The Birth of a Genre: Christmas Music - The Greatest Gift of All?

By: Zach Harski

Since the dawn of the recording age, in fact it's very inception, the Victor Talking Machine Company has been a huge part of the Christmas season by bringing Christmas music into the home. Without Christmas music, the holidays would never be as festive, and the Victor Company is proud to continue making your Christmas season a joyful one. In a prior article we discuss Victor’s role in the popularization of Santa as a 20th century cultural figure; now we will be examining Victor’s massive contribution to Christmas music as a whole!

Did you know that Victor artists recorded some of the most famous Christmas songs? Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Gene Autry, all Victor artists, have released some of the most beloved and best-selling Christmas music of all time, including:

 
“White Christmas” – Bing Crosby
“The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You)” – Nat King Cole
“Frosty The Snowman” – Gene Autry
“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” – Gene Autry
“(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays – Perry Como
“It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” – Perry Como
 

Victor Records released many of the first recordings of classic Christmas songs, ranging from Victorian Christmas Carols to modern classics like “Winter Wonderland”. Because many of these songs are carols sung by a choir, Victor Records was at an advantage to record and release many of these songs under their own choirs like the Victor Mixed Chorus, the Victor Oratorio Chorus, and the Trinity Choir. 
 

Listed below are some of the first recordings of famous Christmas songs:
 

“O Holy Night” – Herbert Goddard (Feb. 1902)
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” – Haydn Quartet (1904)           
“O Come All Ye Faithful” – Richard Jose (1904)
“Silent Night” – Haydn Quartet (Oct. 1905)
“The Little Drummer Boy” – J.W. Myers (Dec. 1906)
“Joy To The World” – Trinity Choir (1911)
“God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen” – Victor Mixed Chorus (1912)
“Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem” – Victor Mixed Chorus (1912)
“The First Noel” – Victor Mixed Chorus (1912)
“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” – Victor Oratorio Chorus (1914)
“Winter Wonderland” – Richard Himber and his Hotel Ritz-Carlton Orchestra (1934)
“Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Vaughn Monroe (1945)

So next time you hear a Christmas song, think back to the dawning of the recording age and how fortunate we are to have this all of this music to share with our friends, families, and loved ones!

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