Everyone loves a Christmas carol - in the end, even Scrooge. They have the power to summon up a special kind of midwinter mood, like the aroma of mince pies and mulled wine and the twinkle of lights on a tree. It's a kind of magic. But how did they get that magic? In Christmas Carols Andrew Gant tells the story of some twenty carols, each accompanied by lyrics and music, unravelling a captivating - and often surprising - tale of great musicians and thinkers, saints and pagans, shepherd boys, choirboys, monks and drunks. We delve into the history of such favourites as 'Good King Wenceslas', 'Away in a Manger' and 'The Twelve Days of Christmas', discovering along the way how 'Hark, the Herald angels sing' came to replace 'Hark, how all the welkin ring' and how Ralph Vaughan Williams bolted the tune of an English folk song about a dead ox to a poem by a nineteenth-century American pilgrim to make 'O little town of Bethlehem'. Christmas Carols brims with anecdote, expert knowledge and Christmas spirit. It is a fittingly joyous account of one of our best-loved musical traditions.

Here's something to set you singing this Christmas - a history of twenty odd carols in a beautiful edition. An ideal Christmas book gift.

About the Author
Andrew Gant is a composer, choirmaster, church musician, university teacher and writer. He has directed many leading choirs including The Guards' Chapel, Worcester College Oxford, and Her Majesty's Chapel Royal. He lectures in Music at St Peter's College in Oxford, where he lives with his wife and their three children. His books for Profile are Christmas Carols andO Sing Unto the Lord.

Reviews
Andrew Gant provides us with a fluent but flinty digest of the modern scholarship concerning 22 of our favourite seasonal songs. -- Kathryn Hughes * The Guardian *
Gant's detective-story accounts of 22 Christmas melodies is a delight -- Christopher Hart * Sunday Times *
Scholarly but conversational in in tone and rich in picturesque detail. -- Kirsty McClusky * The Tablet *



Book Information
ISBN 9781781253533
Author Andrew Gant
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Profile Books Ltd
Publisher Profile Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 180g
Dimensions(mm) 202mm * 132mm * 20mm