Carol

Carol (French, noël), popular religious song, usually associated with Christmas, but also celebrating Easter and folk holidays, such as May Day. Some carols are secular, however, such as those Christmas carols that focus exclusively on convivial entertainment. Carols, known throughout Europe, flourished in late medieval England. One of the earliest extant English carols is the “Boar's Head Carol”, printed in 1521. Such songs consisted of an unharmonized melody that alternated verse and burden (refrain) tunes. They were probably related to the carole, a chain dance to verse-and-burden songs. Between 1350 and 1550, in a major outpouring of English art music, composers wrote sophisticated polyphonic (multipart) carols.

The carol subsequently had two lines of development. The popular carol merged with the folk song and with the broadside songs sold on city streets. Modern folk carols include the “Cherry Tree Carol” and “I Saw Three Ships”. Composed carols gained variety in form in the 17th century, while their texts began to centre on Christmas. After a decline, the composed carol was revived about 1800 by religious reformers promoting devotional hymn singing. Their efforts gave rise to newly written carols such as “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing”, by the Methodist clergyman Charles Wesley, and to translations of foreign carols, such as “Silent Night” (from German) and “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (from Latin). The composition of new carols has continued as a vital force up to the present day, ranging from simple strophic songs to concert works like A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten. The familiarity of a large number of carols among the general public is probably unmatched by any other musical form.