Christmas music Totally Explained

Everything about Christmas Music totally explained

Christmas music or Christmas songs comprise a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly after.

Content

Christmas music as a term describes a set of music generally played during the related holiday season, including a large amount of music whose thematic and topical focus isn't actually the holiday itself. Often the songs have no content addressing the holiday, but instead focus on wintry or other themes. Many have been adopted to the genre for other reasons, such as the reverential nature of the composition. Ultimately, Christmas music is that which has become associated with the holiday because it:

refers directly to the nativity of Jesus Christ;
refers directly to the folklore surrounding Christmas such as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus, Santa Claus's reindeer, Santa's elves, the North Pole, etc.;
refers directly to the traditions surrounding Christmas such as Twelve Days of Christmas, Christmas tree, wassailing, yule log, stockings, lights, etc.;
has been heard regularly around holiday season, particularly songs with a wintry theme; or
tends to elicit memories from, and put people into the mood of, the Christmas season. Many songs not originally intended for Christmas have been "adopted" to the genre, often due to:
devotional or reverential essence;
wintry theme;
the time in which they were released.

History

Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. But the first chants, litanies, and hymns were in Latin and too theological for popular use. The 13th century found the rise of the carol written in the vernacular under the influence of Francis of Assisi.
The word carol comes from the Greek word choraulein, meaning a circle dance performed to flute music. In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that's familiar or festive. From Italy, it passed to France and Germany, and later to England. Music in itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas, and Christmas music includes some of the noblest compositions of the great musicians.
During the British Commonwealth government under Cromwell, the British Parliament prohibited the practice of singing Christmas carols as pagan and sinful. Its pagan roots in the 13th century and its overly "democratic" 14th century influences made it an unsuitable activity for the general public and it was to be mandated so, by the Commonwealth government of 1647. Puritans at this time disapproved as well of the celebration of Christmas, and didn't close shop on that day, but continued to work through December 25. When in 1660 Charles II restored the Stuarts to the throne, the public once again practiced the singing of Christmas carols, greatly reviving Christmas celebrations.

Traditional Christmas songs

Songs which are traditional, even some without a specific religious context, are often called Christmas carols. A more or less standard set of these traditional Christmas songs might include such titles as:

"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!"

"The First Noel"

"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear"

"God Rest You Merry Gentlemen"

"Jolly Old St. Nicholas"

"Cantique de Noel (O Holy Night)"

"We Three Kings of Orient Are"

"What Child Is This"

"Deck the Halls"

"Away In a Manger"

"Silent Night"

"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

"Jingle Bells"

"O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)" Each of these has a rich history, some dating back many centuries.

Popular Christmas songs

More recently popular Christmas songs, often introduced through film or other entertainment medium, are specifically about Christmas, but are typically not overtly religious and therefore don't qualify as Christmas carols. The archetypal example is 1942’s “White Christmas”, although many other holiday songs have become perennial favorites, such as Gene Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

Most-performed 'Holiday' songs

According to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the following are the Top 25 most-performed “Holiday” songs for the first five years of the 21st Century:
1. "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) - Mel Tormé, Robert Wells 2. "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" - Fred Coots, Haven Gillespie 3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin 4. "Winter Wonderland" - Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith 5. "White Christmas" - Irving Berlin 6. "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" - Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne 7. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" - Johnny Marks 8. "Jingle Bell Rock" - Joseph Carleton Beal, James Ross Boothe 9. "I'll Be Home for Christmas" - Walter Kent, Kim Gannon, Buck Ram 10. "Little Drummer Boy" - Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone 11. "Sleigh Ride" - Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish 12. "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" - Edward Pola, George Wyle 13. "Silver Bells" - Jay Livingston, Ray Evans 14. "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" - Johnny Marks 15. "Feliz Navidad" - José Feliciano 16. "Blue Christmas" - Billy Hayes, Jay W. Johnson 17. "Frosty the Snowman" - Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins 18. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" - Johnny Marks 19. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" - Tommie Connor 20. "Here Comes Santa Claus" (Right Down Santa Claus Lane) - Gene Autry, Oakley Haldeman 21. "It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas" - Meredith Willson 22. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" - Bob Allen, Al Stillman 23. "Carol of the Bells" - Peter J. Wilhousky, Mykola Leontovich 24. "Santa Baby" - Joan Ellen Javits, Philip Springer, Tony Springer 25. "Wonderful Christmastime" – Paul McCartneySanta Claus Is Coming to Town” and “Winter Wonderland” which both came out in 1934. The newest song is Paul McCartney's Wonderful Christmastime from 1979. Songs introduced through motion pictures in the top 25 are: “White Christmas” from Holiday Inn (1942), “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), and “Silver Bells” in The Lemon Drop Kid (1950).
The writer with most top Christmas songs is Johnny Marks with three: “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,” and “A Holly Jolly Christmas”. By far the most recorded Christmas song is “White Christmas” with well over 500 versions in dozens of languages.

