List of Christmas carols
English
Table:
Title

Composer / Lyricist

Year

Notes

"Adam lay ybounden"

Set by numerous composers, most notably by Boris Ord and Peter Warlock

15th century

"A Great and Mighty Wonder"

lyrics: The words of St Germanus were translated by John Mason Neale (1818–1866)

tune: Michael Praetorius (1571–1621) written originally to the lyrics of Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming.

1599

"Angels from the Realms of Glory"

lyrics: James Montgomery; music: Henry Thomas Smart, 1867, to the tune of "Regent Square". In the UK a slightly different arrangement of "Angels We Have Heard on High" ("Gloria")

1816

"Angels We Have Heard on High"

based on traditional hymn "Gloria" (a French traditional carol "Les Anges dans nos Campagnes"); English translation by Bishop James Chadwick, tune arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes

1862

"As with Gladness Men of Old"

William Chatterton Dix

1867

Set to same tune as "For the Beauty of the Earth"

"Bethlehem Down"

Peter Warlock (composer)
Bruce Blunt (poet)

1927

Mostly used in Christmas and Epiphany services of the Anglican church

"Boar's Head Carol"

English traditional

15th century

"Calypso Carol" ("See him lying on a bed of straw")

Michael Perry

1969

Written in 1964 for a college concert

"Candlelight Carol"

John Rutter

1984

"Carol of the Bells"

Mykola Leontoyvch, Peter J. Wilhousky

1904

The song is based on a folk chant known in Ukrainian as "Shchedryk".

"The Cherry-Tree Carol"

English traditional

"Christians Awake"

John Byrom

1746

"Come and I will sing you"

English traditional

Early 19th Century or before

Musicologist Cecil Sharp, influential in the folklore revival in England, noted in his 1916 One Hundred English Folksongs that the words are "so corrupt, indeed, that in some cases we can do little more than guess at their original meaning"

"Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus"

Charles Wesley

1749

Set to Hyfrydol

"Coventry Carol" ("Lullay, Thou Tiny Little Child")

English traditional

"Ding Dong Merrily on High"

music: Jehan Tabourot, words: George Ratcliffe Woodward

"Down in Yon Forest"

English traditional

The "Corpus Christi Carol"

"Do You Hear What I Hear?"

written by Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne

1962

"Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains"

words and music: John Menzies Macfarlane

1869

"The First Noel" ("The First Nowell")

English traditional

1823

First published in Carols Ancient and Modern by William Sandys

Using the accompanying table along with the context paragraphs listed at the end.

Respond to the question below: What church was the composer of the song from 1969 in ? Respond with the correct answer (omit explanations) in JSON format as {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Use only the information given.

