Monday, December 26, 2011

2011 Movie Review

I hope that everyone had a very, very, merry Christmas!  The week between Christmas and New Year's always feels surreal to me, and oddly reflective.  Maybe it is because of the lack of agenda'd items during these next few days, and that is what causes me to be so nostalgic about the year that is winding down.  Normally my life is a hectic, crazy blur but this is the one week that feels completely still....

It's a perfect week for movies.

As you'll see at the end of this post, there are a lot of movies that came out this year that I need to catch up on, but first I'd like to touch on some movies of 2011 that I did see, and that were absolutely fabulous:


The Company Men
This movie actually premiered at Sundance in January 2010, but wasn't released majorly until 2011.  This is definitely the most worthwhile movie of the year to me personally.  As I am going into the world of business, it was eye opening to see the realities of high powered jobs in a recession stricken economy, and just how fragile a success ridden reputation can be.  The movie illustrates the importance of life priorities and attitude, in a surprisingly non-cheesy way. 


The Hangover Part II
Actually a fairly bad movie plot-wise (almost an exact duplicate of the first Hangover) but this one made the list because I literally didn't stop laughing throughout the entire movie. Any movie that I can simultaneously get an ab workout AND eat cookie dough bites is fabulous in my book. 


Just Go with It
A silly, yet pleasantly entertaining comedy. 


Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
I watched this movie as a joke with my friends, but by the end of the documentary/concert style film, I was wishing that I was 16 so that I could feasibly have Bieber Fever without it being an illegal aspiration.  I actually have a lot of respect for the kid as a musical talent (even if his Christmas CD was terrible).


Unknown
Liam Neeson in a thriller?  Shocking.  This one is delightful and a little farther away from home than Taken, so that is always a relief.  


The Adjustment Bureau
A lot of critics said that the Adjustment Bureau was anti-climatic, which I would agree with.  However, the chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt keeps you engaged and enjoying the moment of the story that you are in, instead of always anticipating what is coming... although I guess that is counter-intuitive for what may be marketed as a "thriller". 


The Help
Emma Stone.  Was.  Amazing.  I don't know anyone who saw this movie who wasn't moved.  If you haven't seen it, you really should.  Truly worthy of all the hype it received. 


J. Edgar
My initial reason for seeing this movie was for Leo.  Turns out he was old, fat, and g(r)ay.  Still... I LOVED this movie.  It was incredibly eye-opening to realize that today's sophistication of the FBI wasn't dreamed about 100 years ago and that forensic investigation wasn't even considered important or worth while.  Such a great historical story, with great acting as well.


New Year's Eve
Zac Efron wasn't even that cute in this movie... so that's not why it made the list.  Even though the film was dripping with celebrity name drops and the plot was less than original, this movie warmed my insides like a bowl of tomato soup (cheesy films need cheesy analogies).


Waiting for Forever
This movie also was released in several film festivals in 2010 before being majorly released in 2011.  It's a quirky movie of a rejected romance between grown up childhood friends: a professional, nearly homeless clown and a Hollywood actress.  This "romance" comedy is anything but cookie-cutter and certainly inspiring in a subtle, non-obvious way.  A truly charming story. 


Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part I
Guilty pleasure.


I also saw a few pretty bad movies, the worst of which was Prom, Disney's latest disaster.  I guess the thought process behind Redboxing that one was that it would be "so bad it was good".  That didn't happen... it was actually just so bad that it was soooooo bad.


And then of course there is the list of movies that came out this past year that look really, really good... but I haven't yet got around to.  Those include:


  • Jane Eyre
  • The Lincoln Lawyer
  • Hop
  • Source Code
  • The King’s Speech
  • Water for Elephants
  • Something Borrowed
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins
  • Winnie the Pooh
  • Crazy, Stupid, Love
  • Happy Feet 2
  • The Descendants
.... I know, I know. TWO penguin movies that I missed.  


...I have some work to do. 