Adopted Christmas songs

Much of what we know as Christmas music today was adopted from music initially created for other purposes, and retroactively applied to or associated with the holiday.
   A significant subset of the secular songs are regarded as “Christmas” songs due to the time of year that they're most often sung, despite never mentioning anything about Christmas. These songs include traditional favorites such as “Winter Wonderland”, “Let it Snow”, and “Sleigh Ride” (whose standard lyrics mention not a holiday party but a birthday party).
   These songs fall into the generic “winter” classification, as they carry no Christmas connotation at all. To popularize a winter-themed song, especially in the United States, without its being regarded as a “Christmas” song, would be difficult. In fact, winter-themed songs are generally not played on the radio in the U.S. during the larger part of the winter after the Christmas season has ended, although they may receive limited radio airplay on some stations, particularly after a significant snow event.
   The other subset of this type is the "Christmas number one single" and "Christmas number two single." Tending to be more short-lived in their association with the holiday, these songs have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas or even winter, but are released around the time of the Christmas holiday and reach the top of the charts in the United Kingdom. As such, some songs will be "tweaked" to make them more related to Christmas. This is almost exclusively a British phenomenon; such songs in the United States are rare. Perhaps the most enduring of this type is Wham!'s "Last Christmas."

Novelty songs

Another subset of the popular Christmas songs, apart from the more sincere ones, are the many parodies or twists on existing songs, which are usually classified as "Novelty songs". The best known of these include:

"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" sung by 13-year old Jimmy Boyd in 1952.

"I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" written by John Rox and performed by Gayla Peevey (10 years old at the time) in 1953.

"Nuttin' For Christmas" by Art Mooney and Barry Gordon, who was seven years old when he sang the song in 1955.

"The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don't Be Late)" sung by Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1958.

"Monster's Holiday" recorded by Bobby "Boris" Pickett, written by Paul Harrison, released December 1962.

"Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer" by Elmo & Patsy which came out in 1979. Even Cheech and Chong got into the act with "Santa Claus and His Old Lady" recorded in 1971. Christmas novelty songs can involve gallows humor and even morbid humor like that found in "Christmas at Ground Zero" and "The Night Santa Went Crazy", both by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Radio personality Bob Rivers has parlayed the format into several albums in the Twisted Christmas line. The number of Christmas novelty songs is so immense that radio host Dr. Demento devotes an entire month of weekly two-hour episodes to the format each year, and the novelty songs receive frequent requests at radio stations across the country.

Radio broadcasting

Radio broadcasting of Christmas music has been around for several decades. In the early 1990s, it became increasingly common to air uninterrupted days of popular Christmas music marathons in December. As early as 1992, some American radio stations began airing Christmas music all day on December 24-25. By 2000, several stations were starting the trend earlier in the month.
   After 9/11, it became especially popular. After those terrorist attacks, radio stations across the country sought a sort of musical "comfort food" and began airing a format of continuous Christmas music from Thanksgiving evening through Christmas Day. The format was widely successful, and because of Christmas creep, radio stations have since moved up the usual format change to the Friday before Thanksgiving. Several stations, such as KOSY-FM, air all Christmas music even earlier, at the beginning of November, although this is generally the exception rather than the norm and stations that change formats earlier than November usually receive backlash from listeners.
   Christmas music is also popular as an eccentric stunt format, used when a station is changing formats. For instance, a rock music station changing to a rhythmic oldies format will often air Christmas music in-between. It often occurs either at times when Christmas music seems out of place (for instance, in summer months) or for prolonged periods of time (for example, starting in October and not stopping until Christmas).
   Satellite radio providers XM and Sirius, typically devote numerous channels during the holiday season to air different genres of Christmas music. AOL Radio also devotes channels, and even features a year-round Christmas music channel.

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