I hope you enjoy the subject matter of today's post. What I have listed here are a few of the more colonial and colonial-sounding CDs I have in my collection. And let's throw some Medieval, Renaissance, Victorian, and American Appalachia in there as well. These are the discs that tend to be in my CD player most often this time of year. The music is traditional Christmas music in nature, *mostly* from the British Isles, performed on period and traditional instruments like the hammered dulcimer, penny whistle, mountain dulcimer, fiddle, brass instruments, and very old guitars and pianos/piano fortes.
Is the music here completely 100% period correct?
Well...not necessarily 100%...but it does give it a good go; the sounds herein express more of a feeling of the period. These are 20th and 21st century musicians and, in some cases, their time carries over. That being said, the sound is still strongly colonial-sounding to my ears, and we should remember that the ordinary folk of the 18th century more than likely did not hear these carols performed in such a manner as what's on a few of these discs; I am pretty well certain the old carols as performed and sung in their time for the majority of the populace did not sound quite as upscale as what some of the sounds here impart, for it was more the well-to-do that heard it performed by (accomplished) musicians. Rather, I am willing to bet they sounded no different than those performed and sung by the congregations in small churches of today, with a mixed bag of voices - some good...and some, well, not so good - or perhaps played by a lone fiddler in a tavern on a Christmas Eve, maybe with a few drunken voices thrown in, or most likely they were heard in homes by ordinary non-professional singers like mothers and fathers and grandparents with voices no better (or worse) than our own. But, in the same way we remember our own parents singing along to the old tunes, I'm sure it was as special as could be to the children (and others) listening in days of old, and well, either way, this historic music is much more pleasant to listen to, in my opinion, than hearing today's overplayed "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bell Rock," "Felice Navidad," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Last Christmas (I Gave You My Heart)," "All I Want For Christmas Is You," and "Holly Jolly Christmas" once, and sometimes even twice an hour on the radio for two months. Or the horrible hippopotamus and donkey songs. Ugghhh! Or even those 'diva' tunes without any Christmas-y feeling to them at all.
Lanterns and greens... |
But, the evocation of the old world and colonial spirit does reign in each of the following CDs, giving us that 18th century (and before) feeling.
We hear songs and carols of Christmas almost daily from November through the end of December, and many times without even thinking, we may find ourselves humming or singing along.
But have you ever given thought to the idea that many of these same carols we sing along to are the same tunes our long ago ancestors knew and may have sung as well?
Christmas canticles of some form have been around for millennia, and, believe it or not, a few from the ancient times still remain in our midst. For instance, from 12th century Ireland comes The Wexford Carol, medieval England gave us The Boars Head Carol and The Gloucestershire Wassail. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is said to be from the 15th century. Bring A Torch Jeannette Isabella and Coventry Carol are both from the mid-1500s, with the mid-to-late 1600s bringing us All You That Are Good Fellows, I Saw Three Ships, The Huron Carol, and The First Noel. The Holly and the Ivy is from around 1710, Joy To the World was written in Virginia in 1719, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing was written in 1739, and O Come All Ye Faithfull is from the 1750s - all being examples of the many carols from 12th century Europe through the late American colonial period. In fact, by the mid-18th century, most of these Christmas songs began showing up in New England hymnals.
And, for good measure:
A wonderfully well-researched book on early Christmas celebrations. |
I recently purchased a book called "The Medieval Christmas," in which the author, Sophie Jackson, adds even more information to my historical Christmas knowledge. In it she writes exactly what I've been saying for years: that Christmas was not "invented" by Charles Dickens or the Victorians in general. In fact, it was in the Medieval period where Christmas as a holiday truly expanded, including carols, foods, games, drinks, wassailing, 12th Night, and even, to a lesser extent, Christmas Trees and other decorations. Yes, she also speaks of the early Pagan influences and of its affects that we now continue to utilize to this day.
It's nice to have such information in one concise, well researched, and very entertaining book.
Ah...something to read AND to listen to as the Christmastide continues on...
As you have just read, over the years I have amassed a pretty good collection of these carols from the past; just as I collect the everyday items our ancestors would have used in their daily lives, I enjoy seeking out the musical sounds of long ago, and each always proves to become favorites.
But that's all part of my wanting to recreate the times of my colonial ancestors.
Though I do enjoy much of the current Christmas music - by current I mean written in the past hundred years or so - my very favorite holiday sounds are what I call the Old World carols. Usually these tunes are performed by relatively unknown-to-mainstream artists such as Linda Russell, Robin Petrie, The Christmas Revels, Maggie Sansone, Katie McMahon, The Chieftains, Madeline MacNeal, Neil Woodward, Bonnie Rideout, Barry Phillips, and even the the early Christmas releases of Mannheim Steamroller.
I hope you will give a few a try.
You just might find yourself enjoying Christmas music again.
Until next time, see you in time.
Oh! By the way---did you know I front a period vocal group?
I do!
I do!
Well, I did - after 2023, the band is retired - we had a wonderful 22 year run!
They're called Simply Dickens.
They're called Simply Dickens.
Click HERE to learn more about Simply Dickens.
To learn a bit on the backgrounds of a few beloved carols such as Deck the Hall, The Boar's Head Carol, Gloucestershire Wassail, and Silent Night, click HERE
For more information on how many of the colonists celebrated Christmas, click HERE
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