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Christmas songs
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CHRISTMAS CAROLS
QUESTION 1.
Which melody was written to comemorate
the invention of printing press and later
adapted as a Christmas carol?
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
• It is a movement from ”Festgesang” by Felix
Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, composed for the Gutenberg
Festival in 1840 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the
printing press
• Lyrics by Charles Wesley, whose older brother was the
founder of Methodist Chruch
• Adapted 15 years later by W.H.Cummings
Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"
QUESTION 2.
According to a story, which carol was
composed in an emergency – when the
church organ had broken down on
Christmas Eve?
Silent Night
THE STORY
• On Christmas Eve, 1818, the organ of Saint Nicholas
Church in Oberndorf, Austria, was broken.
• the assistant pastor of the church JOSEPH MOHR and
the organist FRANZ GRUBER composed the hymn in
just hours.
• It was sung in three-part arrangement with the
accompaniment of a guitar.
Silent night, holy night
All is calm, all is bright
'Round yon virgin mother and Child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night,
Shepherds quake at the sight.
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heav'nly hosts sing Alleluia;
Christ the Saviour is born
Christ the Saviour is born
Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, love's pure light.
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
QUESTION 3.
Which famous song is composed by the
author of the ballet “Giselle”?
Oh, Holy Night
• The composer is Adolphe Adam (18031856)
• At the beginning the song was condemned
by Catholic Church
• Now a beloved carol
QUESTION 4.
Which Christmas carol is about the patron
saint of the Czech state?
Good King Wenceslas
• This carol tells the story of the sainted Catholic king,
Wenceslas, who ruled Bohemia in the 10th century.
• He was dedicated to establishing the Christian faith in
his pagan country. Vaclav's efforts were condemned by
both his brother Boleslav and his mother, Drahomira,
and eventually, Vaclav was murdered by Boleslav
• The song is about the king and his page who go out to
give alm to a poor peasant on the Feast on Stephen
(Dec 26)
Good King Wenceslas looked out
On the feast of Stephen
When the snow lay round about
Deep and crisp and even
Brightly shone the moon that night
Though the frost was cruel
When a poor man came in sight
Gath'ring winter fuel
"Hither, page, and stand by me
If thou know'st it, telling
Yonder peasant, who is he?
Where and what his dwelling?"
"Sire, he lives a good league hence
Underneath the mountain
Right against the forest fence
By Saint Agnes' fountain."
"Bring me flesh and bring me wine
Bring me pine logs hither
Thou and I will see him dine
When we bear him thither."
Page and monarch forth they went
Forth they went together
Through the rude wind's wild lament
And the bitter weather
"Sire, the night is darker now
And the wind blows stronger
Fails my heart, I know not how,
I can go no longer."
"Mark my footsteps, my good page
Tread thou in them boldly
Thou shalt find the winter's rage
Freeze thy blood less coldly."
In his master's steps he trod
Where the snow lay dinted
Heat was in the very sod
Which the Saint had printed
Therefore, Christian men, be sure
Wealth or rank possessing
Ye who now will bless the poor
Shall yourselves find blessing
QUESTION 5.
Which Christmas carol was used to teach
the children Catholic truths of faith?
Twelve Days of Christmas
True Love refers to God
• Partridge -- The One True God
• Two turtle doves -- Old and New
Testaments
Three French hens - Faith, Hope and Charity
Four colley birds -- the Four Evangelists,
Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John or four Gospels
Five gold rings –
the first five books
of the Bible
Six geese -- six jars of water, turned to wine by Jesus at the
wedding at Cana
Seven swans -- seven Sacraments
Eight maids a-milking -- eight Beatitudes
Nine ladies dancing -- nine Choirs (or ranks)
of Angels
Ten lords a-leaping –
Ten Commandments
Eleven pipers -- eleven faithful disciples
Twelve drummers –
twelve Apostles,
or the twelve tribes of Israel
There is a modern adaption by Beyonce and
Destiny’s Child “8 Days of Christmas”:
On the 8th day of Christmas my baby
gave to me
a pair of chloe shades & a
diamond belly ring
On the 7th day of x-mas my baby
gave to me
a nice back rub and he massaged
my feet
On the 6th day of x-mas my baby
gave to me
a cropped Jacket with dirty denim
jeans
On the 5th day of x-mas my baby
gave to me
a poem that he wrote for me
The the feelin' that I feel is so good
He makes me feel so in lo-lo-lo-lolove
If he only knew what he does to
me
My man, my man, my baby
Oh he makes me feel so lovely, so
sexy
I'm so in lo-lo-lo-lo-love
How I love him for his generousity
My man, my man, my baby
Doesn't it feel like x-mas (it
feels lovely)
Doesn't it feel like x-mas
(it feels so lovely)
Doesn't it feel like x-mas
(wooooooooaaaaaaahhh
h)
Yes it feels like x-mas
Doesn't it feel like x-mas
(it feels lovely)
Doesn't it feel like x-mas
(it feels so lovely)
Doesn't it feel like x-mas
(the spirit of x-mas)
Yes it feels like x-mas
On the 4th day of x-mas my
baby gave to me
a candlelit dinner just me
& my honey
On the 3rd day of x-mas
my baby gave to me
a gift certificate to get my
favorite CD's
On the 2nd day of x-mas
my baby gave to me
the keys to a CLK
Mercedes
On the 1st day of x-mas
my baby gave to me
quality T-I-M-E
TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS
SONGS
QUESTION 6
A well-known Christmas song has originally one
more verse, which is never sung. It starts as
following:
THE SUN IS SHINING,
THE GRASS IS GREEN,
THE ORANGE AND PALM TREES SWAY
Which song is it?
