Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols

“O Little Town of Bethlehem” has shaped how millions of English speakers imagine the Palestinian town where Jesus was born: a small place, still and peaceful, resting under the stars. The wars and struggles of recent decades invite us to question whether that image is true. And yet, “Bethlehem is still a very little town,” says Stephanie Saldaña, a writer and mother raising her family in this reli...

Did you know that when a ewe rejects her newborn lamb, the shepherd has only hours to convince her to nurse it—or the lamb will die? This is the work of shepherds—staying awake through the night when lambs are being born, watching closely, ready to step in and save them. It gives new meaning to the good shepherd. In this episode, host Maggi Van Dorn travels to a farm in Herefordshire, near the Wel...

We often imagine angels as gentle and serene. But in Scripture they arrive in blinding light and overwhelming sound—so much so that their first words are almost always “Do not be afraid.” These are the messengers who burst into the night sky to meet a group of poor, worn-out shepherds—outsiders who become the first to hear the news of Christ’s birth. “Angels We Have Heard on High” draws us into th...

Most Christmas carols celebrate the birth of Jesus. But not “The Coventry Carol,” the premiere episode of “Hark!” season five. This song centers on a biblical horror: the “massacre of the innocents,” King Herod’s order to kill all male babies two years old and under in Bethlehem. It’s a lullaby sung by mothers to children who may not survive the night. In this episode, host Maggi Van Dorn travels...

On the final episode of Hark! this season, prepare yourselves for a wee bit of scandal because we’re looking at a tune that began as a bawdy love song and has long been associated with an evil monarch, but which, over the course of three centuries, finds its redemption as a Christmas carol. This is the story behind, “What Child Is This?” Please complete our brief survey to share your hopes for Har...

If you’re in search of an ancient, theologically rich carol this season, look no further than “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” Long before it became a Christmas carol in the 19th century, this hymn was first penned as a poem in the 4th century by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius. As Brian Flanagan, theologian and church historian, explains, this was a time of significant turmoil in church history, with...

On this episode of “Hark!”, we follow the beat of a modern carol that has gained worldwide fame, yet was composed almost while napping. It is a tale about a figure the Bible never mentions, but whose bold gift leads us straight to the heart of Christmas. This is the story of “The Little Drummer Boy.” First, Lisa Graham, the director of the choral program and a senior lecturer in music at Wellesley...

To kick off the fourth season of “Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols” we’re embarking on an adventure to learn about an American-born carol that features some classic nativity characters—figures that, though very familiar to us, we know little about. It’s a Christmas song that begins on a plodding, somber note and erupts into a thrilling epiphany. We’re exploring “We Three King...

Our final episode of Hark! this season departs from the usual nativity of Christ in a manger, surrounded by shepherds and angels on high. Instead, our carol centers on the singular icon of a rose. “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” is a German Christmas song, first published in a Lutheran hymnbook in 1599. Although its believed to be much older, originating in a Catholic monastery with an uncertain da...

We’re looking at a song that is indisputably a Christmas carol but with a reach that extends to every season – “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” It belongs to a collection of historic Negro Spirituals, which likely started on the slave plantations in the American South and were later picked up in the Civil Rights Movement by activists like Fannie Lou Hamer and later, The Freedom Singers.  “Go Tell It...

“The Wexford Carol” is heralded as Ireland’s oldest recorded Christmas carol. It’s been performed by world class cellist Yo-Yo Ma and American country music star Allison Krauss. Yet, the history of this carol is difficult to trace. We know that it was passed down in the oral tradition for hundreds of years. Some scholars claim it originated in the 16th century, while others believe it has even old...

Hark! Season 3 debuts with a crowd favorite- “O Holy Night.” Born as a French poem in 1843, and set to music a few years later, this carol was banned for two decades from the Catholic Mass. It resurfaced in the hands of a Unitarian minister in the U.S. and became an anthem for abolitionists before the Civil War. It is also the song that you, our listeners, have overwhelmingly asked us to feature o...

