![girls of the chorus line tube girls of the chorus line tube](https://image.shutterstock.com/image-photo/chorus-line-women-showing-off-260nw-91973456.jpg)
This late 19th-century carol is hugely popular with children. Although most people assume the first line is suggesting merry gentlemen should rest, in early English it actually means something closer to ‘remain bountiful, gentlemen’. One of the oldest Christmas carols on the list, this dates back to at least the 16th century, possibly earlier. You can just feel the merriness pouring out of it. In the late ’90s, it was named the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. The words, dreamed up by English writer Isaac Watts, are based on the second half of Psalm 98 in the Bible. Rather than celebrating the birth of Christ, the text of this hymn represents Christ’s triumphant return. And of course, there’s Mike Oldfield’s unforgettably jaunty version… Many composers have since been influenced by its melody, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Franz Liszt with his piano suite Weihnachtsbaum and Gustav Holst. This carol is a mixture of both German and Latin text, and dates back to the Middle Ages. The carol was set to music a year later by organist H.J Gauntlett. The words were first written by children’s poet Mrs Cecil Frances Alexander, who is remembered for her hymn ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’. The most common musical setting was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan.īelieved to have first been published in the early nineteenth century, this carol paints a vivd picture of the nativity. The lyrics for this carol were written by Massachusetts pastor Edmund Sears and refer to ideas of war and peace.
![girls of the chorus line tube girls of the chorus line tube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rU-Yow5mLsU/hqdefault.jpg)
Three years later in 1871, his church organist Lewis Redner wrote the melody for the local Sunday school children’s choir.
![girls of the chorus line tube girls of the chorus line tube](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZYUg99Gw7zI/maxresdefault.jpg)
The lyrics refer to the ‘Massacre of the Innocents’ by King Herod, who in an attempt to ensure the death of the baby Jesus, ordered the death of all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem.įollowing a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Rector Phillips Brooks wrote the text to this hymn after he was inspired by the view of Bethlehem from the hills of Palestine. This carol can be traced all the way back to 16th-century England. Read more: The lyrics and true story behind ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ > The music for the hymn was composed in such a way that both the English and Latin words can be used interchangeably. Sung at both Advent and Christmas, this hymn originates from Latin but was translated to English in 1861. The hymn also features in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, when it is played by a symphony orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Possible candidates include King John IV of Portugal and John Francis Wade, while composers Handel and Gluck have been suggested as the brains behind the melody. It is unclear who first wrote the music or lyrics to this hymn.