Hey Blog! On Friday morning, I received a book of Christmas carol sheet music in my advent calendar, which inspired me to write about these festive tunes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who doesn\u2019t love a carol? Well, Scrooge obviously, but apart from him? Sitting down after a huge Christmas dinner letting the pudding go down, with carols on in the background and being able to sing along is a wonderful feeling to experience. They are a staple of modern Christmas traditions, and have existed for hundreds of years. The idea of singing to show celebration is an idea as old as human beings, and all cultures have songs for festivities, but the journey of the modern Christmas carol is a more identifiable story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Carol\u2019 actually means a type of dance. \u2018Carol\u2019 the type of song began as the tune you danced a carol to, and over time with blurring etymology, the same word was used for both and then only the tune. Some carols, like The Holly and the Ivy<\/em> are ancient indeed, so old no one can remember who wrote them or when \u2013 and very probably this was before Christmas was even celebrated. Others, such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing<\/em>, are comparatively modern, written in the 1800s. And in the future, perhaps very modern songs, for instance Last Christmas I gave you my Heart<\/em> could also feature on this timeless list. Actually, wait, it already does\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The carols people hear today are generally recorded versions, or perhaps you hear them at church or a Christmas concert. The tradition of carol singers is dying out \u2013 which unfortunately kind of invalidates the second verse of We wish you a Merry Christmas<\/em> \u2013 and unless you are a singer or learn an instrument most people don\u2019t participate in making the music of carols. I am lucky and have a piano, which, when Christmas is in the air (even though I\u2019m not walking in it) or it\u2019s a silent night, I can just start to play. And if you listen and find your mind drifting away in a manger or reminiscing about once when you went to royal David\u2019s city, or look out the window and see, amid the winter snow that there\u2019s a robin on the bird table, and then the clock will strike ding dong, merrily on high to say it\u2019s time to go to bed, and of course the only thing to say is \u201cGod rest ye merry gentlemen!\u201d before snuggling under the covers. But then of course you\u2019ll wake up and realise that it\u2019s come upon a midnight clear and it\u2019s actually boxing day by now!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Christmas carols are important because they bring families and friends together. Just like I believe Santa not to be one person but the idea of the Christmas spirit of giving, Christmas is made up of community and enjoyment \u2013 all positive things, and if a melody can help \u2013 then turn on the carols!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hey Blog! On Friday morning, I received a book of Christmas carol sheet music in my advent calendar, which inspired me to write about these festive tunes! Who doesn\u2019t love a carol? Well, Scrooge obviously, but apart from him? Sitting down after a huge Christmas dinner letting the pudding go down, with carols on in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-home-ed-in-a-shed-2"],"yoast_head":"\n