Hark! Season 3 debuts November 26 with new episodes dropping every Sunday leading up to Christmas. Be sure to follow Hark! on your favorite podcast app and never miss a beat.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our last episode of the season, we’re blasting “Joy to the World” a carol that for many is synonymous with Christmas, but which has almost nothing to do with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  The prolific hymn writer, Isaac Watts, first penned “Joy to the World” after Psalm 98, which reflects the joy that followed Jewish deliverance from exile. But as a carol, it anticipates the second coming...

“In the Bleak Midwinter” is the greatest carol of all time! Or, that’s what choir directors and choral experts across the U.S. and the U.K. told BBC Magazine in the 2008 poll that earned it this fame.  This haunting carol is born out of a poem written by an English poet in 1872 for a U.S. literary journal, Scribner’s Monthly, unimaginatively titled: “A Christmas carol.” But, it would take more tha...

The Huron Carol may not be especially well-known by Americans, but in Canada, this song is a national treasure! It has been performed by some of Canada’s biggest recording artists, from Sarah McLachlan to Toronto Children’s Chorus. For decades now, Indigenous actor and singer, Tom Jackson, has performed a Christmas benefit concert in the carol’s name.   But, beloved as this carol may be, it also c...

We’re traveling to bitter-cold Bohemia to dig deep into the story of a 10th-century duke turned king turned saint: Good King Wenceslas. The legend of Wenceslas’ generosity and faith has reverberated throughout time, but it wasn’t until 1853, that the prolific Victorian hymn writer, John Mason Neale, wrote the lyrics and paired them with a jaunty 16th-century festival song: Tempus Adest Floridum. W...

We’re ringing in the second season of Hark! with “Carol of the Bells,” or “Shchedryk.” Originally derived from a Ukrainian folk song, this Christmas classic crossed the Atlantic to become a major sensation, debuting at Carnegie Hall in 1922. Since then it has become an enchanting symbol of Christmastime with over 150 versions and recordings worldwide. And to this day the story behind “Carol of the...

It is hard to imagine a midnight Mass on Christmas Eve without Silent Night. Musicians may treat it differently—singing it a cappella, with spare chords on the organ in the background, or to the gentle picking of a guitar as its creators intended—but it is universally cherished. Its basic three-chord structure makes it a cinch to play and its lilting rhythm is perfect to soothe a congregation and...

O Come, All Ye Faithful is a rousing, controversial and some might even say, miraculous Christmas carol! And it’s believed to have a subversive Jacobite rallying call hidden in the text. To peal back the layers of history in this song, Host Maggi Van Dorn is joined by Rev. Andrew Cameron-Mowat S.J., a Jesuit priest at St. Ignatius, Stamford Hill (London), and an accomplished organist and music dir...

The title track of the podcast is here! Even though “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” was never meant to be a Christmas carol, it has proven one of the most popular in history. We’re exploring its soaring descants and hallmark harmonizations with conductor/composer Colin Britt. And we’re unpacking its many scriptural allusions with Laurie Brink, a Dominican sister and New Testament scholar.  Special...

What would it mean to approach Advent with a sense of longing, rather than wanting or demanding? That’s the question posed by Roc O’Connor S.J., of the famed St. Louis Jesuits. And the Christmas carol that seems to best encapsulate this holy longing is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” It’s one of the oldest carols in circulation, with a text that dates back to the 8th century. To uncover the story of th...

On the first episode of Hark! we unwrap the history of Christmas carols in Europe and why so many of them are set in a haunting minor key. Host Maggi Van Dorn is joined by Rosie Pentreath, musician and music writer for Classic FM, and the founder/host of the OUTcast podcast. Support “Hark!” and subscribe to America today. Special thanks to Harpa Dei and Jim Bilodeau for providing some of the origi...

America Media presents “Hark!” a podcast on the meaning and the making of our most beloved Christmas carols and their time-honored traditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices