God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

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Arranger notes

The origin of the melody we now associate with this old English carol is unclear. The earliest published version of it appeared in the early 19th century, entitled ‘The Christmas Carol, Varied as a Rondo, for the Piano Forte’ by Samuel Wesley (son of Charles Wesley, the famous Methodist minister). It is however, unclear if he composed the melody or used an existing carol upon which to base his variations.

The earliest recorded version of the lyrics dates from the from the 1650s, although we do not know which tune was used at this time.

20th century hymnologist Erik Routley described this carol as ‘ballad-carol’, as its unusual structure of three lines and a refrain is typical of many folk ballads, which hints that the tune has fairly old roots!