''The Oxford Book of Carols'' is a collection of
vocal score
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production i ...
s of
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...
s and carols of other seasons. It was first published in 1928 by
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
and was edited by
Percy Dearmer,
Martin Shaw and
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams, (; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...
. It became a widely used source of
carols
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with Christian church worship, and sometimes accompanied by a dance. A caroller (or caroler) is someone who sings carols, and is said to be carolling (or caroling).
T ...
among
choir
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
s and church congregations in Britain.
History
Vaughan Williams was a noted composer and arranger of
music in the Anglican Church and a founder member of the
English Folk Dance and Song Society. He was a scholar of
English folk-song
The folk music of England is a tradition-based music which has existed since the later medieval period. It is often contrasted with courtly, classical and later commercial music. Folk music traditionally was preserved and passed on orally wi ...
and his music was greatly influenced by traditional folk forms.
[Frogley, Alain]
"Williams, Ralph Vaughan (1872–1958)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 10 October 2015 Vaughan Williams had collaborated with Percy Dearmer on the production of the ''
English Hymnal'', which was published in 1906, and as with this hymnal, ''The Oxford Book of Carols'' favoured traditional folk tunes and
polyphonic
Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, ...
arrangements of carols, instead of the
Victorian hymn tunes that Vaughan Williams considered to be over-sentimental and Germanic in tone. Vaughan Williams in particular drew on music from his own childhood and his scholarship of English folk music, and was driven by his conviction that the music of ordinary people should be valued.
Editions
''The Oxford Book of Carols'' has been reprinted many times. It was re-engraved and reset in a slightly larger format in 1964, at which time some of the medieval carols were re-edited. The most recent impression is dated 26 January 1984 and is still in print.
''
The New Oxford Book of Carols'' was published in 1992 by OUP. Anthologists Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott make few references to OBC in their Introduction and their aim appears the same as Dearmer's in 1928. The enormous task was shared by both sets of anthologists and Keyte and Parrott issued ''The Shorter New Oxford Book of Carols'' in 1993.
See also
*
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ...
* ''
Carols for Choirs
''Carols for Choirs'' is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, first published in 1961 by Oxford University Press. It was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, and is a widely used source o ...
''
*
List of Christmas Carols
This list of Christmas carols is organized by country, language or culture of origin. Originally, a "Christmas carol" referred to a piece of vocal music in carol form whose lyrics centre on the theme of Christmas or the Christmas season. The d ...
*
Nine Lessons and Carols (Carols from King's College, Cambridge)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxford Book Of Carols
Anglican hymnals
1928 books
Music books
Christmas carol collections
1928 in music
1928 in Christianity
Oxford University Press books
Ralph Vaughan Williams