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A Cause for Carolling

A Cause for Carolling is a ten-programme history of the Christmas carol commissioned by BBC Radio 4 and broadcast on 9-13 and 16-20 December 2013. Broadly, the series is approached in chronological order and is researched, written, and presented by Jeremy Summerly. Many of the musical examples have been transcribed, edited, and conducted by the presenter especially for the programme. Library research and reflection are complemented by field trips to Sheffield (Festival of Village Carols) , Trinity College, Cambridge (Trinity Roll), King’s College, Cambridge (Nine Lessons & Carols Archive), Dorset County Record Office (Thomas Hardy senior’s carol book), St Michael’s, Stinsford (Hardy’s Mellstock Church), Truro Cathedral (home of Nine Lessons with Carols), the British Library (Piae Cantiones and Sloane 2593), Balliol College Oxford (MS 354), Magdalen College Oxford (birthplace of Bramley & Stainer’s Christmas Carols New & Old), and the Boldeian Library, where the greater part of the research was undertaken.

The series documents precursors to the carol (plainchant and the songs of Godric, for instance) before focusing on the definition of a true carol and its various early manifestations. The Georgian revival of the folk carol and the Victorian reinvention of Christmas are presented as the elements responsible for the expanded definition of what is now deemed to constitute a carol. Thereafter the late-nineteenth century invention of the carol service is described and analyzed. Alongside the contents of seminal works such as the Cowley Carol Book (1901 & 1919), the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols, and the first two volumes of Carols for Choirs (1961 & 1970), the role of carols in modern society and desirable attributes of a successful Christmas carol are investigated.

An accompanying book (A Cause for Carolling) is due for publication in 2014.