H❉ LIDAYS i N tHe SUn Celestial Voices and les etoiles ‘fa-la-la’ at the Dolly and Me Tea at St. Hilary’s.
The figgy pudding express The caroling opportunities you’ve been waiting for... Young Performers International A children’s performing arts nonprofit based in Belvedere that has a chorus and seven jazz/rock bands. They perform all over the Bay Area during the holiday season, starting Nov. 29 at San Francisco’s First Unitarian Universalist Church in San Francisco, featuring the San Francisco premiere of Christopher Tin’s“Baba Yetu”—the Lord’s Prayer in Swahili from the Young Performers International will have their singing shoes on Dec. 4 video game Civilization IV (www. at the Storybook Holiday Festival in Tiburon. christophertin.com). Then on Dec. 4, they’ll be “strolling carolers” at Tiburon’s “A Storybook Holiday Festival,” singing music from around the world, including “Carol of the Bells” from Bulgaria, “Hannukah Shalom” from Israel, “Allah Rasul” from the Middle East, along with other traditional English Christmas carols (http://tiburonchamber.wildapricot.org/holiday-festival). For info on YPI’s other seasonal concerts, visit www.youngperformersintl.org or call executive director Leela Pratt at 415/420-2960.
Deck the halls with boughs of holly Fa la la la la la la la la ’Tis the season to be jolly Fa la la la la la la la la Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel Troll the ancient Yuletide carol Fa la la la la la la la la —19th-century American adaptation from a 16th-century Welsh tune
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hanksgiving is but a week away and yet, it seems that Christmas is already here. Despite the past year’s sagging economy, this season’s prematurely crowded mall parking lots offer a glimpse of recuperative consumer optimism as shoppers begin their hasty procurement of gifts amid red-green-and-gold tinseled department store aisles prominently packed with easily wrapped scarves and sweaters and iPhone accoutrements, all to the familiar piped-in digital soundtrack of a heavily synthesized “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Jingle Bell Rock.” Ugh, is it New Year’s yet? But not every facet of our modern, publicly displayed, flashing-lights and glitter-filled holiday celebration is geared toward exhausting, cynic-making commercialism. Take caroling, for instance—you know, when a small group of rosy-cheeked neighbors greets you at the door with a raucous rendition of “Silent Night.” Or, as is more often the case these days, a local church group or performing arts nonprofit performs popular holiday hymns at various community events, retirement homes and seasonal concerts. Ah, yes, it sure is nice that there are still some customs to evoke the communal spirit and warmth of the season, without the dollar signs. Some experts even believe that singing together releases oxytocin, a hormone important to social bonding and goodwill.
14 PACIFIC SUN NOVEMBER 20 - NOVEMBER 26, 2009
Except that, well...the much-disputed origins of caroling did have some rather blatant monetary motives and feudal improprieties. While some historians assert the genesis of carols dates as far back as the fourth century, others claim that their association with Christmas didn’t occur until the 13th century. But somewhere, early on, carols were actually festive pagan dances that involved much “merriment” (i.e. drinking, carousing)— activities the church, at that time, prohibited. During the Middle Ages, door-to-door “wassailing” became common practice, in which Anglo-Saxon peasants would sing good tidings in exchange for food and drink from their feudal lords—in early New England it was a practice that was also associated with rowdy revelers who would harass and terrorize their upper-class neighbors if refused the ale and “figgy pudding” they requested. By the time the Protestant Reformation took over Europe (along with Oliver Cromwell’s very Scrooge-like ban of Christmas), Roman Catholic-influenced carols all but vanished. Then the Victorian era brought a revival of carol singing and extended their acceptance in church by 1880—albeit without the traditional wassailing carols of yore. By now the notion of door-to-door caroling has diminished substantially. According to a National Christmas Tree Association survey in 1996, only 22 percent of those polled said they planned to go caroling; by 2005, that number was down to a paltry 6 percent. Of course, that’s not too surprising: Our population has increased, along with crime; families are working longer hours; in-person socializing has been replaced by online social media; and most neighbors simply don’t know each other anymore. But if any place could appreciate nostalgia and oxytocin-releasing entertainment in exchange for a hot, spiced beverage and a smile, wouldn’t it be Marin? ❉
Caroling Kids The entry level chorus of Mill Valley-based nonprofit choral association SingersMarin is offered each fall for kids aged 6-8. Since 1995, the troupe has been performing at county retirement homes and events, including San Rafael’s “Parade of Lights,” Mill Valley’s “Winterfest,” Corte Madera Town Center and The Village, as well as the main streets of Tiburon and Larkspur. This year, their major holiday concert, “’Tis the Season... Candles and Wishes,” will be held on Dec. 20 at Marin Center Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael. For more info, visit online at www.singersmarin.org.
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The Merrie Olde Christmas Carolers The world’s largest caroling organization—according to its Web site—featuring singers from local and regional opera and theater companies, costumed in Dickensian attire and accompanied by sleigh bells, cymbals and tambourine. Their first public gig of the season is Nov. 20 at Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, followed by Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa on Nov. 29 and Varenna in Santa Rosa on Dec. 3. For more info, visit www.tmocc.com or call Bay Area manager, Ellen Shea, at 650/868-3773.
Cable Car Caroling The 23rd annual fundraising event for the Institute on Aging takes place Dec. 6 from noon to 5:30pm in San Francisco. Past events included 300 carolers touring the city on motorized cable cars, singing for seniors in senior homes and private residences, culminating with a dinner, live entertainment, silent auction and prize raffle at the Presidio Officers Club. All proceeds support the Institute on Aging program, Center for Elderly Suicide Prevention and Grief Related Services. For more info, visit www.cablecarcaroling.org, call Marie Bautista at 415/750-4180 or e-mail mbautista@ioaging.org. ❉
Oh, carol!
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A look at some of the original wassailed favorites
“The Twelve Days of Christmas” This perennial favorite/least favorite was inspired by a memory game sung by children in 18th-century England, according to one theory. Another theory holds that it was a catechism song for Catholics without openly practicing their faith in an Anglican society (1558-1829).
“Silent Night” ”Stille Nacht”was composed in 1818 by Austrian priest Joseph Mohr and his friend Franz Gruber in the Bavarian town of Oberndorf on Christmas Eve in time for midnight mass— despite the fact that the church organ was broken.The show must go on. “Jingle Bells” Copyrighted by James Pierpont in 1857, this ubiquitous Christmas-time carol was actually written for a Thanksgiving church service.
“O Tannenbaum” Of early 19th-century Germany origins, featuring a much-mimicked melody for state anthems (i.e., Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and New Jersey).
“Joy to the World” This standard also wasn’t composed for Christmas, but for church service, with lyrics that originated in the Old Testament as published in Isaac Watt’s 1719 translation of the Psalms of David. Nineteenth-century American composer Lowell Mason crafted the melody. ❉