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Quiz about Christmas Carol Trivia Secular Carols  Songs
Quiz about Christmas Carol Trivia Secular Carols  Songs

Christmas Carol Trivia: Secular Carols & Songs Quiz


How much do you know about these Yuletide songs which we hear countless times each Holiday season? Play this quiz and see. Good Luck & Merry Christmas!

A multiple-choice quiz by jouen58. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
jouen58
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
154,560
Updated
Jun 22 24
# Qns
15
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
8 / 15
Plays
3374
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 15
1. "Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly" is one of the most frequently heard carols around the holidays. Ironically, it was not originally a Christmas carol. It originated in Wales, was entitled "Nos Galan" and had lyrics which bear almost no resemblance to those of "Deck the Halls". For what holiday was "Nos Galan" originally sung? Hint


Question 2 of 15
2. "Jingle Bells" is, without question, the most ubiquitous of Christmas carols, at least in America. It is heard countless times each year on television, radio, and in canned holiday music for elevators, shopping centers and the like. It was originally penned in 1857 by James Pierpont and was performed at a Sunday School children's programme; for which holiday was it originally written? Hint


Question 3 of 15
3. In the 19th century, Santa Claus (a.k.a. St. Nicholas or St. Nick) became a feature of Christmastime in Europe and America. Around the time of the Civil War, two American songs appeared which celebrated this tradition; one was "Jolly Old St. Nicholas", by an anonymous composer & lyricist. The other was known to have been written by Benjamin Russell Hanby, a poet and minister who was active in the Underground Railroad. Which of these carols did Hanby pen? Hint


Question 4 of 15
4. "Oh Tannenbaum" ("Oh Christmas Tree") has a long and varied history. The melody has been used in the U.S. on several occasions for state songs. Which state still uses the melody of "O Tannenbaum" for its state song? Hint


Question 5 of 15
5. There are innumerable "Wassail songs" from almost all parts of England. The best-known to most people, particularly in the U.S., is "Here We come a-Wassailing". What does "Wassail" mean? Hint


Question 6 of 15
6. According to the "New Oxford Book of Carols", this favorite tune was used as an "envoi" as wassailers traveled from one home to the next. Which of these songs is it? Hint


Question 7 of 15
7. In "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the "five gold rings" may originally have been five turkeys.


Question 8 of 15
8. This Yuletide favorite was composed for the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn", although a later movie was actually named after it. For fifty years (until 1998), the first recording of this song held the record as the best-selling single in any music category. Hint


Question 9 of 15
9. This Yuletide favorite was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 film "The Lemon Drop Kid", starring Bob Hope. It was sung as a duet between Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. Hint


Question 10 of 15
10. Which of these popular favorites was composed by the legendary popular singer Mel Torme? Hint


Question 11 of 15
11. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" began, not as a song, but as a children's coloring book.


Question 12 of 15
12. This song was written in 1943 by lyricist James Kimball Gannon and composer Walter Kent. Appearing during the darkest days of WWII, it expressed the hopes and dreams of servicemen and their families. Hint


Question 13 of 15
13. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis", starring Judy Garland, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main, Mary Astor, and Margaret O'Brien. Blane credited Ms. Garland with playing an important part in improving the lyrics of this song.


Question 14 of 15
14. I am including this piece among the secular carols since the text generally used for it contains no strictly religious lyrics, although some versions include the line "Jesus is born!" It began as a New Year's choral piece by the Ukranian composer Mykola Leontovich entitled "Shchedryk", which was eventually rearranged with new lyrics by the American composer and choral director Peter Wilhousky. The words to which it is currently sung bear no resemblance to the original text. Hint


Question 15 of 15
15. This song was penned by Meredith Willson, best known as the composer/lyricist of "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". It was written in 1951 and was featured in the 1963 Broadway show "Here's Love", a musical version of "Miracle on 34th Street". Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. "Deck the Halls With Boughs of Holly" is one of the most frequently heard carols around the holidays. Ironically, it was not originally a Christmas carol. It originated in Wales, was entitled "Nos Galan" and had lyrics which bear almost no resemblance to those of "Deck the Halls". For what holiday was "Nos Galan" originally sung?

