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For much of the first Christian millennium, Christmas was a less important feast than Easter. In fact, little music appeared that identified either occasion. The second millennium, in contrast, witnessed a number of distinctly Christmas genres, notably the carol<\/a>, which was not originally exclusive to Christmas.<\/strong> Read on as we investigate the origins of Christmas music.<\/strong><\/p> We must begin our investigation into the origins of Christmas music with a look at the history of the Christmas carol. The carol’s origins are complex and disputed, but somewhere in its hinterland are Anglo-Saxon round dances with repetitive choruses probably originating in celebrations of the winter solstice rather than the Nativity. Some rather disapproving high-minded Norman knights witnessed these, thus confirming the existence of local practices and music distinct from their own.<\/p> But these early words and tunes proved handy for the Christian proselatisation of such groups as the Franciscans, who harvested them for their enactments of Biblical stories aimed at illiterate, non-Latin speaking common people. Explaining Latin words by vernacular translations in the same poem started the macaronic (mixed language) tradition, a good example of which is the 14th-century \u2018In dulci jubilo\u2019 with its mix of Latin and vernacular words set to a singable, memorable, popular, non-liturgical tune.<\/p> Another, \u2018Angelus ad virginem\u2019, began life in France but on arriving in England acquired the English translation \u2018Gabriel from hevene came (or King)\u2019 and became sufficiently familiar for Chaucer to refer to it in his Miller\u2019s Tale<\/em>.<\/p> The 15th century experienced an explosion in carols, possibly due to the growing cult of the Virgin Mary. Some carols included Christ\u2019s nativity as part of a survey of his life and death, such as the medieval \u2018The Holly and the Ivy\u2019 with its blend of pagan naturism and Christian ideas.<\/p>The origins of Christmas carols<\/h2>