King's College Lessons and Carols

King's College (Cantab.) Chapel's annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve, begun in 1918 or 1919 (depending on how you choose to interpret the history) and broadcast by the BBC since 1928 is one of the most famous Christmas Eve services in the world. The orders of worship from 1997 forward may be found via this webpage.

သီခ်င္းမ်ား - Burmese Christmas Carols

Here's a link to some Burmese Christmas songs (PDF). And here is a blog (from a Burmese Baptist church in San Francisco) with nice sound files playing Burmese singing, including a Kachin Christmas Song.

The Dozen unavoidable Christmas carols

In a response under a thread at Conjubilant With Song dealing with "Lo! Christ comes, with clouds descending", C.W.S. made reference to the fact that at Christmas Day worship "it's hard to supplant the dozen or so Christnmas carols that have to be sung". I wrote back,

Among the 24 hymnals I have catalogued so far, these are the 12 most frequent Christmas/Advent/Epiphany carols/hymns (ranging from 19 to 23 occurrences):

Angels from the realms of glory
Angels we have heard on high
Away in a manger
Hark the herald angels sing
It came upon the midnight clear
Joy to the world
O come, all ye faithful
O come, O come, Emmanuel
O little town of Bethlehem
Silent night, holy night
The first Noel
What child is this

The next four (15 or 16 hits) are:

While shepherds watched
Go tell it on the mountain
Come thou long-expected Jesus
We three kings of orient are

I'd be very curious to know what ones that are not among these 16 you (or others) think are "must haves". I know people who would argue for:

O hearken ye
Some children see him
There's a song in the air
I heard the bells
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Good Christian men, rejoice

and perhaps one or two others.

and invited (and invite) replies here. The 24 hymnals I have catalogued are heavily weighted towards the baptistic, or at least the evangelical, end of things. Although I think most of the 16 most frequent items in my list above are undoubtedly part of the common Christmas baggage of most if not all American Christians, it may be that there are items that Catholics or Lutherans, say, would consider of equal unavoidability with these. I'm interested in finding out. Let me know.

I should also note that the frequency lists are for text-tune pairings, not just texts, and in three cases that may be a factor in interpreting my list. The three cases in question are 1) Away in a manger: the list refers to the tune Mueller, but Cradle Song is a common alternative; 2) While shepherds watched: the list refers to the tune Christmas, but Winchester Old is a common alternative; and 3) Come, thou long-expected Jesus: the list refers to the tune Hyfrydol, but Stuttgart is a common alternative.

2007

This year's crop will need to include:

• "Out on the plains the brolgas are dancing" (Australian Carol of the Birds)
• Chariots by John Kirkpatrick
• two or three neat old pieces in the Bruderhof Songs of Light

2006 Supplement

I see I never posted the 2006 supplement contents. Here it is:

Awake, awake, and greet the new morn
Hail the blest morn! See the great Mediator
I wonder as I wander
In the bleak midwinter
O hearken ye who would believe
Once in royal David's city
Sheep fast asleep
The silver stars are in the sky
The Sun has now risen in heavenly glory
While shepherds watched
O we believe in Christmas
purer than purest pure
Jingle Bells
When all the peoples on this earth
Within the shining of a star
Behold, the great Creator
Watchman, tell us of the night
Where is this stupendous Stranger?
Who is this child that lies in humble splendour?

The final cut

Here's the complete list of 88 hymns carols I ended up with:

TITLE
A child this day is born
A stable lamp is lighted
Ah, bleak and chill
With wondering awe
All poor men and humble
Unto us is born a son
Angels from the realms of glory
As with gladness
Angels we have heard on high
Shepherds in our fields abiding
When the crimson sun had set
Bring your torches
Auld lang syne
A Christmas Auld Lang Syne
One Candle Is Lit
Away in a manger
Boar’s head carol
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Cherry Tree Carol
As Joseph was a-walking
As Joseph lay uneasy
Christmas cometh caroling
Come and sing the Christmas story
Deck the halls
Deck us all with Boston Charlie
All ye mountains
Come, thou long-expected Jesus
Emmanuel
Ding dong! Merrily on high
Gesù Bambino
Glad music fills the Christmas sky
Go, tell it on the mountain
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
How great our joy
The old year now away is fled
What child is this?
A child is born on Christmas morn
Arise, the Kingdom is at hand
Hail to the Lord’s Anointed
Hark! the herald angels sing
Beecham’s Pills
Here We Come A-Wassailing
God is born, great powers tremble
I heard the bells on Christmas day
I saw three ships come sailing in
A ship there comes, a-laden
In Bethlem town
Love Came Down at Christmas
Quoth the fir tree
Good King Wenceslas
Gentle Mary laid her child
Spring hath now unwrapped her flowers
A Visit from St. Nicholas
A Visit from Whitebeard
White Christmas
Some children see him
There's a song in the air
Maria wandered through a wood
Lutefisk, O Lutefisk
O Christmas tree
Twelve days of Christmas
Ho sankta nokto!
O holy night!
Rock of Ages (Maoz Tzur)
Raise up your voices
Silent night
Silver bells
The holly and the ivy
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
Now bless the God of Israel
O little town of Bethlehem
O come, O come, Emmanuel
Magnificat (My heart sings out)
The first Nowell
Joy to the world
Jesus, the light of the world
’Twas in the moon of wintertime
Good Christian men, rejoice
In dulci jubilo
Orientis partibus (Song of the Ass)
Jesus, our brother, kind and good
Adeste fideles
O come, all ye faithful
For ages women hoped and prayed
It came upon the midnight clear
In Heaven, there grows a linden tree
We three kings

Basic List: 32 Christmas Carols

Here is what I consider to be the "basic list": the Christmas carols (using "carols" loosely to mean "songs", and "Christmas" to mean "Advent through Epiphany, including snowy weather in general") that are the core repertoire in my corner of American Christendom. There are twenty-one religious carols and eleven secular ones in this most basic collection:

Religious Carols

Angels from the realms of glory (Regent Square)
Angels we have heard on high
Away in a manger (Mueller)
Go, tell it on the mountain
God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Good King Wenceslas
Hark! the herald angels sing
In dulci jubilo
It came upon the midnight clear
Joy to the world
Lo, how a rose e'er blooming
O come, all ye faithful
O come, O come, Emmanuel
O holy night
O little town of Bethlehem (St. Louis)
Silent night
The first Noel
There's a song in the air
We three kings
What child is this?
While shepherds watched (Handel)

Secular Carols

Auld lang syne
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Deck the halls
Jingle bells
O Christmas tree
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
Santa Claus is coming to town
Silver bells
Twelve days of Christmas
White Christmas
Winter Wonderland

I am interested in knowing what changes others would make to come up with their own "Basic Lists". The rule is simple: maximum 32 carols. Which would you replace with what?

Haruo

CCCC

Hi! I've started this new blog to solicit feedback on the family Christmas carol songbook I'm putting together for this coming Advent (2005). Here is a link to the table of contents of the online edition:

Cousins' Christmas Carol Songbook

There are also lists of

All the titles I can think of that might end up in the collection (not a complete list!)
and
All the songs for which text pages are ready (not necessarily finished, but usable)

If you have any suggestions of songs I should add or delete, ditto for verses, errors noted, whatever, please feel free to put them here.

Leland