Answer: New Year's Eve (December 31)

"Nos Galan" actually means "New Year's Eve", and the carol was both sung and danced to in anticipation of the New Year. The original first line in Welsh: "Oer yw'r gwr s'yn methu caru" (don't ask me how that's pronounced) means "Soon the hoar old year will leave us"; the remaining lines and verses bear almost no resemblance to the traditional text of "Deck the Halls".

The "Fa-la-la-la-la"s were originally not sung, but played on the harp or another such instrument. "Nos Galan" dates from about the 18th century. (Information from the "New Oxford Book of Carols".)
2. "Jingle Bells" is, without question, the most ubiquitous of Christmas carols, at least in America. It is heard countless times each year on television, radio, and in canned holiday music for elevators, shopping centers and the like. It was originally penned in 1857 by James Pierpont and was performed at a Sunday School children's programme; for which holiday was it originally written?

Answer: Thanksgiving

Pierpont was born in Medford, Massachusetts in 1822, the son of a Untiarian minister. Although his family were Northerners and abolitionists, Pierpont came to side with the Southern cause in the War between the States and would fight in the army of the Confederacy against his home state.

In 1857, Pierpont married Eliza Purse (his second wife; he was previously married to Millicent Cowee, who died in 1853) and moved to Savannah, Georgia (Eliza's father, Thomas Purse, was the mayor of Savannah). It was probably in sunny Savannah that the song was written, though it recalls the winter sleigh rides of Pierpont's New England youth (an ongoing battle still rages between Medford and Savannah about the provenance of the song; each city has a plaque commemorating its composition in that city.).

The song was first performed as part of a children's Sunday School programme for Thanksgiving; it proved such a success that it was repeated for the Christmas programme the following month. It has been indelibly associated with Christmas ever since, though the lyrics make no mention of any holiday.

Originally titled "One Horse Open Sleigh", it probably came by its current name when a friend of Pierpont's praised it as a "merry little jingle". Known almost exclusively for this one song, Pierpont composed many others, including a few Confederate anthems such as "Strike for the South", "Our Battle Flag", and "We Conquer or Die". Pierpoint died in 1893; he was the uncle of the great financier J.P. Morgan.
3. In the 19th century, Santa Claus (a.k.a. St. Nicholas or St. Nick) became a feature of Christmastime in Europe and America. Around the time of the Civil War, two American songs appeared which celebrated this tradition; one was "Jolly Old St. Nicholas", by an anonymous composer & lyricist. The other was known to have been written by Benjamin Russell Hanby, a poet and minister who was active in the Underground Railroad. Which of these carols did Hanby pen?

Answer: Up on the Housetop

Hanby was born in 1833 in Rushville, Ohio; his family was deeply committed to the abolitionist cause. "Hanby House", now a historical site in Westerville, Ohio, was a stop on the Underground Railroad. In addition to "Up on the Housetop" (published in 1860 and simply titled "Santa Claus"), Hanby wrote a religious Christmas hymn entitled "Who is He in Yonder Stall?" and the popular song "Darling Nelly Gray", whose seemingly maudlin and sentimental lyrics are actually a lament by a slave for the woman he was to have married, who was taken away to another plantation. Hanby, a United Bretheren pastor, is bellieved to have written about 70 songs during his brief life; he tragically died in 1867, at the age of 33, in Chicago, Illinois. "Up on the Housetop" is believed to have been inspired by Clement Clark Moore's "A Visit from St. Nicholas".
4. "Oh Tannenbaum" ("Oh Christmas Tree") has a long and varied history. The melody has been used in the U.S. on several occasions for state songs. Which state still uses the melody of "O Tannenbaum" for its state song?

Answer: Maryland

"O Tannenbaum" was a German folksong which, originally, consisted of a dialogue between the singer and the fir tree ("Tannenbaum" means "fir tree", not "Christmas tree", which is "Weinachtsbaum" or "Christbaum"), in which the latter praises the good God for making it so sturdy and green, since it has no other parents.