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Merry Christmas Carols

Last year, I took an interdisciplinary course called "Music in Religious Thought", in which I had the entire semester to construct a research thesis and paper regarding some topic in the broad overlapping subjects of music and religion.  Even though it was January when I heard of the assignment, and that meant that I would be working on the project throughout the warming months of spring, I settled on a Christmas related topic.  Specifically, the history and unifying power of the religious Christmas carol.  This was by far one of the most interesting and enjoyable research projects that I have embarked on.  Besides having basic knowledge of the origin of Christmas, I knew very little about the progressing history of the holiday, let alone the music that accompanied it.  Now that I am more informed, I'd like to pass along some of the history to you.

Due to it being Christmas Eve and me still needing to wrap presents, I'm quite literally going to paste my finished paper into this blog post.  Feel free to read the whole thing, or the first paragraph.  Have a fabulously Merry Christmas! ... And if you're going to listen to the Bieber Christmas CD, at least throw in a couple of traditional carols :)



Abstract:     
The religious Christmas carol has a rich history.  It is a tradition that originated from pagan practices of the Winter Solstice around 400 years before Christ, but eventually morphed into a Christian celebration of the Holy Nativity.  The carol had the important role of personalizing the music of Christmas to common people, steering away from the precedent of strict, secular Christmas music in Latin and Greek.  The carol faced many challenges during its lifetime including pagan influences, the Puritan Reformation of the 16th century, and competing forms of music.  However in the 19th century the carol made a triumphant return and established its place as an essential Christmas tradition.  Today, the carol acts to unify Christians all over the world as they observe the sacred birth of their Savior.


