Christmas Carols

"I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples: I will sing praises
unto thee among the nations." Psalm 57:9

Carol: popular religious song, usually associated with Christmas, but also celebrating
Easter and folk holidays, such as May Day. 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 Saw Three Ships. Composed carols gained variety in form in the 17th century, while their texts began to center 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). "Carol," Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia. 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Everyone loves to sing Christmas Carols. The only problem is that you probably can't remember all the words to your favorite carols. Below I have listed many sites which contain the lyrics to most popular Christmas carols and some midi files as well.

Visit these sites, learn the words and take your family caroling!

"My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises unto thee; And my soul,
which thou hast redeemed." Psalm 71:23