Adam lay ybounden , originally titled Adam lay i-bowndyn , is a 15th-century macaronic English Christian text of unknown authorship . It relates the Biblical events of Genesis , Chapter 3 on the Fall of Man . Originally a song text , no contemporary musical settings survive , although there are many notable modern choral settings of the text , such as that by Boris Ord .
Boris Ord ( born Bernhard Ord ) , CBE ( 9 July 1897 - 30 December 1961 ) was a British organist and choirmaster of King 's College , Cambridge ( 1929-1957 ) . During World War II he served in the Royal Air Force . He is best known for his choral setting of Adam lay ybounden , his only published composition .
Philip Arnold Heseltine ( 30 October 1894 - 17 December 1930 ) , known by the pseudonym Peter Warlock , was a British composer and music critic . The Warlock name , which reflects Heseltine 's interest in occult practices , was used for all his published musical works . He is best known as a composer of songs and other vocal music ; he also achieved notoriety in his lifetime through his unconventional and often scandalous lifestyle . As a schoolboy at Eton College , Heseltine met the British composer Frederick Delius , with whom he formed a close friendship . After a failed student career in Oxford and London , Heseltine turned to musical journalism , while developing interests in folk-song and Elizabethan music . His first serious compositions date from around 1915 . Following a period of inactivity , a positive and lasting influence on his work arose from his meeting in 1916 with the Dutch composer Bernard van Dieren ; he also gained creative impetus from a year spent in Ireland , studying Celtic culture and language . On his return to England in 1918 , Heseltine began composing songs in a distinctive , original style , while building a reputation as a combative and controversial music critic . During 1920-21 he edited the music magazine The Sackbut . His most prolific period as a composer came in the 1920s , when he was based first in Wales and later at Eynsford in Kent . Through his critical writings , published under his own name , Heseltine made a pioneering contribution to the scholarship of early music . In addition , he produced a full-length biography of Frederick Delius and wrote , edited , or otherwise assisted the production of several other books and pamphlets .
John Mason Neale ( 24 January 1818 - 6 August 1866 ) was an Anglican priest , scholar and hymnwriter .
Michael Praetorius ( probably 15 February 1571 - 15 February 1621 ) was a German composer , organist , and music theorist . He was one of the most versatile composers of his age , being particularly significant in the development of musical forms based on Protestant hymns , many of which reflect an effort to improve the relationship between Protestants and Catholics .
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen ( lit. , A rose has sprung up ) , is a Christmas carol and Marian Hymn of German origin . It is most commonly translated in English as Lo , how a rose e'er blooming , and is sometimes known as A Spotless Rose or Behold a Rose of Judah . The rose in the text is a symbolic reference to the Virgin Mary , and the hymn makes reference to the Old Testament prophecies of Isaiah which in Christian interpretation foretell the Incarnation of Christ , and to the Tree of Jesse , a traditional symbol of the lineage of Jesus . Because of its prophetic theme , the song is popular during the Christian season of Advent . The hymn has its roots in an unknown author prior to the 17th century . It first appeared in print in 1599 and has since been published with a varying number of verses and in several different translations . It is most commonly sung to a melody which was harmonized by the German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609 . The song 's popularity endures today ; it has been recorded by modern artists such as Mannheim Steamroller and Sting , and it has appeared in a variety of feature film soundtracks , including Love Story ( 1970 ) and The Time Traveler 's Wife ( 2009 ) . [ not verified in body ]
Angels from the Realms of Glory is a Christmas carol written by Scottish poet James Montgomery . It was first printed in the Sheffield Iris on Christmas Eve 1816 , though it only began to be sung in churches after its 1825 reprinting in the Montgomery collection The Christian Psalmist and in the Religious Tract Society 's The Christmas Box or New Year 's Gift . Before 1928 , the hymn was sung to a variety of tunes , including Regent Square by Henry Smart , Lewes by John Randall , and Wildersmouth or Feniton Court by Edward Hopkins . In the United States , Regent Square is the most common tune . In the United Kingdom , however , the hymn came to be sung to the French carol tune Iris ( Les anges dans nos campagnes , the tune used for Angels We Have Heard on High ) after this setting was published in the Oxford Book of Carols . Sometimes the Gloria in excelsis Deo refrain is even sung in place of Montgomery 's original lyric : Come and worship Christ the new-born King .
James Montgomery ( 4 November 1771 - 30 April 1854 ) was a Scottish-born hymn writer , poet and editor . His writings reflected concern for humanitarian causes such as the abolition of slavery and the exploitation of child chimney sweeps . He was raised in and theologically trained by the Moravian Church .
Angels We Have Heard on High is a Christmas carol with English lyrics by James Chadwick , to the hymn tune Gloria from a traditional French song of unknown origin called Les Anges dans nos campagnes . Chadwick 's lyrics are derived and inspired and in parts a loose translation , from the French original . The song 's subject is the birth of Jesus Christ as narrated in the Gospel of Luke , specifically the scene in which shepherds outside Bethlehem encounter a multitude of angels singing and praising the newborn child .
Gloria in excelsis Deo ( Latin for Glory to God in the highest ) is a Christian hymn known also as the Greater Doxology ( as distinguished from the Minor Doxology or Gloria Patri ) and the Angelic Hymn/Hymn of the Angels . The name is often abbreviated to Gloria in Excelsis or simply Gloria .
As with Gladness Men of Old is an Epiphany hymn , written by William Chatterton Dix on 6 January 1859 ( Epiphany ) while he was ill in bed . Though considered by many as a Christmas carol , it is found in the Epiphany section of many hymnals and still used by many churches . The music was adapted by William Henry Monk in 1861 from a tune written by Conrad Kocher in 1838 . The hymn is based on the visit of the Biblical magi in the Nativity of Jesus .
William Chatterton Dix ( 14 June 1837 - 9 September 1898 ) was an English writer of hymns and carols . He was born in Bristol , the son of John Dix , a local surgeon , who wrote The Life of Chatterton the poet , a book of Pen Pictures of Popular English Preachers and other works . His father gave him his middle name in honour of Thomas Chatterton , a poet about whom he had written a biography . He was educated at the Grammar School , Bristol , for a mercantile career , and became manager of a maritime insurance company in Glasgow where he spent most of his life .
Bethlehem Down is a choral anthem or carol composed in 1927 by Anglo-Welsh composer Peter Warlock ( 1894-1930 ) ( the pseudonym of Philip Arnold Heseltine ) and set to a poem written by journalist and poet Bruce Blunt ( 1899-1957 ) . It is a popular anthem used in the Anglican church during the liturgical seasons of Christmastide and Epiphany . Warlock wrote it to finance an immortal carouse ( a heavy bout of drinking ) on Christmas Eve 1927 for himself and Blunt , who were experiencing financial difficulty . The pair submitted the carol to the Daily Telegraph 's annual Christmas carol contest and won . The carol also exists as a song for voice and piano .
George Henry Bruce Blunt , otherwise known as Bruce Blunt ( 1 July 1899 - 8 July 1957 ) was an English poet , journalist and wine merchant best known for his collaborations with the composer Peter Warlock . In Frederick Delius and Peter Warlock : a friendship revealed he is described as a bon viveur , poet , journalist , and writer on wine , gardening , and the turf . His poetry is included in the 1932 anthology Modern Poets edited by J. C. Squire . For Warlock he wrote a number of short song texts including the carol Bethlehem Down ( 1927 ) and the songs The Fox , The Frostbound Wood ( 1929 ) , The First Mercy and The Cricketers of Hambledon ( 1928 ) . It has been commented that Warlock 's settings of Blunt are amongst his finest . His poem The Long Barrow was also set by Bernard van Dieren in 1931 .
The Boar 's Head Carol is a macaronic 15th century English Christmas carol that describes the ancient tradition of sacrificing a boar and presenting its head at a Yuletide feast . Of the several extant versions of the carol , the one most usually performed today is based on a version published in 1521 in Wynkyn de Worde 's Christmasse Carolles .
The Calypso Carol is a popular modern Christmas carol , with the opening line See him lying on a bed of straw . It has often been introduced by BBC announcers and others as a traditional folk carol from the West Indies . The calypso of the title refers to its West Indian flavour , and the words have featured on a set of Caribbean postage stamps . However , both words and music were written by an Englishman , Michael Perry , while he was a student at Oak Hill Theological College in 1964 . Perry became one of the UK 's leading contemporary hymn writers , but the Calypso Carol remained his most popular work . Perry originally wrote the song for a college carol concert , and it only became famous by accident . Cliff Richard was hastily assembling a selection for radio , and included the song to replace a missing recording . It gained popularity and was included in the 1969 songbook Youth Praise 2 . In 1983 , the Caribbean island of Nevis featured the chorus of Calypso Carol on a miniature sheet of its 1983 Christmas stamps , designed by Jennifer Toombs . The neighbouring island of St Kitts issued a complementary sheet with the slightly older song Mary 's Boy Child . The long-running BBC programme Songs of Praise invited viewers to vote for their favourite carols throughout 2005 . Tens of thousands of votes were cast , and the Calypso Carol was one of the top ten choices , performed at the Songs of Praise 2005 Christmas Concert at the Royal Albert Hall .
