Traditional Spanish Carols for the Holidays

Traditional Spanish carols are a must for most Spanish-speaking families when it comes to celebrating the holidays, and especially Christmas.

But where do these traditional Christmas songs come from? Well, traditional Spanish carols (or Villancicos) actually originated around the 15th or 16th centuries and were a common lyric-form during the Renaissance period on the Iberian Peninsula.

This lyric poem wasn't originally set to music, but overtime came to be sung in different settings and came to be associated with accompanying music. Even though the Villancico was introduced around the 15th century, it wasn't until the 18th century that these traditional Spanish carols became a favorite genre of music.

With most things of the time, the Villancico quickly found it's place among the Catholic Church, and was used during the early morning and/or nighttime prayer sessions during the various feasts of the Catholic calendar. The purpose of the carol was to help recent converts to the faith understand more of the religion. Whether this worked or not, who's to say.

So what were some of the feasts in which these Villancicos were sung? Well, of course they were performed during feasts such as the Immaculate Conception, as well as during Christmas celebrations.

The interesting thing about Spanish carols sung during Christmas time is that these particular Villancicos were often comical in nature and were designed to make people laugh, especially as they gathered together during the Christmas feasts.

Below is a very popular children's Spanish Christmas song called "Mi Burrito Sabanero":

Here is another traditional Spanish carol called "Campana Sobre Campana":

For a totally different sound, here is a traditional carol called "Navidad en el Perú". It has a very Andean feel to it. See if you can hear the panpipes playing in the background.

And finally, here is a Villancico called "Tan, Tan" that comes from the Zaragoza Province in Spain:

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