{"id":15647,"date":"2015-10-26T17:27:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T00:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharefaithblog.wpengine.com\/?p=15647"},"modified":"2021-11-10T17:44:20","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T22:44:20","slug":"top-20-christian-christmas-carols-hymns-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharefaith.com\/blog\/2015\/10\/top-20-christian-christmas-carols-hymns-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 20 Christian Christmas Carols and Hymns of All Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Tis the season for those Christmas carols and hymns that we all know and love. Every year we are blessed with the opportunity to remember our Lord Jesus Christ and to sing carols that warm our hearts and glorify Him. Many carols have been written over time, but there are few that can be considered a top Christmas carol or hymn. Each carol or hymn has a story behind it with some more intriguing than others as you will see. Here is our list of the top 20 most popular carols and hymns of all time and a little snippet of how they came to be the songs we know and love. Songs have been chosen based on popular organic searches through Google.<\/p>\n

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Top 20 Christian Christmas Carols and Hymns of All Time<\/h2>\n

Last Updated: November 2016<\/h3>\n

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Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Charles Wesley (1739)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Special Mention: George Whitefield (1753)<\/span>
\nHark! The Herald Angels Sing<\/span><\/i> is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection <\/span>Hymns and Sacred Poems<\/span><\/i>, having been written by Charles Wesley. His original opening couplet is <\/span>Hark! how all the welkin rings \/ Glory to the King of Kings<\/span><\/i>. The popular version is the result of alterations by various hands, notably by Wesley’s co-worker George Whitefield who changed the opening couplet to the familiar one, and by Felix Mendelssohn. A hundred years after the publication of <\/span>Hymns and Sacred Poems<\/span><\/i>, in 1840, Mendelssohn composed a cantata to commemorate Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, and it is music from this cantata, adapted by the English musician William H. Cummings to fit the lyrics of <\/span>Hark! The Herald Angels Sing<\/span><\/i>, that propels the carol known today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The First Noel, William Sandys & Davies Gilbert (Original Composer Unknown) (1823)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Special Mention: John Stainer (1871)<\/span>
\nThe word, <\/span>noel<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> seems to be a French word with Latin roots: <\/span>natalis<\/span><\/i>, meaning “birthday.” It was first published in <\/span>Carols Ancient and Modern<\/span><\/i> (1823) and <\/span>Gilbert and Sandys Carols<\/span><\/i> (1833), both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged, edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert for <\/span>Hymns and Carols of God<\/span><\/i>. Today, it is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer John Stainer, first published in his <\/span>Carols, New and Old<\/span><\/i> in 1871. Variations of its theme are included in <\/span>Victor Hely-Hutchinson’s Carol Symphony<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Joy to the World, Isaac Watts (1719)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Special Mention: Lowell Mason (1839)<\/span>
\nThe words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on the second half of Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts’ collection; <\/span>The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament<\/span><\/i>, and applied to the Christian state and worship. Watts wrote the words of <\/span>Joy to the World<\/span><\/i> as a hymn glorifying Christ’s triumphant return at the end of the age, rather than a song celebrating his first coming. The nations are called to celebrate because God’s faithfulness to the house of Israel has brought salvation to the world. The music was adapted and arranged to Watts’ lyrics by Lowell Mason in 1839 from an older melody which was then believed to have originated from George Frideric Handel.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Silent Night, Father Joseph Mohr & Franz Xaver Gruber (1818)<\/b><\/h3>\n

Silent Night<\/span><\/i> is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. A broken church organ in the midst of a Christmas Eve midnight service presented an opportunity for God to show his creativity. Father Joseph created the lyrics on the spot, brought the text to Franz Gruber to create a simple tune. Thus, <\/span>Silent Night<\/span><\/i> was sung for the first time. After its publication in 1838, this song has been recorded by a large number of singers from every music genre. <\/span><\/p>\n

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We Three Kings of Orient Are, John Henry Hopkins, Jr. (1857)<\/b><\/h3>\n

We Three Kings<\/span><\/i>, also known as <\/span>We Three Kings of Orient Are<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>The Quest of the Magi<\/span><\/i>, is a Christmas carol that was written by John Henry Hopkins, Jr., in 1857. At the time of composing the carol, Hopkins served as the rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and he wrote the carol for a Christmas pageant in New York City. Many versions of this song have been composed, but it remains the most popular and most frequently sung Christmas carol today.<\/span><\/p>\n

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