In 129 AD, the first Christmas Carol appeared in Ancient Rome. Then-Pope Telesphorus proclaimed that “In the Holy Night of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, all shall solemnly sing the ‘Angel’s Hymn.’” Through the span of the Roman empire, and into the early middle ages, the singing of Christmas songs, both sacred and secular, served to lift the spirits of communities through cold European winters. At the heart of this activity lay the practice of singing