        There comes a time every year in the Western world when the religion of Christianity is hardly escapable.  The weather cools and the day of Christmas approaches, bringing with it a distinct season.  Merriment bombards the populations in churches, schools, stores, and streets; the anticipation of Christmas day is undeniable.  One of the most powerful tools for spreading these feelings of excitement is music.  Christmas music today has become a blend of both the secular and religious celebrations of the Christmas holiday.  Songs about the holy birth of Christ alternate with songs of Santa sliding down chimneys and delivering presents.  While both instill a sense of joy in people, the different types of music speak to different audiences.  Most people who choose to celebrate Christmas enjoy secular Christmas songs; additionally those who celebrate Christmas in reverence of its roots in Christianity, and therefore the birth of Jesus Christ, gain great enjoyment from the playing of religious Christmas music.  Religious Christmas music can come in many forms but the most traditional form is the carol.  The religious Christmas carol is a tradition that should be preserved amongst the swarm of secular carols and other popular Christmas musics, because it unifies Christians in their faith as they celebrate the significance of Christmas day and the reverence of the birth of Jesus Christ to the fundamental beliefs of the Christian religion. 
The birth of Jesus Christ is a critically fundamental belief in the theology of Christianity.  The Bible teaches that God created the world and heaven, and that when he created man, sin conversely entered into his once perfect world.  Furthermore, Earth and Heaven are separate entities, and in order for a human soul to enter Heaven after earthly death, it is necessary that the soul be pure and free of sin, as Heaven is a perfect and sinless place.  This requires two things: the forgiveness of sins and a perfect sacrifice; thus comes the vital role of Jesus in the Christian faith.  In John 3:16 of the Bible it is simply explained that, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”[1]  Jesus was born in earthly flesh and lived a perfect life on earth so that he could in turn be a perfect sacrifice for all of humanity’s earthly sins.  In his later life Jesus explained, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”[2]  Thusly, the earthly birth of Jesus Christ was monumental in theological significance. 
Even with this being true, however, the actual birth of Jesus was quite ordinary.[3]   Mary and Joseph, the earthly parents of Jesus, were required to travel to Bethlehem from their city of Nazareth to be counted in the Roman census and to pay taxes despite Mary’s pregnancy.[4]  While they were in the city, it came time for Jesus to be born but there was no available room in the nearby inn.  Instead, Jesus was born outside in a barn, wrapped in cloths, and placed in a manger.[5]  Shortly after His birth, an angel of the Lord appeared to a group of nearby shepherds proclaiming, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”[6]  The shepherds decided among themselves to travel to Bethlehem to witness the scene that the angel described to them.[7]  Simultaneously to Christ’s birth, three Magi, or wise men, witnessed a star in the east signifying the birth of the king of the Jews[8], a sign promised by God in the Old Testament.  The 3 wise men followed that star until it led them to the birthplace of Jesus.  Upon seeing the child, the three wise men bowed down and worshipped Him, offering gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh.[9]  It is this scene of baby Jesus swaddled in a manger and surrounded by the three wise men, shepherds, parents Mary and Joseph, and angels from Heaven that is often depicted in nativity scenes around Christmas time, to tribute the birth of Christ.  It is also the impact of this scene that spurred the inspiration for the first Christmas songs.
As early as 129 A.D., Telesphorus, Bishop of Rome, instituted the custom of celebrating the Nativity scene with special songs of merriment.[10]  This is evidenced by a recorded quote from Telesphorus in which he says, “In the holy night of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, they do celebrate public church services, and in them solemnly sing the Angel’s Hymn, because also the same night he was declared unto the shepherds by an angel.”[11]  In fact, it was deemed inappropriate to not sing some sort of recognition of the nativity scene as ancient Christians celebrated the Feast of Nativity.[12]  Festivals without song were unheard of, as it was believed that some sort of expression was necessary to convey the praise and purpose of the occasion being celebrated. 
In the early years of Christianity, the songs that were sung in praise of the Nativity were still very de-personalized.  Many public Christian figures attempted to make strides to constitute religious music as a form of personal connection to the theology and to other believers.  In the 4th century, St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, aimed to make church music (including Christmas music) a living thing.[13]  However this idea of personalizing Christianity was combated with the attempt to prevent the holiday from being celebrated in a heavenly, not earthly, way.  Gregory Nazianzen, Archbishop of Constantinople during the 4th century, asserted strongly against earthly celebrations of the holiday, including dancing and decorating.[14]  However, the abstinence of excess spirit and merriment made it harder to personally identify with the admiration of the Nativity. 