Michael Arnold Perry ( 8 March 1942 - 9 December 1996 ) was a Church of England clergyman and one of the leading British hymnodists of the 20th century . He was closely associated with Jubilate Hymns .
Candlelight Carol is a Christmas carol with music and lyrics by the English choral composer and conductor John Rutter . The carol was written in 1984 and was first recorded by Rutter 's own group , the Cambridge Singers . Candlelight Carol focuses on describing the Nativity of Jesus , particularly the love of Mary ( mother of Jesus ) for her son Jesus .
John Milford Rutter CBE ( born 24 September 1945 ) is an English composer , conductor , editor , arranger , and record producer , mainly of choral music .
Carol of the Bells is a popular Christmas carol , with music by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych in 1914 and lyrics by Peter J. Wilhousky . The song is based on the Ukrainian folk chant Shchedryk . Wilhousky 's lyrics are under copyright protection ( owned by Carl Fischer Music ) ; the music is in the public domain . The music is based on a four-note ostinato and is in 3/4 time signature . The ringer of the B-flat bell , though , feels it in 6/8 time . The carol is metrically bistable , and a listener can focus on either meter or switch between them . It has been performed in many genres : classical , metal , jazz , country music , rock , and pop . The piece has also been featured in films , television shows , and parodies .
Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych ( Ukrainian : Микола Дмитрович Леонтович ; sometimes spelt Leontovich ; December 13 [ O.S . December 1 ] 1877 - 23 January 1921 ) was a Ukrainian composer , choral conductor , and teacher of international renown . His music was inspired by Mykola Lysenko and the Ukrainian National Music School . Leontovych specialised in a cappella choral music , ranging from original compositions , to church music , to elaborate arrangements of folk music . Leontovych was born and raised in the Podolia province of the Russian Empire ( now in Ukraine ) . He was educated as a priest in the Kamianets-Podilskyi Theological Seminary and later furthered his musical education at the Saint Petersburg Court Capella and private lessons with Boleslav Yavorsky . With the independence of the Ukrainian state in the 1917 revolution , Leontovych moved to Kyiv where he worked at the Kyiv Conservatory and the Mykola Lysenko Institute of Music and Drama . He is recognised for composing Shchedryk in 1904 ( which premiered in 1916 ) , known to the English-speaking world as Carol of the Bells or Ring , Christmas Bells . He is known as a martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Ukrainian Church , where he is also remembered for his liturgy , the first liturgy composed in the vernacular , specifically in the modern Ukrainian language . He was assassinated by a Soviet agent in 1921 . During his lifetime , Leontovych 's compositions and arrangements became popular with professional and amateur groups alike across the Ukrainian region of the Russian Empire . Performances of his works in western Europe and North America earned him the nickname the Ukrainian Bach in France .
Peter J. Wilhousky ( Ukrainian : Пітер ( Петро ) Вільховський ) ( 13 July 1902 - 4 January 1978 ) was an American composer , educator , and choral conductor of Ukrainian ethnic extraction . During his childhood he was part of New York 's Rusyn Cathedral Boys Choir and gave a performance at the White House to President Woodrow Wilson . He was featured on several broadcasts of classical music with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra , including the historic 1947 broadcast of Verdi 's opera Otello . In 1936 , he wrote the popular Christmas carol Carol of the Bells ; a song with English lyrics to the popular composition by Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych originally known as Shchedryk . His arrangement of the Battle Hymn of the Republic for chorus , band , and orchestra is probably the most famous arrangement of the hymn before the 1940s in the United States .
The Cherry-Tree Carol is a ballad with the rare distinction of being both a Christmas carol and one of the Child Ballads ( no . 54 ) . The song itself is very old , reportedly sung in some form at the Feast of Corpus Christi in the early 15th century .
John Byrom or John Byrom of Kersal or John Byrom of Manchester FRS ( 29 February 1692 - 26 September 1763 ) was an English poet , the inventor of a revolutionary system of shorthand and later a significant landowner . He is most remembered as the writer of the lyrics of Anglican hymn Christians awake ! Salute the happy morn , which was supposedly a Christmas gift for his daughter .