The lyrics had nothing to do with Christmas; however, with the beginnings of the Christmas tree tradition around the 16th century, it began to be used as such. The tune has been used for a number of other texts; originally, it was a folksong entitled "Es Lebe Hoch".

The poem "The Red Flag", by American poet James Smith, was once set to this melody, much to the dismay of the poet, who hated the tune and said that he would rather his poem had been set to the Dead March from "Saul". George Bernard Shaw also took a dislike to the tune, claiming that it sounded like "the funeral march of a dead eel." Nonetheless, it continued to be popular and was, at one time or another, used as the melody of the state songs of Delaware, Missouri, Iowa, and Maryland. Eventually, Delaware and Missouri adopted other tunes for their state songs (this is not surprising in the case of Missouri, since the first line "O Missouri, my Missouri" sung to this melody sounds distinctly like "O misery, my misery"!); however, Maryland continues to use the tune for its state song (I'm informed that Iowa still uses it as well).
5. There are innumerable "Wassail songs" from almost all parts of England. The best-known to most people, particularly in the U.S., is "Here We come a-Wassailing". What does "Wassail" mean?

Answer: Good health!

"Here We Come a-Wassailing" is almost as well-known in the U.S. as in England. Its refrain "Love and joy come to you, and to you your wassail too/ And God bless you and send you a Happy New Year/ and God send you a Happy New Year" appears at the end of Mel Torme's recording of his "The Christmas Song". Wassailing is a very old Christmas tradition in England; wassailers would carry a wassail bowl which would be filled at the homes where they stopped. Wassail was a hearty drink usually comprised of some form of alcoholic beverage mulled with spices, oranges, and apples. Occasionaly solid refreshment was offered to the carolers as well, as per the request in verse 6: "Bring us out a table and spread it with a cloth/ Bring us out a mouldy cheese and some of your Christmas loaf" (the "mouldy cheese" would be a Stilton or other blue-veined cheese).

They were also given money on occasion. There are different Wassail sngs from nearly every village and county in England; my personal favorite is the "Gloucestershire Wassail", which contains the verse "Come butler! Come fill us a bowl of the best, and we'll pray that your soul in Heav'n may rest/ But if you do bring us a bowl of the small [beer] then down will go butler, bowl and all!"
6. According to the "New Oxford Book of Carols", this favorite tune was used as an "envoi" as wassailers traveled from one home to the next. Which of these songs is it?

Answer: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

This song, easily as ubiquitous around the holidays as "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls", follows a very simple formula: 1. Good Wishes! ("We wish you a merry Christmas-3X-and a Happy New Year." 2. (Now that the formalities are out of the way) Feed Us! ("Now bring us a figgy pudding-3X-and bring some out here") 3.Broad Hint ("For we all love figgy pudding-3X-so bring some out here.") 4. (If the hint doesn't work) Open Threat ("And we won't go until we've got some-3X-so bring some out here.)
7. In "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the "five gold rings" may originally have been five turkeys.

Answer: True

There are a lot of birds in "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the partridge, the turtle doves, the French hens, the colly-birds, the geese-a-laying and the swans-a-swimming. This aviary may possibly also include the five gold rings, which may have been either "goldspinks" (Scottish dialect for goldfinches) or "gulder cocks", which were turkeys (also called "gulderers). "The Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally a Twelfth Night forfeits game, in which each player had to remember the objects mentioned by the other players and add one of his own.

Some have argued that the song originated during the reign of Elizabeth I, when Catholicism was outlawed, as a cryptic way for English Catholics to discuss matters pertaining to the faith. Thus, the three French hens represented the Trinity, the four colly-birds were the four Gospels, the ten lords a'leaping were the Ten Commandments, the twelve drummers drumming were the twelve Apostles, etc.

This explanation seems unlikely, however, since many of the things hinted at in the song (the Trinity, the Apostles, the 10 Commandments, the 4 Gospels) were observed by the Anglican church as well, and would not need to be referred to with any secrecy.

