Unwrap holiday music history in ‘Hark! The Stories Behind our Favorite Christmas Carols’
American Media presents “Hark! The Stories Behind our Favorite Christmas Carols,” a commentary podcast about songs’ origins, musical development, lyrics, and more. It’s an informative listen for music fans, history buffs, or anyone wanting to learn more about holiday classics.
Hosted by producer Maggi Van Dorn, this series launched in November 2021 and posts weekly episodes. Start the podcast in any order, since each episode focuses on specific holiday songs. The average length of episodes is 32 minutes.
The first episode virtually traveled to England and spoke with writer and musician Rosie Pentreath. She once played the flute for Harry Styles who happened to be in the audience when she was gigging around London.
Rosie and Maggi unpacked the history of caroling, gaining popularity as a Victorian tradition, and how carolers are often broken into two groups: the jolly cheer spreaders, and those who prefer a haunting candlelight vigil. Rosie falls into the latter category and explained that many holiday songs were written in minor keys.
Rosie shared the origins of medieval tunes like “Coventry Carol” from the 15th and 16th centuries with European roots. This episode also dove into minor key songs such as “What Child Is This,” “Carol of the Bells,” and “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”
Rosie and Maggi explained that in 129 AD, “Angels Hymn” was recognized as one of the first Christmas carols along with other Pagan hymns that lined up with the Winter Solstice. She walked through a timeline of cultural events taking place after the 12th century, the 17th century’s singing ban at Christmas time, and more.
Did you know that “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” did not begin as a Christmas song? In the episode, hear from conductor/composer Colin Britt about the song’s structure and composition. He broke down the harmonizations and analyzed the song’s original lyrics. Then, New Testament scholar Laurie Brink explored the song’s current lyrics.
Check out new, weekly episodes of “Hark! The Stories Behind our Favorite Christmas Carols,” wherever you listen to your podcasts.