Joy to the World: Sacred Christmas Songs Through the Ages
Albert & Shirley Menendez
More than a century ago, in 1862, Bishop Christopher Wordsworth wrote these moving words as part of a Christmas hymn:
Sing, O sing, this blessed morn,
Unto us a child is born,
Unto us a son is given,
God himself comes down from heaven;
Sing, O sing, this blessed morn,
Jesus Christ to-day is born.
To Wordsworth, Christmas was such a joyful season that he couldn't help but sing of his faith and put his thoughts and convictions into poetry and song. This sentiment was fairly common for his time; after all, this was the era of Charles Dickens and strolling carolers.
Joy to the World tells the stories behind some of the most wonderful and best-loved songs of the season that express the spiritual sentiments of Christmas. While many others Christmas songs celebrate home and family, romance, and winter weather, the songs whose stories are told here express the underlying reality of the Christmas season between Advent and Epiphany — the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.
The songs in Joy to the World are among the most enduring and permanent of the season's musical traditions. They have stood the test of time and express the many moods and emotions that evoke the spiritual significance of Christmas. Reflecting many eras and different cultures, Joy to the World reveals their origins, the reasons why they were written, and why they are so beloved. The book is organized into six sections of Christmas songs and carols from the Americas, England and Ireland, France and Spain, Germany and Austria, and Greece and Rome, and classical Christmas music.
| ALBERT J. MENENDEZ and SHIRLEY C. MENENDEZ are a husband-and-wife-research and writing team who have collaborated on numerous projects. Between them they have published more than thirty volumes, including "Christmas in the White House," "The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book," and "The December Wars." They live in Maryland. |
| ALBERT J. MENENDEZ and Shirley C. Menendez are a husband-and-wife-research and writing team who have collaborated on numerous projects. Between them they have published more than thirty volumes, including "Christmas in the White House," "The Sherlock Holmes Quiz Book," and "The December Wars." They live in Maryland. |
$12.95, Hardcover
ISBN-10: 1-58182-205-7 (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-1-58182-205-2 (Hardcover)
Hardcover Currently Available
