{"id":7629,"date":"2021-12-02T17:08:18","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:08:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=5515"},"modified":"2021-12-02T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:43:09","slug":"the-composers-behind-your-favourite-carols","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/the-composers-behind-your-favourite-carols\/","title":{"rendered":"The composers behind your favourite carols\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By BBC Music Magazine\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Thursday, 02 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Mendelssohn<\/a> <\/strong>and his Harked Herald Angels<\/a><\/strong> aside, the carol book is noticeably short on well-known composers. Of the really famous carol tunes, there\u2019s Holst<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s setting of In the Bleak Midwinter<\/em><\/a><\/strong> and\u2026 that\u2019s about it. Yet these are some of the most famous tunes ever written. Millions of people worldwide are more than familiar with the melodies to Once in Royal David\u2019s City<\/em><\/a><\/strong> and Ding Dong! Merrily on High<\/em><\/a><\/strong>, which surely means their composers must be household names? Sadly not.<\/p>\n

  • When was the first Christmas carol?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
  • What\u2019s the difference between a Christmas carol and a hymn?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Five of the best ancient Christmas carols<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Five of the best modern Christmas carols<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>

    <\/p><\/div> <\/section>

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    From John Henry Hopkins Junior to Thoinot Arbeau, it\u2019s time to set the record straight. Here we take a look at the composers of 11 of our best known Christmas carol<\/a><\/strong> tunes. Some are wonderful, some a little weird, but all deserve to be better known.<\/p>\n

    • The 25 greatest Christmas carols of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Carol singing: When did the Christmas tradition begin?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
    • Composers at Christmas<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>

      <\/p><\/div> <\/section>

      The best Christmas carol composers<\/h2>\n

      Henry John Gauntlett, 1805-76<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Famous for: Once in Royal David\u2019s City<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

      Henry John Gauntlett wasn\u2019t an easy man to like. He once wrote a letter to the precentor of Durham Cathedral criticising one of his works, enclosing an \u2018improved\u2019 version. He was forthright from the start: his father, the vicar at a church in Olney, had decided Henry\u2019s sisters would learn to play the organ for services. Henry, though, had other ideas and learned the instrument himself, becoming organist in 1815. In the 1830s he became interested in organ design, and patented the electric action \u2013 a mechanism which was central to an (unsuccessful) attempt to play all the organs at the 1851 Great Exhibition simultaneously. He was respected both as an organist \u2013 he performed at the premiere of Mendelssohn\u2019s Elijah<\/em> in Birmingham Town Hall \u2013 and as a composer. In addition to \u2018Irby\u2019, the tune to Once in Royal<\/em>, Gauntlett wrote over 10,000 hymns, including \u2018St Albinus\u2019 (Jesus lives! thy terrors now<\/em>) and \u2018St Fulbert\u2019 (Ye choirs of new Jerusalem<\/em>).<\/p>\n