List of Christmas carols

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A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics center on the theme of Christmas or that has become associated with the Christmas season even though its lyrics may not specifically refer to Christmas. Both types of Christmas carols are included in this list.

Traditional Christmas carols mainly focus on the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus. Other Christmas songs focus on more secular Christmas themes, such as winter scenes, family gatherings, and Santa Claus.

Contents [hide] 1 Religious Christmas carols 2 Non-Religious Christmas Songs 3 French language Christmas songs 4 German language Christmas songs 5 Occitan language Christmas songs 6 Polish language Christmas carols 7 Swedish language Christmas songs

Religious Christmas carols

• "A Babe is Born in Bethlehem" ("Puer natus in Bethlehem")
  • 14th Century Latin hymn
• "Adam Lay Ybounden"
  • 15th Century text, set by numerous composers
• "Adeste Fideles" ("O Come All Ye Faithful")
  • attributed to John Francis Wade around 1743
  • Latin words translated by Frederick Oakeley
  • with descant for verse 3 and unison verse 4 written by Sir David Willcocks in 1961 for the Carols for Choirs books
• "All Hail to Thee"
• "The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came"
  • see "Gabriel's Message"
• "Angels, From the Realms of Glory"
  • Words by James Montgomery, 1816
  • Commonly used tune, the traditional French "Les anges dans nos campagnes"
  • Commonly used tune in the US by Henry Thomas Smart 1813-79
• "Angels We Have Heard on High" ("Les anges dans nos campagnes")
  • French traditional
  • based on traditional carol "Les Anges dans nos Campagnes"
  • music is traditional hymn "Gloria"
  • English translation by James Chadwick in 1862
  • reworded, retitled, and sung by Michael W. Smith as "Gloria"
• "As Lately We Watched"
• "As With Gladness Men of Old"
  • lyrics by William Chatterton Dix
  • music by Conrad Kocher
• "Away in a Manger"
  • first published in 1885
  • first two stanzas attributed to unknown author
  • third stanza written by Dr. John McFarland in 1904
  • music: in the US by James R. Murray (Mueller)
  • music: in the UK by William J. Kirkpatrick (Cradle Song)
• "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem"
  • Bluegrass Traditional
• "The Boar's Head Carol"
  • English traditional
• "Break Forth, O Beauteous, Heav'nly Light"
• "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" ("Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle!")
  • Provençal traditional
• "Carol of the Bells"
  • music and Ukrainian lyrics written by Mykola Leontovych in 1916 (originally titled "Shchedryk")
  • English lyrics written by Peter Wilhousky in 1936
  • Sometimes called the "Bulgarian Carol" even though its origin is Ukrainian, not Bulgarian
• "Burgundian Carol"
• "Caroling Caroling"
  • music written by Alfred Burt in 1954
  • lyrics written by Wihla Hutson in 1954
• "The Cherry Tree Carol"
  • English traditional
• "Children, Go Where I Send Thee"
• "Christ Is Born in Bethlehem"
• "Christ Is Born, the Divine Christ Child" or, "Born on Earth the divine Christ Child" ("Il est né, le divin Enfant!")
  • French traditional
  • with an English translation written by Jacqueline Baron
• "Christmas Flowers (song)
  • Written by Michael Tierney in 2007
• "Christians, Awake, Salute the Happy Morn"
• "Christmas Auld Lang Syne"
• "Christmas is Coming"
• "Christmas Time at Home"
  • Written by Rhonda Vincent in 2006
• "Christmas Time's A Coming"
  • Bluegrass Traditional
• "Cold December's Winds Were Stilled" (El desembre congelat")
  • Catalan traditional
• "Come Buy My Nice Fresh Ivy"
  • music written by Turlough O'Carolan (originally titled "O'Carolan's Lament")
  • lyrics written by John Keegan in 1849
• "Come, All Ye Shepherds" ("Kommet, ihr Hirten")
  • Bohemian traditional
• "Coventry Carol"
  • English traditional
  • music: also by Kenneth Leighton
• "Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly" ("Oer yw'r gŵr sy'n methu caru")
  • Welsh traditional
• "Ding Dong Merrily on High"
  • music written by Jehan Tabourot
  • words written by George Ratcliffe Woodward
  • first published in The Cambridge Carol Book with a harmonisation by Charles Wood
• "Down in Yon Forest"
  • English traditional
• "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
  • written by Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne in 1962
