With grateful thanks to the Telegraph
Altogether now, vote for the best carol
It is the time of year when the sound of carols is all around us, from the piped music in shops to the angelic voices raised in church. But which is your favourite? To launch an on-line poll to find the Daily Telegraph readers' favourite carol, our chief music critic Geoffrey Norris lists his top 20.
Download Geoffrey's top 20
Carols have been an essential part of Christmas since time immemorial, whether sung in church or - if this is not too romantic and Victorian a notion - when we sit round the cosy, crackling log fire with cherubic children glowing with joy and goodwill.
Angelic: Kings College Choir, Cambridge
We all have our own favourites, maybe because they are a good sing or because they trigger a particular memory. Mine, for purely sentimental reasons, is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, because a thousand years ago, when I was 11 and an ardent subscriber to the “Eagle” comic, I read a lesson at the annual carol service that the editor hosted at St Paul’s Cathedral for the army of Dan Dare fans.
“O Little Town” was the carol the choir sang as the verger processed me to the pulpit, and it always provokes a nostalgic frisson whenever I hear or sing it. There is no real borderline between ancient carols and more recent hymns, mainly written in the 19th century: most can be sung in church or elsewhere, though that is obviously excluding such purely secular manifestations as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “I Saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus”.
Carols convey the sacred Christmas message, or aspects of it, and can stimulate a strange amalgam of joy, remembrance, well-being and wistfulness, because the Christmas season is a time for personal reflection as well as a celebration of Christ’s birth. Nowadays, when I sing (bass) in a church choir, we embrace new works as well as old, but the traditional carols and hymns are at the core of any Christmas service or concert.
Here, to begin the voting which will discover your favourite carol, are my top 20.
Once in Royal David’s CityWords: Mrs C F AlexanderMusic: H J GauntletListen / Download
For many of us, Christmas starts with a boy treble singing the first verse at the carol service broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge.
Hark! the Herald Angels SingWords: Charles Wesley & othersMusic: Felix MendelssohnListen / Download
The melody’s high-lying top D’s and E’s can be a bit of an effort, but Mendelssohn’s tune is a classic and Wesley’s words warming.
O Come, all ye Faithful Words: translated from Latin, ‘Adeste fideles’Music: unknown 18th-centuryListen / Download
The great social dilemma: is everybody supposed sing all three “O Come, let us Adore Him” refrains, or do the men only join in the last one? It’s never been conclusively resolved.
Coventry CarolWords: atrrib. Robert CrooMusic: Anon, 1591Listen / Download
One of the less cheery, minor-key carols, from a medieval Coventry pageant about Herod’s slaughter of the Holy Innocents.
In the Bleak MidwinterWords: Christina RosettiMusic: Gustav HolstListen / Download
Did Rosetti run out of rhymes when she wrote “Snow has fallen snow on snow, snow on snow”? And extra notes sometimes have to be added to make Holst’s tune to fit the text, but this is one of the tenderest carols.
Away in a MangerWords: AnonMusic: W J KirkpatrickListen / Download
Traditionally one for the children, but the tune and words are so familiar that age is no barrier.
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Words: GR WoodwardMusic: 16th-century FrenchListen / Download
A catchy enough tune, though you need to take a deep breath before launching into the lengthy “Glor-o-o-o-o-ria” chorus.
Angels, from the Realms of GloryWords: James MontgomeryMusic: Old FrenchListen / Download
Another carol with a lung-taxing “Glor-o-o-o-o-ria”, but a joyous composite picture of the role of the angels, shepherds and wise men.
The 12 Days of ChristmasWords & Music: TraditionalListen / Download
Plenty of religious symbolism here, so, if you have no use for 10 lords a’leaping, remember that they signify the 10 Commandments.
God Rest you Merry, GentlemenWords: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
It can’t be long before the PC lobby spots the sexist bias and exclusivity in this one: “God Rest you Merry, Persons”?
Good Christian Men, Rejoice Words: Heinrich Suso, trans from LatinMusic: 14th-century German ‘In dulci jubilo’ by JM NealeListen / Download
A good bouncy tune supports the legend that Suso heard the angels sing ‘In dulci jubilo’ and joined them in a dance.
Good King WenceslasWords: JM NealeMusic: 13th-century SwedishListen / Download
At school we thought the line “Heat was in the very sod” hugely funny, but we’ve probably grown up a bit since then.
While Shepherds WatchedWords: Nahum TateMusic: Este’s Psalter, 1592Listen / Download
Irreverent alternative words to this one contrast with Tate’s original that evocatively encapsulates the angel’s message to the shepherds.
O Little Town of BethlehemWords: Phillips BrooksMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
Several tunes go with these words, inspired by the author’s visit to the Holy Land, but the favourite is Vaughan Williams’s harmonisation as the hymn known as Forest Green.
Silent NightWords: GB Timms after J MohrMusic: Franz GrüberListen / Download
Legend has it that Franz Grüber and Josef Mohr wrote this carol on a Christmas Eve in Oberndorf, Austria. Hence its peaceful aura - no mayhem of last-minute shopping.
The First Nowell Words: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
The shepherds and the three wise men are to the fore here, “presence” and “frankincense” being a notably resourceful rhyme.
It Came upon the Midnight ClearWords: Edmund SearsMusic: English traditional adapted by Arthur SullivanListen / Download
A gentle tune for words speaking of sin and strife, with the carol’s optimistic prophecy of peace over all the earth.
The Holly and the Ivy Words: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
A striking image from nature, in which holly’s blossom, red berry and prickle are linked to Christ’s birth, blood and crucifixion.
We Three Kings Words & Music: John H Hopkins JnrListen / Download
The famous Mario Lanza recording gave all three kings fruity American accents - but fair enough for carol written in New York.
