The Very Best of Christmas Carols

Attention!!!

'Tis the season for all to celebrate the birth of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. What better way to praise His name than singing songs of worship. Christmas Carols are those hymns and songs which are sung during the feast, whose lyrics are based on the incidents surrounding the birth of Christ including the Annunciation, Adoration of the Shepherds, Star of Bethlehem, Visit of the Magi and the Massacre of the Innocents and those involved in the birth such Virgin Mary, Joseph, Gabriel, the Shepherds and the Three Kings. There are also carols about caroling itself or wassailing as it was referred back then. Carols have originated from all over the world for instance Germany, Austria, the United States, France and the Czechoslovakia. 

Carols must necessarily be related to the birth of Jesus Christ and all the others which are about Santa Claus, Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph are Christmas songs which are sung and played during the holiday season. Carols can be distinguished from the other songs by the fact that these are the hymns/songs which are sung at the official carol service and christmas mass at church. 

Adeste Fideles or O Come, All ye Faithful takes the crown as the best Christmas Carol of all time as it is definitely the carol which has the most powerful lyrics accompanied by a unique and moving melody. Silent Night is at a close second as it is probably the most popular Christmas Carol around the world, translated into numerous languages and declared by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage. So here are the 40 of the most loved Christmas Carols of All Time, with their writers/composers and the year or century of origin. 

1. O Come, All ye Faithful/Adeste Fideles (17^th Century)
2. Silent Night (Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818)
3. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (Charles Wesley, 1739)
4. Joy to the World (Isaac Watts, 1719)
5. O Holy Night (Adolphe Adam, 1847)
6. The First Noel (18^th Century)
7. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (Edmund Sears, 1849)
8. Once in Royal David’s City (Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848)
9. What Child is This? (William Chatterton Dix, 1865)
10. Angels We Have Heard on High (18^th Century)
11. Mary’s Boy Child (Jester Hairston, 1956)
12. Carol of the Bells (Mykola Leontovych, 1904)
13. The Little Drummer Boy (Katherine Kennicott Davis, 1941)
14. Little Town of Bethlehem (Phillips Brooks, 1865)
15. The Twelve Days of Christmas (18^th Century)
16. Away in a Manger (19^th Century)
17. God Rest ye Merry, Gentlemen (18^th Century)
18. Angels from the Realm of Glory (James Montgomery, 1816)
19. When a Child is Born (Fred Jay, 1974)
20. I Saw Three Ships (17^th Century)
21. Ding Dong Merrily on High (George Radcliffe Woodward, 1924)
22. I Wonder as I Wander (John Jacob Niles, 1933)
23. Good King Wenceslas (John Mason Neale, 1853)
24. The Holly and the Ivy (19^th Century)
25. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (15^th Century)
26. Do You Hear What I Hear? (Harry Simeone Chorale, 1962)
27. Star of the East (George Cooper, 1890)
28. In Dulci Jubilo (14^th Century)
29. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (17^th Century)
30. Coventry Carol (16^th Century)
31. Personent Hodie (16^th Century)
32. Here We Come A-Carolling (18^th Century)
33. We Three Kings of Orient Are (John Henry Hopkins Jr., 1857)
34. In the Bleak Midwinter (Christina Rossetti, 1904)
35. Little Donkey (Eric Boswell, 1959)
36. Wexford Carol (12^th Century)
37. Still, Still, Still (19^th Century)
38. Gabriel’s Message (19^th Century)
39. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1863)
40. Mary, Did you Know? (Mark Lowry & Buddy Greene, 1991)

Till the next season…

At Ease!!!