Additionally, the fear that pagan beliefs would permeate into and negatively influence the holy celebration of Christmas was a fear that further discouraged the singing of Christmas carols.  According to the Oxford dictionary, the term pagan was used by ancient Christians to describe those that were not Christian, but rather followed a polytheistic theology.  Historical evidence indicates that long before Christianity, there had been robust pagan celebrations for the Winter Solstice.[15]  The Winter Solstice is marked by the shortest day of the year, December 22nd.  Roughly four hundred years before Christ, pagan rituals stemming from Syria and Egypt renowned the Winter Solstice with a nativity celebration for pagan gods.[16]  Because the use of carols had been tied to these early pagan celebrations, many sacred Christian church services banned the use of carols and asserted that only songs set in vernacular languages of Latin or Greek were appropriate for worship.[17] 
It became the practice of the early Christian church to transform older pagan celebrations into ones with Christian significance (instead of abolishing them completely) in hopes of transforming the non-religious into followers of Christianity.[18]  It was because of these efforts that in the 4th century, December 25th was named the official day to celebrate Christmas.[19]  This was in order to overrule the pagan celebration of Dies Natalis Invicti Solis, the Birthday of the Sun.  By making this day the day that Jesus’ birth would be celebrated, the church managed to transform the meaning of the December 25 from the ancient worship of the material sun into a theological worship of the true “Light of the World.”  This day would be held as the Feast of the Nativity and would include holy reverence.[20]  The efforts to ban pagan influence continued as Archbishop Nazianzen banned staged pagan stories focusing around the Winter Solstice, in favor of religious stories focusing around the birth of Jesus.[21]  These acted-out religious stories became known as “miracle plays” and the music that was used in them was the basis for religious Christmas carols.  Unfortunately, these early carols were not properly recorded; it is only known that they did exist.[22]  These miracle plays engaged their audience, allowing them to emotionally participate in the holiday of Christmas, but the plays were short lived and as a consequence the carol regressed, becoming almost forgotten.  As the music faded away, so did the personal connection with Jesus’ birth.
It wasn’t until many years later in the 13th century when St. Francis of Assisi[23] greatly impacted the Christian religion in a way so that it would fit to popular use.  Under his influence, the celebrations of Christmas were molded into something that would emotionally impact the lives of ordinary people.[24]  St. Francis created the link from “the common heart to the happy humanities of Jesus.”[25]  One way he did this was by conducting a novel experiment: one Christmas Eve in the year 1223, he set up a real-life duplication of the holy Nativity scene complete with stable, animals, and a manger in the town of Greccio.[26]  This physical representation had a great emotional impact on those who witnessed it; it gave them reason to truly appreciate the significance of the holy birth in Bethlehem over a thousand years before.  With that one night, St. Francis had destroyed what author William Muir Auld refers to as the “cult of the Holy Manger” and as a result, the carol, the “secular song adapted to a sacred theme,” became popular all across Europe.[27]
St. Francis of Assisi’s nativity demonstration was contrary to St. Ambrose’s earlier and lasting influence on the carol, which had been based on abstract theological ideas written in “rhetorically splendid” verse[28] and sung in Latin which was hard for common people to relate to.[29]  St. Francis had started a revolution, and there were other notable figures who helped spread the idea that the Christmas carol should become personalized.  One of the most famous of these is Jacopone da Todi who was born into nobility in the year 1228 and was highly educated throughout his early years.[30]  He fell in love and married at a young age but lost his wife to a tragic illness.  This caused him to be temporarily depressed and feeling as if life had lost its purpose.  At this point, he turned strongly to Christianity and dedicated his time to carrying out the traditions of St. Francis, including writing carols in ode of the nativity.[31]   The carols he wrote painted brilliant pictures of the nativity scene and were “holy, wonderful, mysterious, and awe-inspiring” to the charms of common people.[32]  This unique blend had been absent in the earlier Latin carols and it provided a sense of familiarity and a solid base for worship of the holy event.[33]
St. Francis and those who followed in his footsteps reinvented the religious English Christmas carol into something that would become quite popular by the 14th century.[34]  At first the new carols that were written were interlaced with old traditional Latin phrases in order to keep “new forms of praise linked with the old wellsprings of devotion” and to give the new carols a sense of validity to those who doubted their worth.  However as time went on, the parishioners of the English churches were able to sing the new, more casual carols with the same spiritual mood which they had approached the old Latin songs, so the Latin lines slowly disappeared until they were no longer present.[35]
