Un-Christmas Carols

The preacher last week referred to "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light" as"one of his favorite Christmas carols. It is also one of my favorites of the season, but it is not a carol. Technically, it is a chorale, although we might also get by with calling it a hymn. Some might say it doesn't really matter what you call it; but I believe we musicians, as keepers and stewards of the church's music, ought to treat our treasure with care; and understanding and calling things by their proper names is one way to do that.

The carol originated in England in the Middle Ages. Its main characteristics included:

• Form: It most often had a verse and refrain structure, usually beginning with the refrain followed by verses, with the refrain repeated after each verse. The refrain was usually shorter than the verses.
• Character: The carol usually had a joyful, dance-like character, and often even had a dance directly associated with its singing. Sometimes the dance took place during the singing of the entire carol, but also during the refrain only. It also took place between refrain and verse or as a conclusion.
• Performance: Carols were sung in many ways: solo throughout; choral throughout; responsively with solo verses and choral or congregational refrains; antiphonally between different groups of singers; a capella; accompanied by keyboard, lute, or multiple instruments; sung a capella with instruments accompanying the dance. There are a great variety of performance practices associated with carols.
• Place of use: Frequently carols were sung out of doors, in halls, public rooms, in church, at home, at masques and concerts, in processionals, in clubs, guilds, and women's institutes.
• Types and subjects: We associate carols today almost exclusively with Christmas; and since about 1850, we have often considered all sacred Christmas songs together as carols. However, the variety of types and subjects of carols from the Middle Ages until the present time is great: sacred and secular, ballads, eating-song carols, legendary, Advent, Incarnation, Nativity, Christmas, New Year, Epiphany, Passion, Resurrection, Easter, Spring, Mothers' Day, May, Summer, Autumn, Harvest, Winter, and more.
• Origins, languages, nationalities: Although carols began in England, almost from the beginning they were written in many lands and languages, reflecting many different styles and customs. Most often, however, they retained their joyful and dance-like character.
• Macaronic carols: A great number of carols are macaronic; that is, their text is a mixture of two languages, often Latin and the vernacular. An example is "In Dulci Jubilo," with its mixing of German and Latin.

Here is a list of carols from The United Methodist Hymnal (numbers under 2000) and The Faith We Sing (over 2000):

• UMH 224, "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice" (with elaborations)
• UMH 227, "The Friendly Beasts" (without refrain)
• UMH 237, "Sing We Now of Christmas"
• UMH 243, "De Tierra Lejana Venimos" (Hispanic Epiphany carol)
• UMH 244, "'Twas in the Moon of Winter Time" (first Native American Christmas carol)
• UMH 245, "The First Noel" (modern English carol)
• UMH 248, "On this Day Earth Shall Ring" (Scandinavian)
• UMH 251, "Go Tell It on the Mountain" (African American Christmas Spiritual)
• UMH 292, "What Wondrous Love Is This" (American, southern, Passion carol without refrain, but with a repeated last line. Carlton Young writes of this carol, "A distinct folk song tradition developed in the early nineteenth century in the mountain regions of the southeastern USA with roots in British forms of the carol, some composed without a refrain but with a reiterated last line" (Companion to The United Methodist Hymnal, p.167).
• UMH 311, "Now the Green Blade Riseth" (French Easter carol)
• UMH 317, "O Sons and Daughters, Let Us Sing" (French Easter carol)
• TFWS 2093, "The Snow Lay on the Ground" (macaronic)
• TFWS 2098, "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy" (West Indian)

The best source for all the types of carols continues to be The Oxford Book of Carolsby Percy Dearmer, R. Vaughan Williams, and Martin Shaw (London: Oxford University Press, 1928). The preface and the listings at the back (used in preparing this article) provide useful information on the origin, evolution, and performance of carols, with 439 pages of carols of all types in between, including many "un-Christmas" carols. Order it from Cokesbury, 1-800-672-1789, www.cokesbury.com.