Andrew Gant's The Carols of Christmas: A Celebration of the Surprising Stories Behind Your Favorite Holiday Songs is a delightful little book that offers a glimpse into the magic that is each Carol, including a generalized
summary of the history of some of our best known and most love Carols. There are histories into some classic Carols -- "Good King Wenceslas", "Away in the Manger", and "O Tannenbaum" -- along with some anecdotal evidence that the Wesleyan Carol, "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" replaces "Hark, how all the welkin' ring". You'll read how Ralph Vaughan Williams applied 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".Gant blends expert knowledge about musical history with a readable story into some of our most-beloved musical traditions.
The Carols of Christmas is one of those books that is a must-have for the holiday season -- and for the Christmas gift list -- this year.
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