While the Christmas carol became increasingly comfortable territory throughout the fourteenth century and into the fifteenth century, some older pagan rituals crept back into the realm of Christmas.  It became customary for folk carols to be accompanied by dances that were often considered “very nasty in a secular sense,”[36] which in turn greatly upset those who revered the carol in a purely religious sense.[37]  The church attempted to separate the carols from dancing and other slanderous actions, however it became common for a carol tune to have two sets of lyrics: a secular set and a religious set.  This greatly upset the clergy as they wanted for every factor of Christmas celebrations to be completely sacred.  English edicts began to ban all carols for fear of secular carols completely destroying any meaning of the religious carols.  This led to an obvious decline of carols being sung in public, although underground carol writing in England remained.[38]
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the church began to have a stronger role of authority over the way that common people in England worshipped.  In the 1600s a strong Puritan society rose and drastically changed the customs of worship and religious celebrations, especially those of Christmas.[39]  This Reformation was spurred by the 1583 publishing of a pamphlet entitled Anatomie of Abuses written by Philip Stubbes, an English pamphleteer who had been educated at both Cambridge and Oxford.[40]  Essentially, the Anatomie of Abuses was a collection of examples and descriptions of worldly sins and their condemnations, backed with scriptural text.[41]  It was written for the purpose of abolishing or reforming ways in which the common people had gone astray from pure Christian beliefs.[42]  The Puritans had the goal of reducing worship to a completely “pure” act which would consist of standing still without any use of external movement.[43]  Along with this, Puritan leaders preached against excessive Christmas customs, including the singing of carols.[44]  The Puritans believed that the irreverent ways that the English celebrated Christmas led to an increase in sexuality, robberies, and other acts that did not honor Christ.[45]  If the Puritans could somehow banish the Christmas carol from existence, they could decrease the spirit from the holiday in hopes of controlling the unfavorable English behaviors that arose from gaiety. 
Soon, the stifling of common Christmas traditions did not seem to be enough to fulfill the Puritan’s goal of restoring the country to pure Christian faith.  By the mid 1600s, it was the desire of the Puritan majority in Parliament to abolish the celebration of Christmas altogether.[46]   The Puritan’s supplied reasoning for this was that the Bible neither gives the date of Jesus’ birth nor requests that people honor it.[47]  Slowly Parliament began to ban Christmas: in 1642 the performances of plays on Christmas day were banned; in the year 1644 Christmas fell on the last Wednesday of the month, a reserved day for rest, and so Christmas was prohibited that year; in 1645 the religious observance of Christmas was outlawed; in 1647 the secular celebration of Christmas was outlawed, meaning that now all celebrations of Christmas were outlawed.[48]  It wasn’t until 1660 when Parliament restored monarchy and King Charles II assumed the British throne, undoing the old banishments of Christmas celebrations.[49]  Between the time of its banning and its restoration, the celebration of Christmas obviously suffered but it did not cease to exist as a holiday.  Many English families continued to celebrate and observe the holiday in the privacy of their own homes- resting, feasting, and being merry.  It was also common practice for shop owners to voluntarily close their doors on Christmas day.[50]
Even though celebrations of Christmas continued, the Christmas carol suffered tremendously.  Carols had been on the rise since the work of St. Francis of Assisi but with the edicts banning them their popularity came to an end.  In addition to the carol being muted by the Puritans, the English also lost interest in the carol due to the new vocal form of Madrigals.[51]  Since carol writing lost its appeal and older existing carols were not sung as frequently, it is a miracle that they survived until the 18th century.[52] 
During this time, emerging composers, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, popularized religious music once again.  Bach was a very talented composer, crafting church music that fit the needs civilization.  The immense passion and deep religious roots in his personal life bled into the music that he composed, often transferring these emotions to his listeners.  In his own words, Bach stated that one of his primary goals was to “arrange the music so that it shall not make an operatic impression, but rather incite the listeners to devotion”.[53]  This insinuates that his works, which reflected this idea, were an important catalyst for change in the personalization of Christian church music. 
Thanks to the revival of popular religious music, the observation of Christmas became religious again and subsequently Christmas carols became more religious is nature.  Carols officially achieved a “rebirth” in status, being separated from the negative secular connotations of dance and pagan celebration.[54]  However, even with their renewed purpose, the popularity of carols struggled. 