I Saw Three Ships Words and Music: English traditional Listen / Download
A popular and singable carol, even if the image of Christ and Mary sailing into landlocked Bethlehem can be bewildering.
Angelic: Kings College Choir, Cambridge
We all have our own favourites, maybe because they are a good sing or because they trigger a particular memory. Mine, for purely sentimental reasons, is “O Little Town of Bethlehem”, because a thousand years ago, when I was 11 and an ardent subscriber to the “Eagle” comic, I read a lesson at the annual carol service that the editor hosted at St Paul’s Cathedral for the army of Dan Dare fans.
“O Little Town” was the carol the choir sang as the verger processed me to the pulpit, and it always provokes a nostalgic frisson whenever I hear or sing it. There is no real borderline between ancient carols and more recent hymns, mainly written in the 19th century: most can be sung in church or elsewhere, though that is obviously excluding such purely secular manifestations as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” or “I Saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus”.
Carols convey the sacred Christmas message, or aspects of it, and can stimulate a strange amalgam of joy, remembrance, well-being and wistfulness, because the Christmas season is a time for personal reflection as well as a celebration of Christ’s birth. Nowadays, when I sing (bass) in a church choir, we embrace new works as well as old, but the traditional carols and hymns are at the core of any Christmas service or concert.
Here, to begin the voting which will discover your favourite carol, are my top 20.
Once in Royal David’s CityWords: Mrs C F AlexanderMusic: H J GauntletListen / Download
For many of us, Christmas starts with a boy treble singing the first verse at the carol service broadcast from King’s College, Cambridge.
Hark! the Herald Angels SingWords: Charles Wesley & othersMusic: Felix MendelssohnListen / Download
The melody’s high-lying top D’s and E’s can be a bit of an effort, but Mendelssohn’s tune is a classic and Wesley’s words warming.
O Come, all ye Faithful Words: translated from Latin, ‘Adeste fideles’Music: unknown 18th-centuryListen / Download
The great social dilemma: is everybody supposed sing all three “O Come, let us Adore Him” refrains, or do the men only join in the last one? It’s never been conclusively resolved.
Coventry CarolWords: atrrib. Robert CrooMusic: Anon, 1591Listen / Download
One of the less cheery, minor-key carols, from a medieval Coventry pageant about Herod’s slaughter of the Holy Innocents.
In the Bleak MidwinterWords: Christina RosettiMusic: Gustav HolstListen / Download
Did Rosetti run out of rhymes when she wrote “Snow has fallen snow on snow, snow on snow”? And extra notes sometimes have to be added to make Holst’s tune to fit the text, but this is one of the tenderest carols.
Away in a MangerWords: AnonMusic: W J KirkpatrickListen / Download
Traditionally one for the children, but the tune and words are so familiar that age is no barrier.
Ding Dong! Merrily on High Words: GR WoodwardMusic: 16th-century FrenchListen / Download
A catchy enough tune, though you need to take a deep breath before launching into the lengthy “Glor-o-o-o-o-ria” chorus.
Angels, from the Realms of GloryWords: James MontgomeryMusic: Old FrenchListen / Download
Another carol with a lung-taxing “Glor-o-o-o-o-ria”, but a joyous composite picture of the role of the angels, shepherds and wise men.
The 12 Days of ChristmasWords & Music: TraditionalListen / Download
Plenty of religious symbolism here, so, if you have no use for 10 lords a’leaping, remember that they signify the 10 Commandments.
God Rest you Merry, GentlemenWords: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
It can’t be long before the PC lobby spots the sexist bias and exclusivity in this one: “God Rest you Merry, Persons”?
Good Christian Men, Rejoice Words: Heinrich Suso, trans from LatinMusic: 14th-century German ‘In dulci jubilo’ by JM NealeListen / Download
A good bouncy tune supports the legend that Suso heard the angels sing ‘In dulci jubilo’ and joined them in a dance.
Good King WenceslasWords: JM NealeMusic: 13th-century SwedishListen / Download
At school we thought the line “Heat was in the very sod” hugely funny, but we’ve probably grown up a bit since then.
While Shepherds WatchedWords: Nahum TateMusic: Este’s Psalter, 1592Listen / Download
Irreverent alternative words to this one contrast with Tate’s original that evocatively encapsulates the angel’s message to the shepherds.
O Little Town of BethlehemWords: Phillips BrooksMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
Several tunes go with these words, inspired by the author’s visit to the Holy Land, but the favourite is Vaughan Williams’s harmonisation as the hymn known as Forest Green.
Silent NightWords: GB Timms after J MohrMusic: Franz GrüberListen / Download
Legend has it that Franz Grüber and Josef Mohr wrote this carol on a Christmas Eve in Oberndorf, Austria. Hence its peaceful aura - no mayhem of last-minute shopping.
The First Nowell Words: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
The shepherds and the three wise men are to the fore here, “presence” and “frankincense” being a notably resourceful rhyme.
It Came upon the Midnight ClearWords: Edmund SearsMusic: English traditional adapted by Arthur SullivanListen / Download
A gentle tune for words speaking of sin and strife, with the carol’s optimistic prophecy of peace over all the earth.
The Holly and the Ivy Words: TraditionalMusic: English traditionalListen / Download
A striking image from nature, in which holly’s blossom, red berry and prickle are linked to Christ’s birth, blood and crucifixion.
We Three Kings Words & Music: John H Hopkins JnrListen / Download
The famous Mario Lanza recording gave all three kings fruity American accents - but fair enough for carol written in New York.
I Saw Three Ships Words and Music: English traditional Listen / Download
A popular and singable carol, even if the image of Christ and Mary sailing into landlocked Bethlehem can be bewildering.
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