Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
It is not clear whether the word carol derives from the French "carole" or the Latin "carula" meaning a circular dance. Although the tune of this regal advent carol is thought to be very old, its origins are unknown. The text is the final O Antiphon which is traditionally sung on the 23rd December; the final day of advent in Western Christian traditions. The notion of groups of carollers assembling in public spaces was a 19th-century one, according to Oxford. Called ‘waits’, these collections of singers used to gather to perform for passers-by, who traditionally thanked them with tasty offerings of drinks or mince pies. The optimist says that maybe the Christmas spirit can be contagious, like a benign virus, and that the goodness of the season, or even just the day, can spread.
Interestingly, some carols throughout history seem to celebrate a period outside the Christmas season. ‘Coventry Carol’, for example, is believed to have originated from Medieval Coventry Mystery Plays, traditionally performed in the middle of the summer. Carols remained mainly unsung, especially in churches, until Victorian times, when two men called William Sandys and Davis Gilbert collected lots of old Christmas music from villages in England. Carols were stilling being sung as folk songs in places like pubs but they often weren't thought of as 'proper' or 'nice' songs by the middle or upper classes. (Singing carols in pubs still happens today and there's some very famous carol singing in pubs in the north of England, especially in North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.) You probably already know this, but A Christmas Carol tells the tale of an aging miser named Ebenezer Scrooge. He works in a counting-house with his poor, put-upon clerk Bob Cratchit. Once upon a time, Scrooge had a partner, Jacob Marley, but when the novella opens, Marley has been dead seven years, though Scrooge seems barely to notice. Oh! But he was a tight-fisted hand at the grindstone, Scrooge, a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint." In the 1680s and 1690s, two French composers incorporated carols into their works. Louis-Claude Daquin wrote 12 noels for organ. Marc-Antoine Charpentier wrote a few instrumental versions of noels, plus one major choral work Messe de minuit pour Noël. Johann Sebastian Bach included Christmas carols in his cantatas for Christmastide, including his Christmas Oratorio. Peter Cornelius included carol melodies in the accompaniment of his song cycle Weihnachtslieder, Op. 8. Other examples include:Weihnachtslieder" redirects here. For the composition by Cornelius, see Weihnachtslieder, Op. 8 (Cornelius). There are other links too: three people profiting from the spoils of the dead man (like the Roman soldiers at the cross, albeit they cast lots to decide who got what) and Peter Cratchit reading from the Bible in Christmas yet to come. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas sequence (or prose) was introduced in Northern European monasteries, developing under Bernard of Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. In the 12th century the Parisian monk Adam of Saint Victor began to derive music from popular songs, introducing something closer to the traditional Christmas carol. That key comes in many forms: an ornament on my mom’s tree that has been reflecting light since the Great Depression; the smell of pine; the first few chords of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
Whilst it is a book whose unhurried and detailed descriptions of Christmas are the epitome of the season (“ apoplectic opulence”), it is a book of great contrasts: humbug/festivities, hot/cold, company/solitude, poverty/wealth, worthy poor/wastrels, past/future etc. His commentary on Victorian life and his social criticisms are known to be key aspects of his books, and I can now attest to that fact! The 19th-century "Cantique de Noël" (also known as "Minuit, chrétiens", adapted as " O Holy Night" in English) is another classic. In older times, caroling children asked for and were given edible gifts such as dried fruit, eggs, nuts or sweets; during the 20th century this was gradually replaced with money gifts – ranging from small change in the case of strangers to considerable amounts in the case of close relatives. Caroling is also done by marching bands, choirs, school students seeking to raise funds for trips or charity, members of folk societies, or merely by groups of well-wishers. Many internationally known carols, e.g. " Silent Night" and " O Tannenbaum", are also sung in Greek translation. That's the story given by The New Oxford Book of Carols, which records that the version we sing nowadays was printed in 1864, although other versions appeared earlier.
In the Bleak Mid-winter
This year, A Christmas Carol hit very differently. Over the past few years, I lost my ability to control my left leg due to a genetic defect. Reaching No. 1 in Christmas 1990, Saviour’s Day was written by Chris Eaton and shown to Cliff Richard at a Christmas party. The music video was filmed in front of the famous Dorset landmark Durdle Door. This passage really got to me, and I started to cry. In February, I started an experimental treatment, and I was able to walk again. When I go to church, there are usually no seats left except in the front. As part of my genetic defect, my body can’t process protein. There are extremely high levels of protein in my blood including my brain, and it makes me unbearably tired. Chanéet, G. S. de; Voight, Louis (12 March 1898). In the cathedral: song. London: Cary & Co – via Trove. Still, an immortal Christmas classic that requires no introduction. Recommendable, for the right audience.
During the Socialist Republic of Romania in the 20th century, Christmas carols were banned by the government of Ceacuescu. Days following the Romanian Revolution in 1989, Christmas carols were sung for the first time in 42 years. [44] Spain and Portugal [ edit ] The first known Christmas hymns may be traced to 4th-century Rome. Latin hymns such as Veni redemptor gentium, written by Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, were austere statements of the theological doctrine of the Incarnation in opposition to Arianism. Corde natus ex Parentis ( Of the Father's heart begotten) by the Spanish poet Prudentius (d. 413) is still sung in some churches today. [2]When the Puritans came to power in England in 1640s, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped. However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret.
Two well-known later examples are " O Tannenbaum" (O Christmas tree), from a German folksong arranged by Ernst Anschütz and "Stille Nacht" (" Silent Night") by the Austrians Franz Xaver Gruber and Joseph Mohr. The carol most familiar in German besides those two is probably the 19th-century " O du fröhliche".Words: Charles Wesley, adapted by George Whitefield Tune: Vaterland, in deinen Gauen from Festgesang by Felix Mendelssohn The original Latin translation, ‘Adeste Fideles’ is said to have a connection to subversive Catholic ideas at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion. The Jacobite meaning of the carol gradually faded with the cause, but this hymn remains one of the most uplifting sings of the Christmas period. A Christmas Carol (2009). An animated film made by Disney. A reasonably faithful adaptation, with many direct quotations and stars like Carrey, Oldman and Firth performing voice acting. Remarkable special effects and action scenes that not necessarily go well with the book. Recommendable mostly for children, and adults with a child at heart that don’t mind going a bit off script.
Great Deal 
New Comment