In the 18th century, leaps in instrumental and vocal music- operas, oratorios, and madrigals- provided stiff competition for the carol.  Carol writers simply could not compete with those who wrote in other forms.  The rise of hymnody also pushed carols out of the church, further discouraging carol writers.  Carols even began to adopt features of hymns, borrowing metric features and lines of prose and melodies.  Because of this, many popular Christmas carols today are truly hymns by form.[55]  In fact, The Oxford Book of Carols (published in 1928) provides a wide definition for the modern use of the word carol as “a song or hymn of religious joy, especially a song or hymn of joy sung at Christmas in celebration of the Nativity.”  Today, what we refer to as a Christmas “carol” oftentimes is not truly a carol by original definition. The original form of the carol is very unique.  A true carol has forms that originate from dances in both form and structure.[56]  It has two parts: a burden and a stanza.  The burden acts as a chorus, where the entire group performing the carol would sing and (mostly in pagan celebration) dance.  The stanza was then sung by a soloist, and there was no dancing involved.[57]  This type of carol form was dominant in the 13th-15th centuries, but how easily it did lend itself to dancing was troublesome for its prosperity.  All in all, it was sheer luck that the true carol form survived this challenging time period.
A couple of factors led to the eventual revival of carols: the Industrial Revolution and the reform of church music.  The Industrial Revolution of the 19th century brought about growth in the possibilities of music printing.  As a result, there was a great desire for printed music and all types of music forms were considered for publications.  Old carols resurfaced and the writing of new musical pieces also faced a high demand, so new carols were also written at this time. [58]  The reformation of church music also occurred in the 19th century.  There was a revival of plainsong and counter-Reformation church music, in hopes that the common people’s spirits would be generally raised and also in attempt to make church services more personable.  Since Christmas was being celebrated again, there was also a high demand for more Christmas music to accompany the celebrations.  Because of this, musicians rediscovered old carols and modernized them, making them easier to sing.  This led to several publications of collections of Christmas carols.  In 1871, H.R. Bramley and John Strainer published Christmas Carols New and Old, the first book compiling Christmas carols.  The publication was very successful and sold numerous copies.  The collection’s biggest impact was that it created excitement and marketable opportunities for the holiday of Christmas.  The 1800s were a time that carols and secular Christmas songs alike leaped in popularity.[59]  However, there was something uniquely special to the carol that made it a favored form of Christmas music. 
In 1898 the Folk-Song Society was started in hopes of keeping the original traditions of folk songs, the carol included, alive.  They helped promote the carol into the 20th century by advertising its simplicity and delightfulness.  By this time, carol was known as a Christmas tune that enabled the joyous celebration of a holy event.  It had lost any former connection to pagan ritual and was viewed as a very appropriate Christian form of celebration, becoming a cherished part of society.  In 1928 the Oxford Book of Carols was published in England and in 1963 the carol had solidified its value to the American people with the publication of The International Book of Christmas Carols.[60]
Today, the singing of carols invokes a sense of unity in Christians during the holiday season.  One way to directly accomplish this is through special carol services.  A common carol service is called Nine Lessons and Carols.  It was introduced by the Anglican bishop Edward W. Benson on Christmas Eve in the year 1880 in a church in Truro, England.  The original service consisted of alternating Bible readings of Jesus’ holy birth with carol singing.   The service was immediately popular and spread to surrounding churches in England where it is still conducted today.[61]  Another Christmas service consisting heavily of carol singing is the Welsh Plygain service.  Traditionally, the service was held very early in the morning (originally 3 a.m.) and was conducted by candlelight in the churches.  The service included prayers, Christmas carols, and occasionally sermons.  Today, the Plygain service has transformed entirely into an occasion to gather and sing unaccompanied Christmas carols.  It is not necessarily held on Christmas day anymore and the time has been changed to a more reasonable hour.[62]  Another carol service is Las Posada, which is an Hispanic folk play intertwined with carols illustrating the night of Jesus’ birth as Mary and Joseph search for shelter in Bethlehem.[63]  Scandinavians celebrate Julotta, a church service held early on Christmas morning and consists mostly of carol singing accompanied by hundreds of lit candles.  Another carol service comes from Australia and is titled “Carols by Candlelight”.  This was a tradition that was started in the 1930s by the popular radio announcer Norman Banks.  Initially he organized a broadcast for the first community carol-sing in Melbourne and the appreciative public transformed the idea into a yearly Australian tradition which today draws tens of thousands of people together to traditionally celebrate the Christmas season through the use of carols and candlelight.[64] 