Green Grow the Rushes , O ( alternatively Ho or Oh ) ( also known as The Twelve Prophets , The Carol of the Twelve Numbers , The Teaching Song , The Dilly Song , or The Ten Commandments ) , is an English folk song ( Roud # 133 ) popular across the English-speaking world . It is sometimes sung as a Christmas carol . The song is not to be confused with Robert Burns 's similarly titled Green Grow the Rashes nor with the Altan song of the same name . It is cumulative in structure , with each verse built up from the previous one by appending a new stanza . The first verse is :
Come , Thou Long Expected Jesus is a 1744 Advent and Christmas carol common in Protestant hymnals . The text was written by Charles Wesley . It is performed to one of several tunes , including Stuttgart ( attr . to Christian Friedrich Witt ) and Hyfrydol ( by Rowland Prichard ) . It is hymn number 66 in the Episcopal Church hymnal ( set to Stuttgart ) ; hymn number 196 in the United Methodist Hymnal ( to Hyfrydol ) ; hymns 1 ( to Stuttgart ) and 2 ( to Hyfrydol ) in the 1990 Presbyterian Hymnal ; and hymn 254 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship , among others . The hymn is considered an enduring classic in Christian hymnology .
Charles Wesley ( 18 December 1707 - 29 March 1788 ) was an English leader of the Methodist movement , most widely known for writing about 6,500 hymns . Wesley was born in Epworth , Lincolnshire , the son of Anglican cleric and poet Samuel Wesley and his wife Susanna . He was a younger brother of Methodist founder John Wesley and Anglican cleric Samuel Wesley the Younger , and he became the father of musician Samuel Wesley and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley . Wesley was educated at Oxford where his brothers had also studied , and he formed the Holy Club among his fellow students in 1729 . John Wesley later joined this group , as did George Whitefield . Charles followed his father and brother into the church in 1735 , and he travelled with John to Georgia in America , returning a year later . In 1749 , he married Sarah Gwynne , daughter of a Welsh gentleman who had been converted to Methodism by Howell Harris . She accompanied the brothers on their evangelistic journeys throughout Britain until Charles ceased to travel in 1765 . Despite their closeness , Charles and John did not always agree on questions relating to their beliefs . In particular , Charles was strongly opposed to the idea of a breach with the Church of England into which they had been ordained .
The Coventry Carol is an English Christmas carol dating from the 16th century . The carol was traditionally performed in Coventry in England as part of a mystery play called The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors . The play depicts the Christmas story from chapter two in the Gospel of Matthew : the carol itself refers to the Massacre of the Innocents , in which Herod ordered all male infants under the age of two in Bethlehem to be killed , and takes the form of a lullaby sung by mothers of the doomed children . The music contains a well-known example of a Picardy third . The author is unknown ; the oldest known text was written down by Robert Croo in 1534 , and the oldest known setting of the melody dates from 1591 . There is an alternative , modern setting of the carol by Kenneth Leighton , and another by Philip Stopford .
Ding Dong Merrily on High is a Christmas carol . The tune first appeared as a secular dance tune known under the title Branle de l'Official in Orchésographie , a dance book written by Jehan Tabourot ( 1519-1593 ) . The lyrics are from English composer George Ratcliffe Woodward ( 1848-1934 ) , and the carol was first published in 1924 in his The Cambridge Carol-Book : Being Fifty-two Songs for Christmas , Easter , And Other Seasons . Woodward took an interest in church bell ringing , which no doubt aided him in writing it . Woodward was the author of several carol books , including Songs of Syon and The Cowley Carol Book . The macaronic style is characteristic of Woodwards delight in archaic poetry . Charles Wood harmonised the tune when it was published with Woodward 's text in The Cambridge Carol Book . More recently , Sir David Willcocks made an arrangement for the second book of Carols for Choirs . The song is particularly noted for the Latin refrain :
Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of French cleric Jehan Tabourot ( March 17 , 1520 - July 23 , 1595 ) . Tabourot is most famous for his Orchésographie , a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance . He was born in Dijon and died in Langres .
