We’ve all heard classic Christmas hymns over the years, but where did they come from? And do we need to listen to them for the umpteenth time?
Joy to the World
In 1719, hymn writer Isaac Watts published a book of poems based on some Psalms from the Bible.
One poem, based on Psalm 98, emphasized Jesus’ role as King of the church and the world.
A century later, Boston music teacher Lowell Mason set the poem to music and released it at Christmastime. It eventually became America’s most published Christmas carol: “Joy to the World.”
Silent Night
In 1816, Austrian assistant pastor Josef Mohr began writing a poem about angels announcing the Messiah’s birth to shepherds. It sat on a shelf collecting dust until two years later, when a group of actors came to the church to perform a pageant about the first couple of chapters of Matthew and Luke.
The story goes, as Mohr went home, he paused on the hillside to look at the snowy, wintry village below. He remembered the poem he wrote and decided to make into a carol for the congregation to sing the next night.
The church organ was broken, so Mohr asked the church organist, Franz Xaver Gruber, to write a melody that could be sung with a guitar.
On Christmas Eve, Gruber and Mohr sang the carol for the congregation, accompanied by Gruber’s guitar.
When Karl Mauracher came to fix the organ a few weeks later, Gruber played the tune of silent night to make sure the organ was working. Mauracher loved it and took it back to his Alpine village, Kapfing.
When the Rainers and the Strassers, two well-known singing groups, heard it, they loved it so much that they decided to add it to their Christmas performances.
The Strasser sisters performed “Silent Night” for many audiences for the next decade, even for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. The popularity of the song spread from there, and was translated into English in 1858.
Today, the song has been translated into more than 300 different languages!
My Thoughts:
I have to confess I am disappointed each Christmas when radio stations and churches don’t play these classic Christmas hymns.
Maybe those choosing the music are afraid we’re tired of them, or that they have lost their meaning and only have sentimental value. But these hymns (and others!) are deeply meaningful and the fact that they evoke strong emotions and sentiment is not a bad thing.
I WANT to feel sentimental about Christmas. I want to be sentimental about my Savior, the Christ Child. It doesn’t mean my thoughts don’t go beyond that sentiment. The strong sentiment I feel actually gives me pause.
When I sing “silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright,” I picture still, silent animal stalls and a mother who is weary from giving birth. It is a calm, yet bright scene.
Mary knows she has just given birth to the Savior and she is filled with peace. The first verse is like a lullaby that Mary is singing to her child, telling him to “sleep in heavenly peace.”
Maybe they didn’t have oil lamps, maybe it was dark, but emotionally it was the brightest and happiest moment: the long-awaited Savior had come!
My point here is that the poetic words evoke images, and the tune touches our hearts. We are transported back to childhood, and a time when faith seemed like a simpler thing.
What about you? What are some classic Christmas songs or hymns that you find meaningful?
Here are some modern versions of these Christmas classics by For King and Country, one of my favorite bands:
Sources:
https://www.crossway.org/articles/a-brief-history-of-joy-to-the-world/
https://www1.cbn.com/story-behind-song-joy-world
Classic Reads 