12/22/2025
Traditionally carols were based on medieval chord patterns which gives them their characteristic musical sound
Some carols like Personent hodie, Good King Wenceslas and The Holly and the Ivy can be traced directly back to the Middle Ages and are among the oldest musical compositions still regularly sung.
Many of today's popular carols were printed in Piae Cantiones, a collection of late medieval Latin songs first published in 1582. Early Latin forms of carols such as Christ was Born on Christmas Day, Good Christian Men, Rejoice and Good King Wenceslas can be found in this book.
The words and music of Christmas carols were not always written at the same time. The music for Ding D**g Merrily on High dates back to the mid-1500s but the lyrics are from the 1800s. The tune for Good King Wenceslas is a medieval dance tune from the 1200s, while the words were written in the 1800s.
England’s oldest surviving carol is While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night, which has a 16th-century tune and 17th-century words, but these were not put together until the 19th century. The oldest popular carol, where music and words were written at the same time, is likely to be O Come All Ye Faithful at the end of the 18th century.
Did you know? Jingle Bells was originally named The One Horse Open Sleigh when it was written and composed by James Lord Pierpont in 1857. The song was not initially received well by listeners and took many years to become one of the most popular Christmas songs.
The early Latin carol 'Gaudete' in the original version of the Piae Cantiones, 1582.
The early Latin carol 'Gaudete' in the original version of the Piae Cantiones, 1582
Among the carols that made their first appearance in Gilbert and Sandys' Christmas Carols' is The First Noel.
The First Noel from Gilbert and Sandys' Christmas Carols'
Good King Wenceslas from an 1879 book by Henry Ramsden Bramley.
Good King Wenceslas from an 1879 book by Henry Ramsden Bramley