Moreover, although the song is extremely popular in the English-speaking world, it is believed to have originated in France.
8. This Yuletide favorite was composed for the 1942 movie "Holiday Inn", although a later movie was actually named after it. For fifty years (until 1998), the first recording of this song held the record as the best-selling single in any music category.

Answer: White Christmas

"Holiday Inn" was released in 1942; composer Irving Berlin had been hired to write the score for the film, which required a song for each major holiday. Berlin was particularly concerned about the Christmas number, which would be the high point of the film.

Although Jewish, Berlin had fond childhood memories of the enormous Christmas tree which graced the home of one of his Irish-Catholic friends. After completing the song, Berlin called his transcriber Helmy Kresa (Berlin could not read or write music; Kresa would thus take down the songs as Berlin sang and played them). With typical modesty, he told Kresa "I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend.

Not only is it the best song I ever wrote; it's the best song anybody ever wrote!" Kresa, who knew Berlin well, took this egotistical statement in stride, but even he was quite impressed by what he heard.

As sung by Bing Crosby, "White Christmas" became one of the most beloved Christmas songs, particularly by soldiers overseas at the height of WWII who nostalgically remembered their own childhood Christmases. Crosby's single of "White Christmas" became the best selling single in any music category, having sold an amazing 30million copies worldwide.

It held this distinction for fifty years, until 1998 when Elton John's remake of "Candle in the Wind" in honor of the late Princess Diana, broke its record. Crosby reintroduced "White Christmas" in the 1954 movie of that title starring Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney.
9. This Yuletide favorite was written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for the 1951 film "The Lemon Drop Kid", starring Bob Hope. It was sung as a duet between Hope and Marilyn Maxwell.

Answer: Silver Bells

"The Lemon Drop Kid", based on a Damon Runyon story about a con-artist who has a change of heart, represents one of the few times in Hollywood history that a remake improves upon the original. It was originally done in 1934 starring Lee Tracy; however, the 1951 version not only follows Runyon's story more closely, but featured a number of songs, a better cast, and exploited the comedic talents of Hope, then in his prime. Both versions featured William Frawley (Fred Mertz from TV's "I Love Lucy"). "Silver Bells" is only one of a number of memorable songs Livingston and Evans wrote for the movies; others include "Mona Lisa", "Tammy", "Buttons and Bows", and "Que Sera, Sera", sung by Doris Day in the 1956 Hitchcock thriller "The Man Who Knew Too Much". Believe it or not, the title of the song was originally to have been "Tinkle Bells", until Livingston asked his wife what she thought of the title.

When Mrs. Livingston couldn't stop laughing long enough to reply, he realized that the word "tinkle" had to go. TRIVIA FACT: "Silver Bells" was the favorite Christmas carol of President Kennedy.
10. Which of these popular favorites was composed by the legendary popular singer Mel Torme?

Answer: The Christmas Song

Torme was only 19 when he composed this ballad on a hot summer day in 1944 (so many great Christmas songs were written during this period). He and co-lyricist Bob Wells were trying to keep cool by thinking winter thoughts (such as "Jack Frost nipping at your nose" and "Folks dressed up like Eskimos", though I hardly think "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire" would go very far toward cooling one off). the song became a hit as recorded by Nat King Cole in 1946 and has been subsequently recorded by nearly every great popular singer, including the "Velvet Fog" (Torme) himself.
11. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" began, not as a song, but as a children's coloring book.

Answer: True

"Rudolph" began as a children's coloring book created by Robert L. May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward Dept. Stores. May was asked to come up with the book as a promotional holiday giveaway to Montgomery Ward customers. The book became amazingly popular and, by 1946, about 6 million copies had been distributed. May's boss had been somewhat concerned about Rudolph's red nose, fearing associations with alcoholism, but he was won over when he saw the drawings.

In 1948, May's brother-in-law Johnny Marks, a composer, set the story to music and sent demos to various artists, including Dinah Shore, Bing Crosby, and Perry Como, none of whom was interested.

As an afterthought, he presented it to country singer Gene Autry, who was looking for some new songs to record. Autry wasn't impressed by the song and said that he felt Santa already had more than enough reindeer, but his wife read the lyrics and found them very touching.

