LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Christmas Carols: Christmas Eve
built 177 days ago
Every Christmas Eve deserves to be enlivened not only with Christmas carols but ... popular songs as part of a whole range of religious hymns. A number of them were collected by Ernest Gagnon who was one of the first in Quebec to be interested in this field. His collection of songs was published in 1897 and again in 1906 as Cantiques populaires du Canada français (Popular Songs of French Canada).
Source:
Below is an index of links to popular Christmas carols in Spanish, where they are known as villancicos, alphabetized by their titles in both English and Spanish. Note that in some cases the translations listed here aren't the only ones available, so don't be surprised if the Spanish lyrics aren't the same as you've seen somewhere else or even sung before. For example, Silent Night, Holy Night has been translated as both Noche de paz, noche de amor and Noche de luz, noche de paz. Note ... that in a few cases the translations are far from literal. Anyone who has tried translating songs — which requires ideally that not only a song's meaning but also its rhythm and rhyme be conveyed — will understand why. Some of the carols included a grammar and vocabulary guide for classroom use or personal study.
Source:
Popular Christmas carols symbolize everything that Christmas stands for: They gather the family, bring joy, spread the word about Christmas, and make everyone feel the Christmas spirit. Try to hum the melody of “Jingle Bells”, and most people in the northern hemisphere will immediately imagine seeing snowflakes, angels, and Christmas bells.
Source:
In Australia, where it is the middle of summer at Christmas, there is a tradition of Carols by Candlelight concerts which are held outdoors at night in cities and towns during the weeks leading up to Christmas. In Melbourne, "Carols by Candlelight" is held each Christmas Eve. Performers at the concerts including opera singers and musical theatre performers and popular music singers. People in the audience hold lit candles and join in singing some of the carols in accompaniment with the celebrities.
Source:
By the Middle Ages, wandering minstrels were traveling from hamlet to castle performing their carols. Later still, villages had their own bands of "waits." Waits were originally watchmen who patrolled the streets and byways of the old walled cities, keeping guard against fire and singing to while away the night hours. During the holiday season, the waits would include carols in their repertoires. Not everyone was delighted with this display of musical entertainment... and many townspeople complained, declaring they would rather get a good night's sleep than have somebody singing under their windows. Eventually the term was used to describe groups of musicians who sang and played at various civic events during the Christmas season.
Source:
The ACLU of Rhode Island (2003) interceded on behalf of an interdenominational group of carolers who were denied the opportunity to sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve to inmates at the women's prison in Cranston, Rhode Island. www.rifrn.net/blog/blogs/noskin_b.php?p=45&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Christmas Eve