Charlie Brown did not invent the Christmas tree.
His small, sparsely needled tree with the single over-large ornament bending the poor little tree over and down was not the first Christmas tree. It is and will always be a fondly remembered image of Charlie Brown. That little tree was Charlie Brown’s inept but good-hearted attempt to make a Christmas for his friends. We love him for his kind and fumbling efforts, which despite all the opposing odds do succeed. His Christmas tree is a fun-loving success. In the background, Schroeder plays O Tannenbaum while Snoopy and the children dance and wave and wish us all a Merry Christmas. Even Lucy would agree that was a great Christmas special and a great song.
O Tannenbaum is, however, the wrong title for the song.
In German, O Christmas Tree is properly translated O Weihnachtsbaum.
What happened there? Is Charlie Brown spoiling Christmas again? It just doesn’t sound right. No, Charlie Brown, we are not singing O Weihnachtsbaum, O Weihnachtsbaum. Vince Guaraldi and his Trio are leaving. We want our old song back. The song is O Tannenbaum, Charlie Brown, not O Weihnachtsbaum.
And, you are right.
O Tannenbaum is an old German folk song. A Tannenbaum is a fir tree. So, the original song was entitled O Fir Tree in English, and the original lyrics do not refer to Christmas or describe a decorated Christmas tree. Those lyrics refer to the evergreen’s qualities of constancy and faithfulness and are based on a 16th century folk song.
There were no Christmas trees, as we know them, in the 16th Century. Fir trees in guild halls with fruit and candy for children date back to the 15th century, but the tradition of the brightly decorated tree in the family home started in Germany in the early 1800’s. In Canada and the United States, the Christmas tree didn’t catch on until the 1850’s.
Round and about that time, in 1824, the German composer Ernst Anschütz wrote the modern lyrics of O Tannenbaum and set the tune to the melody of that old 16th century folk song. It was this Anschütz song that became associated with Christmas. In fact, the tune is reputed to be the first Christmas carol.
So, we have this very catchy new Christmas carol being sung in homes with the new fashionable Christmas trees. And, the song is being translated into English, because the trees are sprouting up in England and America. Then, well, what do you suppose happened next? You got it. People started singing O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree because that’s what they were looking at. In England and America, they didn’t all speak German or speak it all that well. So, they, like me, assumed O Tannenbaum meant O Christmas Tree. But, they also liked the sound of O Tannenbaum. So, they kept that as the title and just mixed O Tannenbaum and O Christmas Tree up and around and up and down because it was just so much fun and it is Christmas and, well, let’s all sing and dance and watch Charlie Brown.
Sorry, Charlie Brown, the song is not O Weihnachtsbaum, but we love you anyway, Charlie Brown.
Hit it, Schroeder,
Grandpa Jim