Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (2 page)

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any images accompany Christmas—fun and frolic, snow and decorations, laughter and family gatherings—images so ingrained in most people’s minds that they find it difficult to imagine the holiday any other way. Yet, in truth, Christmas only recently became the festive holiday we now cherish. For almost fifteen hundred years, the observation of the birth of Jesus was not recognized on every street corner but left to divinely called men who led a hard and demanding life, toiling in poverty and serving people who understood little about the most elementary facets of Scripture and the life of the soul. Yet these men stayed the course and left their fingerprints on every church of every denomination in the world today.

Monks were and still are solitary men, dedicating every ounce of their being to the Lord and giving up their own families to serve the family of God. Their voices were often the only ones who told of the birth of Christ and their lives the only example of Christian faith. Even to those who knew
them, monks were mysterious figures. Their world was one of sacrifice, their sense of duty second only to their humble spirit. Yet from this spirit and life came one of the most beautiful and soaring carols of Christmas.

Much like the lives of most monks, “Angels We Have Heard on High” is a song steeped in great mystery. Unlike other carols whose writers are unknown but whose origins can be clearly traced to a certain time or certain place, this song seemingly appeared out of the air. Because the first to sing “Angels We Have Heard on High” lived in nineteenth century France, many believe that it must have originated there. In fact, most sources today call it a French carol. Yet even that assumption is often called into question by songologists. What can be stated with absolute certainty is that this Christmas song must have been penned by a person who had a professional knowledge of the Bible and an incredible gift for taking Scripture and reshaping it into verse. This fact, combined with the use of Latin in the song’s chorus—making it a macaronic carol—seems to indicate that a monk or priest from the Catholic church was more than likely responsible for writing “Angels We Have Heard on High.”

Because the first published versions of the song used French for the verses, many have naturally assumed that its writer was a priest from France. Yet there is evidence that at least part of this great Christmas hymn was sung before Christianity took deep root in western Europe. A portion of the carol was used in early Christian church services even before the Roman Empire adopted Christianity as the state religion.

“Angels We Have Heard on High” was first published in 1855 in the French songbook
Nouveau recueil de cantiques,
and records indicate that the song had been used in church masses for more than fifty years before that publication. During those five decades the lyrics were coupled with the melody that is still used today. Except for the verses translated into languages
other than French, today the song is sung just as it was a hundred and fifty years ago. Yet for maybe a thousand years or more before that, monks probably sang this same song as they celebrated the birth of the Savior. The story may well be as old as the church itself.

The song’s four verses embrace the angels’ visit to the lowly shepherds and the shepherds’ response. For many biblical scholars, the angels coming to men who worked menial jobs in the fields and informing
them
of the birth of the Son of God symbolizes that Christ came for all people, rich or poor, humble or powerful. The angels’ words in Luke 2, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people,” paired with Jesus’ own parables concerning shepherds and their flocks, symbolizes that it would be the common man and not kings or religious leaders who would first carry the story of Jesus’ life to the masses.

But while the shepherds’ story of why they came to see the babe in the manger is easily identified in all the stanzas, for many who sing this old song, the chorus is an enigma. “Gloria in excelsis Deo” means, in English, “Glory to God in the highest,” a phrase that played an important part of worship at church masses dating back to 130
A.D.
During that period, Pope Telesphorus issued a decree that on the day of the Lord’s birth all churches should have special evening services. He also ordered that, at these masses, after the reading of certain Scripture or the conclusion of specific prayers, the congregation should always sing the words “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” Historical church documents reveal that monks carried this executive order throughout the land and that by the third century it was a practice used by most churches at Christmas services.

It can be argued that if the chorus was written within a hundred years of Christ’s birth, the roots of “Angels We Have Heard
on High” might go back to someone who actually knew Jesus when he walked on earth. Though unproved, it is a very interesting and inspiring idea and ties in to the selfless image of a called member of the clergy bringing faith alive in order to spread the message of Jesus Christ’s birth, life, and death.