The practice of caroling during the Christmas season is another way that carols work to bring people physically and emotionally together.  A traditional Sussex carol says “On Christmas night all Christians sing, to hear the news the angels bring”.[65]  In medieval and Renaissance England people viewed merrymaking as a necessary part of the celebration of Christ’s birth.  One medieval Christmas carol states: “Make we myrth For Christes Birth”.[66]  Needless to say, the practice of spreading Christmas joy through caroling is an aged one.  It is believed that sometime in the 16th century, common folk began carrying decorated wassail bowls filled with spiced ale from house to house, singing carols as they stood in front of neighbor’s homes.[67]  In the 18th century it was common for town musicians called Waits, who normally performed music for processions and other civic occasions, to carol with their instruments during the Christmas season.[68]  Today, caroling groups can be comprised of anybody- whether it is a trained choir or glee club, a Sunday school class, a family, or a group of friends.  Spreading the cheer and good news of salvation of Christmas is not limited to any one group.
When people gather to sing Christmas carols, they are not only unified through their physical beings but also through their faith in the Christian religion.  The Christian civilization was always meant to be communal.  Christian civilization was proclaimed centuries ago, at the end of the Dark Ages, by the building of magnificent cathedrals.  These cathedrals served as common grounds for all Christians, regardless of earthly boundaries such as social class.[69]  This is a very physical representation of the teachings of Jesus, which implied the roots of communal feelings amongst Christian believers.  The Bible teaches that all men are brothers because they are all children of the same God.  Furthermore, Christians who have repented their sins in favor of believing in Jesus are brothers spiritually- in that they have the same beliefs about the destiny of their souls.  This sense of equality lays down the firm foundation for a sense of community within the Christian faith.[70]  It was this fraternal aspect of equality that made the Christian doctrine increasingly attractive to the common people of Europe.  As Christianity spread to a large body of the common people in Europe, the idea was promoted that Christians should live in decent communion with each other; thus a communal feeling was something that was rooted in the nature of the people.[71] 
Typically, Christians realize the main principles of their religion in their ordinary lives and strive to encourage their Christian brothers to do the same.  This strong communal sense greatly impacts Christian music as a whole, but especially that of Christmas time, and the religious Christmas carol in particular.  Christianity is only personal and communal if it is felt individually[72], and music is a very provocative way to stir the impulses of community feeling. 
The subject matter of carols facilitates these strong feelings of unity in Christianity.  When observing the entire repertoire of existing religious Christmas carols, it is easy to see distinct categories in subject matter and motivation.  In fact, several types of Christmas carols focus on topics other than the Holy Nativity scene.  A controversial group of carols praise the virgin mother Mary herself, rather than the nativity.  These pre-Reformation carols (most likely from the 15th century) often relate Mary to likeness of a rose, lily, or bird.[73]  Another type of Christmas carol is one which celebrates nature, and the fact that God created the world.  These carols act to connect man with nature as being things that benefit under the blessings of the Lord’s creation.[74]   While these carols are not specifically based on the nativity, they are still considered Christmas carols and remain true in a religious manner.
Even regarding carols written about the nativity scene itself, there exist several subcategories.  Lullaby and cradle carols, for instance, are often quite moving.  The simple and peaceful idea of baby Jesus being lulled to sleep by his mother is one that evokes great human emotions of love and joy and thus inspired many carol writers.[75]  Carols were also written about the angels who approached the shepherds, telling them of Jesus’ birth; however these are often overshadowed by the more dramatic carols of the epiphany.  Epiphany carols tell the story of the royal kings, or three wise-men, which saw the star in the East signifying the birth of the King of the Jews.[76]  The carols surrounding this subject are majestic and reverent, providing a stark contrast to the gentleness or joy of other carols.  One category less tied to biblical truth is the narrative, or story-telling, carol.  A narrative carol expands (in poetic verse) on a legend surrounding the nativity story.  An example of this is the “Cherry-tree” carol, which tells the story of Mary and Joseph wandering through a cherry orchard.  She requests that Joseph fetch a cherry for her, yet he refuses saying “Let him pluck thee a cherry that brought thee with child.”  Then, from inside her womb, baby Jesus says, “Bow down then the tallest tree for my mother to have some.”[77]  The tree does as it is commanded and Mary receives the fruit.  This story acts to foreshadow the powers and effects that the baby she is carrying would one day have on the world.
If Christmas was nothing more than a holiday among holidays, it would have disappeared before 2000 years.  The meaning of the holiday is breathed through the birth of Jesus Christ and efforts to observe that should be encouraged.  The nativity scene was the original inspiration for the creation of the Christmas carol and it should continue to be the motivation for the use of Christmas carols.  The carol, whether one prefers to use the ancient or modern definition, remains a special type of song in the hearts of many because it remains simple, joyous, popular, and religious simultaneously.  Among the slew of Christmas musics, the carol is special and should be preserved for years to come because it indeed instills merriment and a sense of community among Christians. 