  • first recorded by The Harry Simeone Chorale in 1962
• "Flemish Carol"
• "The First Nowell" (or "The First Noël")
  • English traditional
• "The Friendly Beasts"
• "From Highest Heaven I Come to Tell" ("Von Himmel hoch, da komm' ich her")
• "Fum, Fum, Fum!" ("Veinticinco de diciembre")
  • Spanish traditional
• "Gabriel's Message"
  • from the Basque traditional carol "Birjina gaztettobat zegoen"
  • Translated into English by Sabine Baring-Gould
• "A Gallery Carol"
• "Gaudete"
• "Gesu Bambino" ("The Infant Jesus")
• "Glory to God" ("Ere Zij God")
  • Dutch traditional
• "Gloucester Wassail"
• "The Wexford Carol (Good People All, This Christmastide)"
  • Irish traditional
• "Go Tell It on the Mountain"
  • American traditional
• "God is Being Born" ("Bóg się rodzi")
  • Polish, lyrics written by Franciszek Karpinski
• "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"
  • English traditional
• "Good King Wenceslas"
  • words by John Mason Neale
  • music: tune from Piae Cantiones
• "Hail, Blessed Virgin Mary!"
  • Italian traditional
• "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing"
  • music written by Felix Mendelssohn originally as part of Festgesang, adapted and harmonised by William Hayman Cummings
  • words written by Charles Wesley, amended by George Whitfield and Martin Madan
  • arrangement with descant for verse 3 written by Sir David Willcocks in 1961 for the Carols for Choirs books
• "Here We Come A-Wassailing"
  • English traditional
• "The Holly and the Ivy"
  • English traditional
  • with a choral arrangement by Sir Henry Walford Davies
• "How Brightly Beams" ("Wie Schön Leuchtet")
• "How Far Is It to Bethlehem" ("Children's Song of the Nativity")
  • words written by Frances Chesterton
• "Huron Carol" ("'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime")
• "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"
  • lyrics by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
  • music: by Johnny Marks
  • music: by John Baptiste Calkin
• "I Pray On Christmas"
  • written by Harry Connick, Jr.
• "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In"
  • English traditional
• "In Dulci Jubilo" ("Good Christian Men, Rejoice" or "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice")
  • Macaronic carol known in several translations
• "In the Bleak Midwinter"
  • words written by Christina Rosetti
  • music: by Gustav Holst (Cranham)
  • music: by Harold Darke
• "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" ("W żłobie leży")
  • Polish traditional
• "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear"
  • Music by Richard Storrs Willis,
  • Music usually sung in Britain by Sir Arthur Sullivan
  • Words by Edmund Hamilton Sears
• "I Wonder as I Wander"
  • Appalachian traditional
  • music: also by Carl Rutti
• "Joy to the World"
  • words by Isaac Watts based on Psalm 98
  • music: attributed to Lowell Mason, but based on Handel
• "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine" ("Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mein")
• "Little Donkey"
• "Little Drummer Boy"
  • written by Katherine K. Davis
  • first recorded in 1957 by the Harry Simeone Chorale
• "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming" ("Es Ist Ein' Ros'")
  • German traditional
• "Love Came Down at Christmas"
• "Lullay, Baby Jesus"("Lulajże Jezuniu")
  • Polish traditional
• "Lullay, My Liking"
• "Lullay, Thou Tiny Little Child"
  • Appalachian traditional
• "March of the Kings"
• "Mary Had a Baby"
  • American traditional
• "Mary's Little Boy Child"
• "Masters in This Hall"
• "A la Nanita Nana"
  • Spanish traditional
• "Noel Nouvelet" ("Sing We Now of Christmas", or "Nowell, sing nowell")
  • French traditional
• "O come, O come, Emmanuel" ("Veni, Veni, Emmanuel"; actually an Advent hymn)
• "O Come, Little Children"
  • words and music by Christoph von Schmid
• "O Holy Night"
  • words by Placide Clappeau de Rouquemaure, translated by John Sullivan Dwight
  • music by Adolphe Adam
• "O Jesulein Süss, O Jesulein Mild!" ("O Little One Sweet, O Little One Mild!")
  • German traditional
• "O Little Town of Bethlehem"
  • Words: Bishop Phillips Brooks
  • Music: in the USA by Lewis H. Redner
  • Music: in the UK a traditional tune known as "The Ploughboy's Dream"
  • Music: a setting by Sir Henry Walford Davies occasionally sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
  • retitled and sung by Amy Grant as "Little Town"