Another facet of this carol that would seem to tie at least its chorus to the very early Catholic church is the range of notes found in the chorus. While most modern carols move up and down and cover at least an octave and a half, thus testing the upper or lower limits of the average singer, the phrase “Gloria in excelsis Deo” barely moves at all. In addition, the melody used by the song never strays more than one octave and the verse moves through only six notes. This simplicity seems to tie the melody to early chants used by monks and taught to their congregations.

Webster defines a chant as “singing or speaking in a monotone to a hymnlike repetitive melody.” Using this approach, important elements of worship were passed on from person to person and generation to generation in the oral tradition. In a day when few read words—much less music—chants helped keep the gospel alive among the common people. Of all the carols born in the chanting tradition, “Angels We Have Heard on High,’ was one of the easiest and least challenging, despite the fact that the word “gloria” covers three measures and hits almost twenty different notes. Unlike others, which failed to inspire as they taught, this song lifted hearts while telling the story.
It embraced the spirit that a called man of God would have felt as he gave up everything to serve his Lord.

So why has this carol of unknown origin remained so popular for so long? Though the tune may be considered monotonous, when the simple text is read it becomes obvious that few Christmas songs so fully describe the joy that the world felt when a Savior was born in Bethlehem. The lyrics don’t just ask the singer to lift up his or her eyes and heart in wonder and observe the beauty of what God has given the world, they demand it. There can be no doubt that whoever wrote “Angels We Have Heard on High” not only believed the words found in the Bible, but relished that belief.

Ultimately, it is the sensitive retelling of the angel-shepherd story that carries this song and has made it one of the world’s most popular Christmas carols. As Kenneth W. Osbeck wrote in his devotional book,
Amazing Grace,
“The Bible teaches that angels are the ministering servants of God and that they are continually being sent to help and protect us, the heirs of salvation.” “Angels We Have Heard on High” speaks of the incredible, special relationship between heaven and earth, God and man, like few songs ever have. It embraces one of the most important elements of faith just as the shepherds embraced the Good News they were given two thousand years ago.

The mystery of who wrote this song points back to the lives of
all
those who are called to spread the gospel, to keep the story alive, to provide a means for people everywhere to hear and know the message that came to earth on that first Christmas. One of those nameless servants wrote this song to share the story with others. Though he has long been forgotten, what he believed is alive in not only his song but in hundreds of millions of souls around the world. His prayer has been answered: the angels are still heard, the Savior still welcomed, and the soul still stirred.

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any Christmas carols are bathed in so many different legends that separating fact from legend becomes almost impossible. Such is the case with the beautiful and simple carol that tells the story of baby Jesus lying in a manger that first Christmas night.

Along with “Jesus Loves Me,” “Away in a Manger” is one of the first songs that Christians teach children in Sunday school or church. With only three short verses and a very simple tune, it is no small wonder that little ones learn it long before they can read. The beautiful and serene picture painted in the carol’s lyrics defines “peace on Earth” better than most books or sermons.

In 1887, American hymn writer James R. Murray entitled the tune to “Away in a Manger” as “Luther’s Cradle Hymn.” Murray further stated in his popular songbook,
Dainty Songs for Little Lads and Lasses,
that Martin Luther had not only written “Away in a Manger,” but had sung it to his children each night before bed. As the song spread across a growing America and
people began to sing it at home, in churches, and at schools, they often envisioned legions of German mothers rocking their babies to sleep each night with the strains of “Away in a Manger.” As the song became more popular, some news reports even trumpeted the song’s Teutonic heritage and the powerful inspiration that obviously could come from only the great Luther himself.

Ironically, not only did German mothers of this era
not
sing “Away in a Manger,” they had never heard it until the song arrived in Europe from its country of origin, the United States. Where Murray got his misinformation on Luther remains a mystery, yet because of his outstanding reputation as a writer and publisher, the story stuck.

