En décembre (la semaine d’avant le 25)
Noël au Royaume Uni, avec ses ‘mince-pies’, ses ‘Christmas Carols‘, ‘Christmas cards’, ‘Christmas sctockings’ et sa traditionnelle pantomime revêt une importance capitale. La « Christmas Party » FGB qui a perduré jusqu’en 2019 a changé de forme après l’interruption des années ‘Covid’ (2020 et 2021). En 2022, si Santa est encore venu récompenser les enfants sages, plus de panto-maison. Cette dernière a laissé place au concert des CatGuts, une troupe de 2 musiciens et d’une chanteuse qui nous ont enchantés avec à leur programme ‘Christmas Carols’ et …. danses écossaises.
What is a panto ?
A pantomime (informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed there, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent, in other English-speaking countries. Modern pantomimes include songs, slapstick comedy and dancing, employ gender-crossing actors, and combine topical humour related to the social and political events of the moment with a story loosely based on a well-known fairy tale. It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.
The pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre, and it developed partly from the 16th century commedia dell’arte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques. An important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. A contemporary pantomime tradition is the celebrity guest star, a practice that dates back to the late 19th century, when Augustus Harris, proprietor of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, hired well-known variety artists for his pantomimes.
The origin of Christmas carols
Carols at Christmas have been such a popular tradition for so long that it seems strange to realize that holiday carols haven’t always been a part of the Christian tradition, but it’s true. In fact, there was a time when Christian churches regarded the practice of singing holiday carols as a pagan custom―which in fact, it was.
The term carol describes a song of praise and joy. Certainly, holiday carols were a part of the pagan solstice celebrations, the most important of which occurred in December during the time when the days began to become longer than the nights again. Singing holiday carols of praise and thanks, our ancesters danced around stone circles, and welcomed the return of the light.
Even though the early Christian church disapproved of carol singing, clergy members came to realize that the tradition of singing at this time of the year was so ingrained, that it made more sense to ‘Christianize’ the practice than forbid it. And so, holiday carols became Christmas carols. One of the earliest Christmas carols was a song called ‘Angel’s Hymn’, which a Catholic bishop directed to be sung at a Christmas service in the year AD 129! Early carols such as this were written and sung in Latin, which fewer people knew, and used less and less as time went by. While the practice of writing carol music continued to increase, it wasn’t until medieval times that the practice of carol singing became firmly established as a Christian tradition.
St. Francis of Assisi was responsible for developing the type of holiday carol we sing today. In the early 1200s, St. Francis originated nativity plays, in which players sang songs to tell the story of the play. Because St. Francis insisted that players sing in the language of their audiences, people who attended the nativity plays were able to join in and sing along with the performers. Many of the carols we sing today retain the medieval chord patterns used then. The new carols spread from Italy to France, Spain, Germany, and finally to England, where the practice of holiday caroling became almost an art form. Groups of English carolers began going from house to house to serenade the occupants, who frequently expressed their appreciation by inviting the carolers inside for hot beverages and holiday food. The holiday caroling tradition traveled across the Atlantic from England to America, where it remains popular to this day.
A famous Christmas carol
WE WISH YOU A MERRY XMAS
We wish you a merry Christmas (3) / And a happy New Year / Good tidings we bring / To you and your kin / We wish you a merry Christmas / And a happy New Year !