She persuaded him to record the song which, of course, became a hit. Besides "Rudolph", Marks also wrote a fine setting of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", based on the Longfellow poem "Christmas Bells". An animated feature which appeared on television in the 1960s was also tremendously popular and is today considered a classic; it features the breakaway favorite "Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas", sung by Burl Ives. TRIVIA FACT: Mays considered the names Rollo and Reginald for his reindeer hero before settling on Rudolph.
12. This song was written in 1943 by lyricist James Kimball Gannon and composer Walter Kent. Appearing during the darkest days of WWII, it expressed the hopes and dreams of servicemen and their families.

Answer: I'll Be Home for Christmas

Like "White Christmas", this bittersweet ballad was introduced by Bing Crosby and remains popular today. Composer Walter Kent had earlier collaborated with lyricist Nat Burton on another WWII ballad, "The White Cliffs of Dover". "I'll Be Home for Christmas" has the distinction of being the first Christmas song to be broadcast to outer space. On December 17, 1965, the astronauts aboard Gemini 7 asked that the Crosby recording of this song be broadcast to them on their return journey to Earth.
13. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis", starring Judy Garland, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main, Mary Astor, and Margaret O'Brien. Blane credited Ms. Garland with playing an important part in improving the lyrics of this song.

Answer: True

The song takes place on Christmas Eve, the day before the Smith family's departure for New York City. Esther Smith (Garland) has just been proposed to by her beau at a Christmas party and comes upon her little sister (O'Brien) who has just realized that she will be leaving her family of snowmen. Esther sings "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" to the tearful child.

As originally written, the song's lyrics were much darker and sadder; moreover, the first line was "Have yourself a merry little Christmas/ It may be your last." According to Blane, Garland objected strongly to the tone of the song; she felt that, since the scene was sad to begin with, the lyrics should have been more hopeful and less downbeat.

She also pointed out that the first line was, to say the least, unfortunate (why are there not more female lyricists, I wonder?).

The lyrics were changed accordingly and the changes, no doubt, contributed greatly to the song's subsequent popularity. Other songs from the film include "The Trolley Song", The Boy Next Door", and "Under the Bamboo Tree".
14. I am including this piece among the secular carols since the text generally used for it contains no strictly religious lyrics, although some versions include the line "Jesus is born!" It began as a New Year's choral piece by the Ukranian composer Mykola Leontovich entitled "Shchedryk", which was eventually rearranged with new lyrics by the American composer and choral director Peter Wilhousky. The words to which it is currently sung bear no resemblance to the original text.

Answer: Carol of the Bells

The lyrics of "Shchedryk" tell of a swallow returning from the South at the end of winter, bringing the warmth of the sun and spring flowers. It was to be sung on the Ukranian New Year (January 13) called "Malanka", and ends by wishing for a bountiful harvest, prosperity, and a beautiful wife for those who till the soil.

The American composer Peter Wilhousky (of Czech ancestry) rearranged "Shchedryk" as a Christmas carol with quite different lyrics, which recall the old Ukrainian legend that, when Christ was born, all the bells in the world began to ring of their own accord.

The brilliance of Wilhousky's choral writing, evoking the rnging of bells, has made the piece a favorite virtuoso number for choirs and has ensured it a lasting place in the Christmas repertory.
15. This song was penned by Meredith Willson, best known as the composer/lyricist of "The Music Man" and "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". It was written in 1951 and was featured in the 1963 Broadway show "Here's Love", a musical version of "Miracle on 34th Street".

Answer: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Willson was born in 1902 in Mason City, Iowa (he would immortalize his home state in "The Music Man"). He studied the flute and piccolo at the Damrosch Institute (now the Julliard School) and played under John Phillip Sousa and Arturo Toscanini (in the New York Philharmonic).

He co-wrote the score to the Charlie Chaplin film "The Great Dictator". Before his successes on Broadway, he wrote two symphonies. Willson died in 1984. Although "Here's Love" did not enjoy a long run on Broadway, it is frequently revived around the holidays by community theatre groups.
Source: Author jouen58

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