James R. Murray studied at the Musical Institute in North Reading, Massachusetts, under legendary teachers such as Lowell Mason, George Root, William Bradbury, and George Webb. His teachers marked their student as one of the finest young musical minds they had ever encountered. Yet Murray didn’t stay the course in school. In 1862, in the midst of the American Civil War, Murray enlisted as an Army musician. During the darkest days of the war he wrote his first song, “Daisy Deane.” Composed in a Virginia camp in 1863, the now forgotten ditty established Murray as a songwriter.

After the war ended and armed with a wealth of new material, Murray joined the Root and Cady publishing house in Chicago, Illinois, as editor of the
Song Messenger.
In 1881, Murray moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, to work for the John Church Company, editing the
Musical Visitor.
He also took charge of the company’s publishing department. It was there that he happened upon “Away in a Manger.”

Two years before Murray had printed “Away in a Manger” in his children’s songbook, the General Council of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in North America had published the song in their book
Little Children’s Book: For School and Families.
Printed in Philadelphia,
Little Children’s Book
listed no songwriter for the words to the song. The book stated that the tune—a much different one than that used by Murray—had been provided by J. E. Clark.

In truth, the first two verses of “Away in a Manger” were no doubt written by an anonymous American sometime in the mid–1800s. The song was probably passed down orally for years before it was picked up by the Lutheran editor. By the time it was first published, no one knew the identity of the composer.

In 1892, a man named Charles Hutchinson Gabriel became the music director of Chicago’s Grace Methodist Episcopal Church. A poet, composer, and editor, it was in the Windy City that Gabriel wrote a legion of hymns—eventually more than seven hundred. The composer’s work included such standards as “Way of the Cross,” “My Savior’s Love,” “Higher Ground,” and “I Stand Amazed in the Presence.” It was while he was at Grace Church that Gabriel discovered not only the versions of “Away in a Manger” published by the Lutheran press and by James R. Murray, but also another, unknown version that contained a third verse. He published this new edition of the carol in
Gabriel’s Vineyard Songs.

Throughout the next two decades the popularity of “Away in a Manger” grew, as did the myth surrounding Luther’s authorship of the piece. Illustrations were drawn and stories were told depicting Luther singing the song to German children. As the real author never came forward to dispute the growing legend, the facts of the carol’s origination became more and more diluted.

During World War I, while Germany battled the United States, many groups began to sing the words to “Away in a Manger” with the old Scottish tune “Flow Gently Sweet Afton.” This rendition might well have been a protest against any and all things German. Yet soon after the war, when most Americans had again embraced the original tune, a new songbook,
Words and Song,
gave a man named Carl Mueller credit as the musical composer of the song. Where the Boston publisher came up with Mueller’s name is another unanswered question. Carl Mueller did not write the music to “Away in a Manger”; in fact, many believe that he didn’t even exist.

In 1945, as Americans again battled Germany in a world war, American writer Richard S. Hill sorted through the now seventy-year-old mystery concerning the carol’s origin. He determined that James R. Murray himself probably wrote the music long coupled with “Away in a Manger.” Yet as Murray always took credit when he composed a song, it is doubtful that he would have deflected the credit to Martin Luther. It’s more likely that Murray was given the song and simply adapted the existing German-influenced melody into four-part harmony for his book. It also seems likely that Murray received the story of Martin Luther writing the piece from the person who originally gave him the song.

Whoever he or she is, the unknown songwriter probably didn’t live to see the song reach children the world over with its poignant message. Yet while the mystery of origination remains, the song’s message, depicting the precious moment when a Savior came to Earth
bringing peace, joy, and hope, is so strong and profound that it leaped from a single night, from a single household, to become one of the world’s most beautiful Christmas messages in song. The picture
that
story paints is even more profound and riveting than that of Luther singing “Away in a Manger” in Deutsch to his children.