Why I do not play many Christmas carols

Filed in Thoughts on December 14, 2008



At Christmas time, I start looking for religious songs of the season to play.  Invariably, I end up playing only a few of the classics--"Angels We Have Heard On High", "O Come All Ye Faithful", and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" come to mind as songs I really like.  "Silent Night" is also a great carol.

Frankly, most Christmas carols are lousy music in my opinion.  First of all, what is with all the minor keys--isn't this supposed to be a happy time of year?  There are more minor keys in the Christmas section than the rest of the hymnal combined.  And then, even the carols that are in major keys are pretty awkward.   Except for the nostalgia and tradition, how can you really enjoy songs like "The First Noel",  "O Little Town of Betheham" and "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"?

A little history is necessary to help understand the dilemma.  Many of the well-known religious carols are fairly old (before 1800) and often English.  The minor key was actually the dominant key of that day and culture.  The awkwardness of the music is also a remnant of that period. 

In general, the better Christmas carols are newer.--the ones I like best were written in the 19th Century.  However, some of the poor ones were written in the last half of the 19th century which works against my theory that the carols are just too old.  So, I am not quite sure why so few great Christmas carols actually exist. 

Frankly, the secular Christmas songs are much more beautiful.  There is no religious carol that has anywhere near the musical sophistication of  "A Christmas Song" (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...).  Some day, I may discuss why this is from a theory standpoint.

And I wonder why my wife sometimes calls me Scrooge...

 



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Jim Moore
12/16/2008 11:10:51 AM

Ha, I had not thought about this until now. O Holy Night, O Come O Come Emmanuel, We Three Kings, What Child is This and others are in dreadful minor keys. No wonder I hate playing them.

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