The 20 December is Go Carolling Day! To help get you into the spirit, colleagues from across the UK & Ireland support teams share their favourite festive songs. Maybe you’ll find something to add to your own carolling repertoire!
Carol of the Bells
Made famous to many by its inclusion in Home Alone, this popular carol has Ukrainian origins.
Kate Attard, Head of Sector Support, says:
‘I love this one for the vocal layers and it works really well a cappella. We have a local choir who go carolling around our area every year and they do a lovely version of this all covered in twinkly Christmas lights. It’s been part of our pre-Christmas tradition to go out and watch them sing on my street since my son was a wee one.’
Sarah Hughes, Business Development Manager for Drama and Arts Award, echoes this and adds that it is a ‘great sing-along one’.
Silent Night
While Carol of the Bells may celebrate the joyful sounds of Christmas and the messages they bring, Silent Night, encourages us to cherish the moments of calm too. It’s somewhat fitting then that two our busiest elves from the Customer Support team selected this hymn.
Amy Ripley says:
‘It sums up Christmas and makes me feel quiet and happy.’
While, for Jo Reid, there are more nostalgic reasons:
‘It brings back memories of school assembly days – which I used to really enjoy.’
O Holy Night
Written in France in 1847 by Placide Cappeau and Adolphe Adam, an English interpretation of the lyrics was penned by John Sullivan Dwight in 1855, providing us with the version that many of us know and love today. Over the years, it has proved to be a commercial hit for numerous well-known artists, but our Customer Documentation Improvement Lead, James Mariner, has one particular favourite:
‘The Nat King Cole version of the song is beautiful and feels more Christmassy to me than any other Christmas song. It’s a bonus that it doesn’t get played on a loop in the High Street, so it remains special.’
Gaudete
Sector Support Manager, Amy Lee, has chosen an old school earworm with her selection, choosing the medieval classic, Gaudete:
‘I love this traditional Latin carol as it reminds me of carolling with various choirs when I was younger around Christmas time! Also, the medieval modal melody is enchanting.’
Hush, be Still, the Holy Infant Sleeps
While the songs listed so far will be familiar to many, Kat Stapley-Smith from the Sector Support team has shared a lesser-known hymn, noted on the score as being a ‘Traditional Derbyshire carol’:
‘It's a gorgeous, gentle, thought-provoking song which we used to sing in our chamber choir candlelit carol concert every Christmas at my school/sixth form college. I still sing it to my daughter every night to help her get to sleep.’
Feliz Navidad
While the songs listed so far have all been traditional in style, some more contemporary numbers have slipped into our carolling programme…
Head of Business Development for Music & Performing Arts, Toby Davies, has fond memories of him and his friends performing Feliz Navidad around Muswell Hill with his friends. Quite simply, he says: ‘It’s a classic!’
Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End)
I’m not sure how many people include this as part of their carolling repertoire (there is a lot of falsetto!) but apparently our Business Development Manager for Music, JJ Wheeler, can hit the high notes! According to JJ, ‘You can’t beat The Darkness’.
We hope you have enjoyed reading about some of our festive sing-a-long songs. What would you add to the list? Feel free to add your contributions in the comments below!
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