[1] John 3:16
[2] John 14:6
[3] It should be noted that there are several scholarly and historic discrepancies concerning the actual story of Jesus’ birth.  The accounts provided in this paper come from the writings of Luke and Mathew who were not actually present at the birth site.  Their writings occurred sometime after the year 60 A.D., which is subsequently 60 years after the birth of Jesus.  Since the writings contained in the gospels do differ between authors, most traditional scholars promote theories which mesh the version that Mathew and Luke provide.  Time Magazine.
[4] Luke 2:1
[5] Luke 2:7
[6] Luke 2:9-11
[7] Luke 2:15
[8] Mathew 2:1-2
[9] Mathew 2:9-11
[10] Edmondstoune Duncan, The Story of the Carol (Detroit:  Singing Tree Press Book Tower, 1968), 11.
[11] Ibid., 11.
[12] Ibid., 10.
[13] Ibid., 13.
[14] Ibid., 16.
[15] Christina Hole, Christmas and Its Customs (New York:  M. Barrows and Company, Inc., 1958), 7.
[16] Aust, Jerold. "Christmas Before Christ: The Surprising Truth! The Good News: November/December 2009." The Good News Magazine -- A Magazine of Understanding. <http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn85/christmas-christ-surprising-truth.htm> Accessed 19 April 2011.
[17] William W. Utterback, “Study of Five Religious Christmas Carols from the Oxford Book of Carols” (M.A. thesis, Truman State University, 1985), 11.
[18] Hole, 9.
[19] Ibid., 10.
[20] Ibid., 8.
[21] Utterback, 12.
[22] Ibid.
[23] St. Francis of Assisi is a highly regarded Saint in the Catholic religion.  He was born in 1181 and died in 1226.  After being born into a wealthy family, he experienced an awakening vision as a young man which led him to devote his life to poverty.  He went on to preach repentance and serve his fellow mankind through missions.  He is the founder of the Franciscan Order and has had a lasting impression on the Catholic and Christian faith. 
Matz, Terry. "St. Francis of Assisi - Saints & Angels." Catholic Online. <http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=50> Accessed 19 April 2011.
[24] William Muir Auld, Christmas Traditions (New York:  The Macmillan Company, 1931), 57.
[25] Ibid., 55.
[26] Ibid., 56.
[27] Ibid., 58.
[28] William Muir Auld, Christmas Traditions (New York:  The Macmillan Company, 1931), 57.
[29] Ibid., 63.
[30] Ibid., 59.
[31] Ibid.
[32] Ibid., 64
[33] Ibid.
[34] Ibid., 69.
[35] Ibid.
[36] This being said in that the use of carols had no tracing of religious meaning, but rather were used to facilitate feelings of whimsicality and promote a lifestyle renouncing religious guidance
[37] Utterback, 13.
[38] Ibid., 14.
[39] Ibid.
[40] Tanya Gulevich, Encyclopedia of Christmas (Detroit:  Omnigraphics, Inc., 2000), 484.
[41] Adolphus William Ward and William Peterfield Trent, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature (New York:  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2000), XIV, 11.
[42] Ibid.
[43] Utterback, 14.
[44] Gulevich, 484.
[45] Ibid.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Ibid., 485.
[49] Ibid.
[50] Ibid.
[51] Utterback, 15.
[52] Ibid., 16.
[53]"Composers." Essentials of Music. Web.
<http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/bach.html> Accessed 19 April 2011.
[54] Utterback, 16.
[55] Ibid., 16.
[56] Ibid., 28.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Ibid., 18.
[59] Ibid., 19.
[60] Ibid., 22.
[61] Gulevich, 80.
[62] Ibid., 473.
[63] Ibid., 120.
[64] Ibid.
[65] Hole, 58.
[66] Gulevich, 116.
[67] Ibid., 617.
[68] Hole, 61.
[69] Rutland Boughton, The Reality of Music (New York:  Benjamin Blom, Inc., 1972), 87.
[70] Ibid., 88.
[71] Ibid., 89.
[72] Ibid., 88.
[73] Phillips, 26-28.
[74] Ibid., 53.
[75] Ibid., 68.
[76] Ibid., 110.
[77] Ibid., 31-34.