White Christmas
• The song was written by Irving Berlin in December 1937
while staying in Beverly Hills, homesick for his family
back in New York
• The most familiar version is Bing Crosby's which has
sold over 31 million copies to date.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten, and children
listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow.
•
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
•
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white.
QUESTION 7.
Which Christmas song was originally
created as a part of the advertising
campaign of a department store?
Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer
• The author of lyrics, ROBERT MAY was requested to
produce a poem that could be given away to children by
the Santa Claus employed by Department Stores at
Christmas
• In 1948, May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks, a
composer, set the story to music
• In 1949 the singer Gene Autry recorded the song and it
became a hit!
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer
had a very shiny nose.
And if you ever saw him,
you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer
used to laugh and call him names.
They never let poor Rudolph
join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve
Santa came to say:
"Rudolph with your nose so bright,
won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him
as they shouted out with glee,
Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer,
you'll go down in history!
QUESTION 8.
Which song was originally written for
Thanksgiving?
Jingle Bells
The author and composer of Jingle Bells
was a minister called James Pierpoint who
composed the song in 1857 for children
celebrating his Boston Sunday School
Thanksgiving.
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and
sing
A sleighing song tonight
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot
Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
yeah
POP/ROCK CHRISTMAS SONGS
QUESTION 9.
Which Christmas song is a protest song
against the Vietnam War?
Happy Xmas (War is Over)
• The lyric is based on a campaign in late 1969 by John
Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, who rented billboards
and posters in eleven cities around the world that read:
"WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) Happy Christmas from
John and Yoko".
• The single was released in 1971 in the US, it was rereleased in the UK on Dec, 20 1980, directly following
John Lennon's death on Dec,8 1980.
So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight A very
merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
QUESTION 10.
Which is the biggest-selling single which has
never been the 1st in UK charts?
Last Christmas
• A song by “Wham”, released in 1984
• Although the song is the biggest-selling
single, it was beaten by Band Aid
“Do They Know It’s Christmas”
• Band Aid were a British and Irish charity
supergroup, founded in 1984 by Bob Geldof and
Midge Ure in order to raise money for famine
relief in Ethiopia by releasing the record "DO
THEY KNOW IT'S CHRISTMAS?" for the
Christmas market.
• It went straight to the first position in the UK
chart, stayed there for five weeks and sold over
three million copies.
It's Christmastime
There's no need to be afraid
At Christmastime, we let in light
and we banish shade
And in our world of plenty we can
spread a smile of joy
Throw your arms around the world
at Christmastime
But say a prayer
Pray for the other ones
At Christmastime it's hard, but
when you're having fun
There's a world outside your
window
And it's a world of dread and fear
Where the only water flowing is the
bitter sting of tears
And the Christmas bells that ring
there are the clanging
chimes of doom
Well tonight thank God it's them
instead of you
And there won't be snow in Africa this
Christmastime
The greatest gift they'll get this
year is life
(Oooh) Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmastime at
all?
(Here's to you) raise a glass for
everyone
(Here's to them) underneath that
burning sun
Do they know it's Christmastime at
all?
Feed the world
Feed the world
QUESTION 11.
Which song was planned to be a part of the
musical (which never emerged)?
Happy New Year
• By ABBA in 1980, from album “Super Trouper”
• Written in Barbados in January 1980, ‘Happy New Year’
was originally intended for a musical about a New Year’s
Eve, one of Björn and Benny’s many attempts to get
started with a more ambitious piece of musical drama.
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
Its the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Nows the time for us to say...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a
friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to
try
If we dont we might as well lay down
and die
You and i
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks hell be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing hes astray
Keeps on going anyway...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a
friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to
try
If we dont we might as well lay down
and die
You and i
Seems to me now
That the dreams we had before
Are all dead, nothing more
Than confetti on the floor
Its the end of a decade
In another ten years time
Who can say what well find
What lies waiting down the line
In the end of eighty-nine...
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we dont we might as well lay down and die
You and i
Sources:
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http://www.carols.org.uk/index.htm
http://www.wf-f.org/Hymns-carols.html
http://www.christmasmagazine.com/en/spirit/classic02.asp
http://www3.pair.com/montrsmu/quiz.html
http://www.actionext.com/names_c/collin_raye_lyrics/white_christma
s.html
http://www.businessinberkshire.co.uk/christmasinberkshire/news11.h
tml
http://www.funtrivia.com/submitquiz.cfm?quiz=153898
http://www.abbasite.com/infocus/index.php?ret=/infocus/index.php&i
d=1425&flash=no
Wikipedia
Thank you for your attention!
Merry Christmas and enjoy the singing
throughout the holiday season!