When you sing together, what you really get for Christmas isn’t just more socks or the latest techno gadget – it’s the real gift of joyful human connection.
Evergreens have long served as symbols of life during the bleakness of winter. But Queen Victoria spurred the tradition that has become a global phenomenon.
Fictional accounts of white Southerners make it seem like it was fun to be a slave on a plantation at holiday time. Many of today’s tours repeat such stories.
Over 200 years ago, an Austrian priest teamed up with a schoolteacher to perform the first rendition of ‘Silent Night.’ Little did they know that it would one day be sung in over 300 languages.
Good Christian Men, Rejoice dates from the 14th century; O Come, All Ye Faithful may contain covert Jacobite symbolism and Silent Night is now UNESCO recognised.
The carol ‘Silent Night’ has been translated into 140 languages and renditions have been sung by everyone, from Bing Crosby to Chewbacca. This is the story behind its success.