"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a traditional song that Christmas carolers love to perform door-to-door during the holiday season through the centuries. 

Although it remains a mystery to date who the author and composer was, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is tied to Arthur Warrell who arranged the tune for his group "Bristol University Madrigal Singers" in 1935, and subsequently performed it at a concert leading to its mass popularity. It was in 1939, when Arthur passed away,that he was granted the copyright to the carol.

The song is predominantly used as a greeting, reflecting a festive and cheeky teasing, but has a subtle emphasis of the dynamic between the wealthy and the needy during the Victorian era. The lines "bring us some figgy pudding, bring it right here, we won't go until we get some," actually refer to the treats that the carolers often received as payment and the fact that they would continue singing until they were rewarded.

A huge number of artists have recorded the carol along with various symphonies and choruses through history! 

Read more of its origin at: https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/about-we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas

​"O Holy Night" is one of the celebrated sublime Christmas carols in history that has controversies associated with it.

The song was breathed to life by French poet and wine merchant Placide Cappeau in 1847, originally entitled as “Minuit, chrétiens”. 

Adolphe Adam subsequently crafted its accompanying music and on the same year, this beautiful melody was premiered by Emily Laurey, a famous opera singer.

There had been debates where "O Holy Night" was deemed unsuitable for Christmas services due to “lack of musical flavor” and the stark absence of religious spirit. 

It was when John Sullivan Dwight translated the “O Holy Night” in English around 1855 and that helped a lot as the lyrics focused on humanity and championed humility, magnifying on the universality of the “human spirit.” Dwight’s version quickly became famous in the United States of America due to the ongoing Civil War and soon became universally accepted around the globe with a lot of versions and renditions!

Learn more of the song's origin at: https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/how-o-holy-night-became-a-christmas-carol

"Joy to the World" found originally as the second segment of “Psalm 98” is a part Isaac Watts' “The Psalms of David,” a collection of poems where each verse was based on a psalm published in 1719.

Watts during those times grew up in a society where only of sections of scriptures and psalms were being incorporated with music. Watts noticed a certain lack of emotion among the congregants who performed them, thus he broke the hegemony and started tweaking his verses, opening a whole new frontier of possibilities!

And so "Joy to the World" wasn’t even intended to be a Christmas Carol, as its original version had no such link with Christmas. It wasn’t even supposed to be a song! It was born of coincidence, rather than desire. 

Nevertheless, Lowell Mason was smitten by the poem and in 1836 composed a riveting melody for this second part and the rest is history!

"Joy to the World" has been a Christmas staple, maintaining its popularity as one of the most-published hymns in Northern America even today. Because of its extreme popularity, there has been a lot of renditions and performances recorded by an array of world-known artists and acapella groups!

Read more about its exciting inception at:
https://galaxymusicnotes.com/pages/learn-the-story-behind-joy-to-the-world