George Ratcliffe Woodward ( 27 December 1848 - 3 March 1934 ) was an English Anglican priest who wrote mostly religious verse , both original and translated from ancient authors . The best-known of these were written to fit traditional melodies , mainly of the Renaissance . He sometimes harmonised these melodies himself , but usually left this to his frequent collaborator , composer Charles Wood . Woodward was born at 26 Hamilton Square , Birkenhead and educated in Elstree , Hertfordshire , then Harrow School . In 1867 he won a Sayer Scholarship to Gonville and Caius College , Cambridge , graduating in 1872 , third class in the Classics Tripos . On 21 December 1874 he was ordained deacon by the Bishop of London , to serve as Assistant Curate at St Barnabas , Pimlico . In September 1882 he moved to Little Walsingham with Houghton St Giles , in Norfolk . Woodward played the cello , and the euphonium , sometimes in procession . Other hobbies included bellringing and beekeeping and he also published and printed booklets of his own verse . In 1889 he married Alice Dorothy Lee Warner , at St Barnabas , Pimlico , having moved to Chelmondiston , near Ipswich , in 1888 . In 1893 , Woodward published Carols for Christmas-Tide , Series II . His wife Alice died in October 1893 , and was buried in Walsingham .
Down in Yon Forest ( or Down in Yon Forrest ) is a traditional English Christmas carol dating to the Renaissance era , ultimately deriving from the anonymous Middle English poem known today as the Corpus Christi Carol . The carol has been arranged in modern English by Ralph Vaughan Williams , Nicholas Maw , John Jacob Niles and John Rutter , among others . It has been recorded by artists including Joan Baez ( on Noël ) , Martyn Bates with Max Eastley , Shirley Collins , The Albion Band , Bruce Cockburn ( on Christmas ) , Kemper Crabb , Burl Ives ( on Christmas Day in the Morning ) , John McCutcheon , Jean Ritchie ( on Carols for All Seasons ) , Bob Rowe , Andreas Scholl , Steeleye Span ( on Winter ) , Wovenhand ( on Consider the Birds ) , Mark Lanegan , and the choir of Clare College , Cambridge .
Do You Hear What I Hear ? is a song written in October 1962 , with lyrics by Noël Regney and music by Gloria Shayne . The pair , married at the time , wrote it as a plea for peace during the Cuban Missile Crisis . Regney had been invited by a record producer to write a Christmas song , but he was hesitant due to the commercialism of Christmas . It has sold tens of millions of copies and has been covered by hundreds of artists .
Noël Regney ( born Léon Schlienger , 19 August 1922 - 22 November 2002 ) , was a French World War II veteran and songwriter who is best known for composing the Christmas standard Do You Hear What I Hear ? with his then-wife Gloria Shayne Baker in 1962 . Originally from Alsace , France , he moved to New York City and then eventually Connecticut , where he lived out the remainder of his life . He is survived by his three children , Paul , Gabrielle , and Matthieu , and his ex-wife Dominique .
Far , Far , Away on Judea 's Plains was originally written for an 1869 Christmas program in St. George , Utah , when John Menzies Macfarlane desired a new song for his choir . Far , Far , Away on Judea 's Plains was first published in the Juvenile Instructor on December 15 , 1889 . The hymn has since become one of the few hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to become accepted in the broader Christian community . The hymn 's accompanying melody , Chatterley , was also written by Macfarlane .
John Menzies Macfarlane ( October 11 , 1833 - June 4 , 1892 ) was a Scottish-born Latter-day Saint hymnwriter , choir director and civic leader who spent most of his life in Utah Territory .
The First Nowell ( also written The First Noël or The First Noel ) is a traditional English Christmas carol with Cornish origins , most likely from the early modern period , although possibly earlier . The First Nowell is of Cornish origin . Its current form was first published in Carols Ancient and Modern ( 1823 ) and Gilbert and Sandys Carols ( 1833 ) , both of which were edited by William Sandys and arranged , edited and with extra lyrics written by Davies Gilbert for Hymns and Carols of God . Nowell is an Early Modern English synonym of Christmas from French Noël the Christmas season , ultimately from Latin natalis [ dies ] [ day ] of birth . The word was regularly used in the burden of carols in the middle ages towards the early modern period ; Sir Christèmas ( Ritson Manuscript ) , Nowell sing we now all and some ( Trinity Carol Roll ) and Nowel - out of youre slepe arise and wake ( Selden Carol Book ) being 15th century examples . The melody is unusual among English folk melodies in that it consists of one musical phrase repeated twice , followed by a refrain which is a variation on that phrase . All three phrases end on the third of the scale . Writing in the Journal of the Folk-Song Society in 1915 , Anne Gilchrist notes it was not recorded prior to Sandys ' publication . She speculated based on a set of church gallery parts discovered in Westmorland that the tune may have had its origin as a treble part to another carol Hark , hark the angels sing ; her suggestion was that the treble part was passed down orally and was later remembered as the melody rather than a harmony . A conjectural reconstruction of this earlier version can be found in the New Oxford Book of Carols . Today , The First Nowell is usually performed in a four-part hymn arrangement by the English composer John Stainer , first published in his Carols , New and Old in 1871 . Variations of its theme are included in Victor Hely-Hutchinson 's Carol Symphony .