwest 10 Since 1985, Christmas in the Northwest artists have been lighting up the holidays, and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children's Hospitals through the sale of the Christmas in the Northwest CD series. Available at multiple outlets in the Pacific Northwest, and on-line at Amazon.com See The Series! The Video Behind The Series Christmas In The Northwest http://www.christmasinthenorthwest.com/index.asp Accessed October 23, 2006 Best-Loved Christmas Carols  by Ronald M. Clancy The new edition from Sterling Publishing published October 2006.      The originals released by The Millennia Collection: Best-Loved Christmas Carols (2000) American Christmas Classics (2001) Children's Christmas Classics (2002) And now available is the beautiful Sacred Christmas Music a musical journey in time from the dawn of the Church’s liturgical song through the Baroque’s great choral and instrumental works to representative pieces of the 20th century. In addition to masterpieces of art, the CD includes the Vienna Boys’ Choir performing “Anima Nostra”; Arcangelo Corelli’s “Christmas Concerto”; The Trappist Monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani singing Gregorian Chants; excerpts from Handel’s “Messiah”; and the beloved “Silent Night." Every lover of fine Christmas music will want this magnificent volume. Christmas Classics, Ltd See the three-minute movie about this series:  http://www.impactmovie.com/christmasclassics (accessed November 14, 2006). Ronald M. Clancy, author of the highly-praised Christmas Classics series of Christmas carol books and CDs, has now created a number of "The Story Behind The Music" videos recounting the histories of numerous Christmas carols. Three were released on YouTube™ in late July 2009, including The Little Drummer Boy, O Little Town of Bethlehem, and White Christmas. All the titles can be found at Christmas Classics Videos. Other titles will released beginning October 1, 2009.         AuthorTitleKeywordISBN           I recommend the Opera, Mozilla and Firefox Browsers, which support the Noteworthy Composer plug-in.       Visit the Online Shopping Mall.   Please take a walk down the center aisle, and select a kiosk. 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