"Silent Night!" turns 202 years old in 2020.
carols and caroling
The Victorians revived and popularized the tradition. This was a natural offshoot of the idea of singing around the family piano or other instrument which was already a staple of Victorian home life.
Old words were put to new tunes and new songs were written. In fact, many carols that are still popular today were written and published in the 19th century. These include:
1818 - Silent Night (based on the poem "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!” written in 1816)
1819 - O Tannenbaum (revision of traditional tune)
1823 - The First Nowell (Original spelling)
1833 - I Saw Three Ships
1833 - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
1843 – O Come all ye Faithful
1848 – Once in Royal David’s City
1849 - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
1850 - Here We Come A-Wassailing (a Caroling)
1851 – See Amid the Winters Snow
1857 – Jingle Bells
1862 - Angels We Have Heard on High
1862 – Deck the Halls (with some lines of the current version added in 1877 and 1881)
1863 - We Three Kings of Orient Are
1868 – O Little Town of Bethlehem
1883 – Away in a Manger