Page 54 - Discover Winter 2021
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C a r o ls C O NTINUED
What’s Up Doc? CONTINUED
Johnny Pell. Critics claim that the lyrics were watching them to get them to behave. This
‘borrowed’ from different sleigh riding tunes, caused a change of heart, and he jotted out the
and that there was nothing original about it. lyrics in 15 minutes, engaging the talents of
Nonetheless, it is one of the most popular songs composer John Coots to write the music. The
of all time, and was first recorded on an Edison song was first performed live on Cantor’s show
cylinder in 1889, making it likely the first ever in 1934, and within 24 hours was a huge hit.
Christmas record.
One of the older traditional carols, “Hark,
Perhaps the most famous of all religious the Herald Angels Sing”, likely has its composer
Christmas carols, “Silent Night” is also the stuff and lyricist turning over in their graves. Charles
of legend. The story says that his church’s organ Wesley, the brother of Methodism founder
was broken, so the pastor hastily wrote out a John Wesley, wrote a poem in 1739. The original
poem and asked the church organist to compose opening line read, “Hark how all the welkin
a melody that could by accompanied by a guitar. rings”. ‘Welkin’ is a middle English term for
It’s a lovely legend, but it is only a story. heaven. One of Wesley’s contemporaries,
George Whitefield, changed the opening line to
In 1816, Father Joseph Mohr of
the one that we know today.
Mariapfarr, Austria wrote a poem called, “Stille
Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” (Silent Night! Holy For some reason, the poem was sung to
Night!) Two years later, while serving at St. a variety of different tunes early on. Finally,
Nicholas church in Oberndorf, he asked the English musician William H. Cummings
organist to help him write guitar music for it, decided that it should be sung to the tune of
and it was actually performed on guitar and Felix Mendelssohn’s cantata “Fetgesang”. That
organ, and sung by the choir, on Christmas Eve is the version that caught on and the one that
of 1818. It would be 40 years later before it was we sing today. Ironically, we do so likely with
translated into English by an Episcopal priest the disapproval of both the lyricist and the
named John Freeman Young. composer. Wesley believed that it should be
sung slowly and reverently, and obviously it’s a
One of the newest traditional carols was
bit more jaunty than he would have preferred.
born out of grief. Eddie Cantor wanted a new
happy tune for his radio show. A call went out to For Mendelssohn’s part, he had
James “Haven” Gillespie, a vaudeville performer written the song to honor the anniversary of
turned songwriter. Gillespie had fallen on hard Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press.
times, and the call came on the heels of the news Realizing that it would not likely remain
that his brother had just died. Understandably, popular for long due to its topical nature, he
Gillespie was not in any mood to write a jolly wrote in a letter that he understood that people
Christmas song. would likely want to write new lyrics for the
tune. He also stipulated in the same letter
So he declined the job… however, while
that he didn’t mind what new words would be
riding the subway, he had an opportunity to
written for it, so long as they were not religious.
reflect and reminisce about his childhood with
So as we hearken to the celestial angels in
his brother. This conjured up memories of his
song, we do so against the wishes of both the
mother always telling them that Santa was
composer and the lyricist.
52 Discover Smith Mountain Lake WINTER 2020
