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You understand its Xmas season when voices lifting in compliment and worship fill churches, road corners and homes with haunting strains of a number of the top loved christmas carols of all time. There is some thing infinitely inspiring, uplifting and immensely gratifying about listening to (or singing) Christmas carols. The traditional carol singing period lasts from St Thomas Day (December 21) until Xmas morning. What does the term 'carol' imply? Believed being a derivative of a medieval word of French and Anglo-Norman origin, the word 'carol' broadly means 'a dance or song of reward and joy' and is often accompanied by singing. Origin of carols Much prior to they came to be intricately associated with christmas arts & crafts, carols had been sung as pagan worship songs in Europe thousands of years ago. These were sung at the annual Winter Solstice celebrations and had people dancing around stone circles. The ancients used to write songs in celebration of all four seasons, but only the tradition of singing during the Winter Solstice (and then later at Xmas around a lot the same time) survived the passage of time. The earliest carols It was only when carols began to get sung in churches that they came to be specifically linked to Christmas. When Christianity became the official religion of Rome, the Winter Solstice celebrations for Christmas with their heavy pagan overtones began to be replaced by Christian songs instead. In 129 AD, a song called 'Angel's Hymn' was sung at a Christmas service in Rome on the orders of a Roman Bishop. Comas of Jerusalem penned a single more famous early Xmas hymn in 760 AD for the Greek Orthodox Church. Other composers in Europe followed suit and soon carols began to appear on the scene. Unfortunately, since they were mostly written and sung in Latin, not many people could understand them. It was St. Francis of Assisi who turned things around. In 1223, he started his famous Nativity Plays in Italy which had the actors singing songs or 'canticles' that described the scenes unfolding during the plays. These songs were in a language that the common people could realize and participate in enthusiastically, even though a number of the choruses were in Latin. As a result, the popularity of carols rapidly spread to France, Spain, Germany and other European countries. English Christmas carols English Christmas carols first find mention in 1426 in a publication of John Awdlay, a Shropshire chaplain. In this, he lists no less than 25 "caroles of Cristemas", that were probably sung by groups of 'wassailers', who went singing from house to house. The earliest English carol is believed to have been written sometime in 1410. It centred around Mary and Jesus and their interaction with different people in Bethlehem. Celebration of Christmas and the singing of carols stopped abruptly when the Puritans came to power in England in 1647. However, people continued to sing carols in secret and they survived the ban. Carol singing goes public Caroling as we know it today or singing best christmas songs in public was begun by people who were designated official carol singers called 'Waits'. These small groups were generally led by local leaders. The reason they were called 'waits' was because they only sang on Xmas Eve. Christmas Eve was also known as 'watchnight' or 'waitnight' and hence the name. It was during the Victorian era that many orchestras and choirs came up in different parts of England, reflecting the popular demand in the people who wanted Christmas songs to sing. And, so, carols once again came to the forefront, this time to stay. Carol services were created and carolling became an ingrained Christmas ritual. One of the most Famous Carol Service Arguably essentially the most famous carol service of all, the service of Nine Lessons and Carols takes place in King's College in Cambridge, UK. This service is held on Xmas Eve and BBC Radio broadcasts it live all over the world. The carol service always begins traditionally with single choir rendition of the much-loved carol 'Once in Royal David's City'. The Service was first performed in 1918 as a way with the college celebrating the end of the First World War.
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