American Christmas Songs

Christmas is the festive season of celebration that calls for pomp and gaiety. But nowadays, it seems that people are forgetting the true meaning of Christmas by only indulging themselves in flashy captivating gifts, decorations and glittering Tannenbaum. Christmas carols and songs occupy a traditional seat in the celebration of Christmas. These songs or carols are sung in chorus during Christmas not only in churches but also at parties. These songs tell stories about Santa, Jesus and other Christmas themes and are an important part of the holiday fun.

Now, different countries have different ways to celebrate their Christmas. Americans are known worldwide for their fashion of fun-making and partying. So, it's provided that there are some unique American Christmas songs, too. The American Christmas song is not necessarily a traditional one, it can also be any popular American Christmas song by any artist that becomes a part of the whole range of religious hymns. The Christmas songs sung by Americans, therefore, can be divided into two categories: Traditional Christmas Noels and popular Christmas songs by eminent singers. A common feature in American Christmas carols is that tenor line is doubled at the higher octave. Enlisted below are some of the famous carols sung by Americans during Christmas:

• Bozrah: Taken from the Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion, Philadelphia (1854).
• Kingsbridge: Source is The American Harmony; or Royal Melody Complete, Massachusetts (1771).
• Baptismal Anthem: This pleasant Xmas noel of America has been taken from Original Sacred Harp, Denson Revision, Georgia (1971).
• A Virgin Most Pure: This unique American Christmas carol portrays the true spirit of Christmas to the utmost while sung in chorus. This has been accepted from Carols Old and Carols New, Boston (1916).
• A Virgin Unspotted: This is one of the purest English Christmas songs that also treasure within itself a style of the European heritage. The American version of this song has been taken from Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, Pennsylvania (1820).
• The Heavenly Courtier: This melodious American Christmas noel has been taken from The Christian Harmony or Songster's Companion, New Hampshire (1805).
• Pretty Home: This song is an inspired creation of Heavenly Courtier by Sister Patsy Williamson in 1849. Source- Donald W. Patterson, The Shaker Spiritual, Princeton (1976).
• The Midnight Cry: This honeyed American Christmas song is an old one that has been sung for more than 100 years and has been taken from Original Sacred Harp, Denson Revision, Georgia (1971).
• I Wonder as I Wander: This tune gave birth to several incarnations, sacred as well as secular, in the American folk history. Source: Joan Jacob Niles, Songs of the Hill Folk, New York (1912).
• Slow Traveller: This is one of the finest instances of Christmas songs sung by Americans. With its great historical past, this carol has been taken from Ingalls, The Christian Harmony.
• Lullay My Tiny Little Child: This American Christmas carol is sung to the Coventry Carol melody, as the tune was accorded and transcribed by Ingalls under Slow Traveller in 1805.
• Lovely Vine: This lovely American song for Christmas is full of images of fertility, growth and nature with the spirit of Christmas instilled in it. Source: Ingalls, The Christian Harmony.
• Adeste Fideles: The English text of this song is O Come, All ye Faithful, is an old track that dates back to the days of the mid-nineteenth century. Source: Crawford, The Core Repertory of Early American Psalmody, Madison (1984).
• Still Water: This mellifluous tune is firmly rooted in Anglo-American folksong idiom. Source: A Selection of Spiritual Songs, New York (1878).
• While Shepherds Watched: This is the appropriate example of the mostly-Victorian, mostly-esteemed Northern collection and is an authentic folksong that's sung by Americans during winter days or Christmas.
• Jesus the Light of the World: This American Christmas song is a revival hymn with simple, keyboard-derived harmonies and frolicky choruses. Published in 1890, this song bears a strange resemblance to the Going Home theme. Source: The Finest of the Wheat: Hymns New and Old for Missionary and Revival Meetings and Sabbath-schools, Chicago (1890).
• Joy to the World: This very popular American Christmas song is broadly based on a theme from Handel's Messiah. Source: The New Harp of Columbia.
• Hush my Babe, lie still and slumber: This is a poem by Isaac Watts that is sung here in an emotional, widely- dispersed folk-hymn tune sung by the Americans during the celebration of Christmas. Source: The American Vocalist, Boston (1849).