Christmas Season Music, Songs, Photos, and More

Holiday Season Music, Songs, Photos, and More!
Fasttrack to America's Past

Holiday season songs on YouTube.

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This is a selection of musical favorites often performed by middle and high school choruses, bands, and orchestras during the Christmas holiday season. They have become part of America's broad cultural heritage, and are enjoyed by people of many religious and ethnic backgrounds.

Carol of the Bells One of the most widely performed holiday songs, with music based on a very old Ukrainian tune. This is from Celtic Woman, an Irish singing group that often visits the U.S. A piano solo is here and a hammered dulcimer version is here.

Sussex Carol A famous old Christmas song performed in a cathedral (large church) in England by the choir of Kings College.

Il Est Ne, le Divin Enfant This is a very old traditional French Christmas carol, but it is still well-known today. The singer is a young American teenager.

The Christmas Song Nat King Cole made this holiday season song a big hit. This recording on film in 1961 is perhaps his best-loved performance. The song, written in 1945 as WWII was ending, has an interesting backstory - see Wikipedia.

Ding Dong Merrily on High A holiday favorite, with lyrics written by an English composer in modern times, although the music itself is based on a dance tune hundreds of years old.

Somewhere In My Memory This is the theme song from the popular 1990 holiday season film Home Alone. It has been performed in school Christmas concerts and by professional recording artists all around the world. This music video features a singer and a children's chorus from the Czech Republic.

Do You Hear What I Hear? British singer Aled Jones performs this Christmas song written by an American man and his wife at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 as a plea for peace.

Below: A famous old Christmas season drawing by Thomas Nast from 1892 shows Santa Claus caught by a young girl as he delivers toys to her house. Nast's drawings helped create the popular image of Santa Claus in America.

Below: The Salvation Army distributes food baskets to poor or out of work families at Christmas time in this photo from 1908. The organization and its bell ringers still turn out in force during the holiday season to help people in need.

Below: Christmas day in an American home in 1941. It was the year the United States was pulled into World War II, determined to defend American children and children all over the world.

"Yes, Virginia, there is
a Santa Claus"

The letter below was sent to a newspaper in New York City in 1897 by a girl named Virginia O'Hanlon. Her letter and the famous response by the editor of The Sun are often reprinted by newspapers all over the country during the holiday season.

Photos and images are from the Library of Congress. Some have been edited or resized for this page.