• "O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree")
  • German traditional
• "Of the Father's Love Begotten" or ("Of the Father's Heart Begotten")
  • Music: Tune from Piae Cantiones
• "O Leave Your Sheep" or "Come Leave Your Sheep"("Quittez, pasteurs")
  • French traditional
• "Once In Royal David's City"
  • words by Cecil Frances Humphreys Alexander
  • music by Henry John Gauntlett, (Irby)
  • sung at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in a harmonisation by Arthur Henry Mann
• "O Sanctissima or "O du fro"hliche!"
• "O Sleep, Thou Heaven-Born Treasure, Thou" ("Schlaf wohl, du Himmelsknabe du")
• "Out of the East"
• "Past Three O'Clock"
  • English traditional, with verses written by George Ratcliffe Woodward
  • first published in The Cowley Carol Book with a harmonisation by Charles Wood
• "Pat-A-Pan!" ("Guillô, pran ton tamborin!")
  • Provençal traditional
• "The Peace Carol"
• "Personent Hodie" ("On This Day Earth Shall Ring" or "Sing aloud on this day")
  • German traditional, tune from Piae Cantiones
  • well-known arrangement for unison voices by Gustav Holst
• "Puer Nobis Nascitur" ("Unto Us Is Born a Son" or "Unto Us a Boy Is Born")
  • traditional, from Piae Cantiones
• "Quem Pastores" ("Shepherds Left Their Flocks A-Straying")
• "Rejoice and Be Merry"
  • English traditional
• "Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow"
  • American traditional
• "Rocking" ("Jesu, Jesu, Baby Dear" or 'Little Jesus, sweetly sleep')
  • Czech traditional, English translation of ("Hajej, nynej, Ježíšku")
• "Sans Day Carol"
  • Cornish traditional
• "Saw Ye Never, in the Twilight"
• "See, Amid the Winter's Snow"
  • words by Edward Caswell
  • music by John Goss
• "The Seven Joys of Mary"
  • English traditional
• "Today in Betlehem" ("Dzisiaj w Betlejem")
  • Polish traditional
  • English traditional
• "Shepherd, Shake Off Your Drowsy Sleep"
  • French traditional
• "Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht! heilige Nacht!")
  • written by Franz Xaver Gruber and Josef Mohr
  • best-known in the English translation by The Rev. John Freeman Young
• "Sing Lullaby!" also known as The Infant King ("Oi Betleem!")
  • Basque traditional
  • words by Sabine Baring-Gould
• Sir Christèmas"
  • music by William Mathias
• "The Snow Lay on the Ground"
• "The Son of the Virgin" ("El Noi da la Mare")
  • Catalan traditional
• "Songs of Praise the Angels Sang"
• "Still, Still, Still"
  • Austrian traditional
• "The Sussex Carol" ("On Christmas Night All Christians Sing")
  • English traditional
• "Sweet Little Jesus Boy"
• "There's a Song in the Air"
• "There Is No Rose of Such Virtue" ("Ther Is No Rose of Swych Vertu")
  • English traditional, also heard in settings by Benjamin Britten (A Ceremony of Carols) and John Joubert
• "Three Kings from Persian Lands Afar" ("die Könige")
  • words and music by Peter Cornelius
  • with chorale "How Brightly Shines the Morning Star" by Philippe Nicolai
• "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day"
  • English traditional
  • music: also by John Gardner
• "Torches"
  • composed by John Joubert in 1951
• "The Twelve Days of Christmas"
  • English traditional
  • with melody for "Five gold rings" added by Frederick Austin
• "Tu scendi dalle stelle" ("From Starry Skies Thou Comest")
  • Italian traditional
• "The Wassail Song"
• "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne"
• "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy"
  • Trinidadian traditional
• "A Virgin Unspotted" ("A Virgin Most Pure")
  • English traditional
• "The Virgin's Slumber Song"
• "Wachet auf!" (Wake, O Wake!")
• "Wassail! Wassail All Over the Town!" ("The Gloucestershire Wassail")
  • English traditional
• "We Wish You A Merry Christmas"
  • English traditional
• "We Three Kings Of Orient Are" ("Three Kings of Orient") (actually an Epiphany carol)
  • written by Reverend John Henry Hopkins in 1863
• "What Child Is This?"
  • music is traditional song "Greensleeves"
  • words written by William Chatterton Dix
• "Whence Is That Lovely Fragrance Wafting" or Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing("Quelle est cette odeur agréable?")
  • French traditional
• "While by My Sheep I Watched at Night"
• "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks"
  • words by Nahum Tate
  • music: in the US by Handel
  • music: in the UK "Old Winchester" from Este's Psalter, adapted from Christopher Tye