HADLEY — While “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” is a popular Christmas song, it’s the only carol that doesn’t mention the birth of Jesus, and its lyrics were once thought too radical to include in hymnals.
“O Come O Come Emmanuel” is also a well-known Advent hymn, though the origin of its melody, composed in the 15th century for funeral marches, was lost to history until being rediscovered in 1966.
These are among nuggets of information that Amherst resident Nick Grabbe, a former reporter and editor with the Daily Hampshire Gazette, will present on three Advent hymns and four Christmas carols during an event at Wesley United Methodist Church, 98 North Maple St., at 1 p.m. Saturday.
Joined by the church music director Cathy Bennett, Grabbe will talk about the seven compositions and will lead those who attend in performing each song.
Grabbe said his interest in the background of the songs came from reading their texts in the “New Century Hymnal.”
“There’s a lot of curious information that I will impart,” Grabbe said.
For instance, the composers of both “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” and “Little Town of Bethlehem” lived in Massachusetts, while “Silent Night, Holy Night” began life in small villages in the Austrian Alps 201 years ago.
“It’s just for fun,” Grabbe said. “I’m not an expert on musicology.”
But he hopes that people might drop by to get a respite from their holiday shopping. The event will last between 45 minutes and an hour.
Grabbe said he led the first talk first four years ago at the Leverett Congregational Church, and he did it again last year at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst.
Saturday’s event will be the first of two this season, with the second scheduled for Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. at Grace, 14 Boltwood Ave.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
