The Carol of the Drum

When American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis lay down for a nap one afternoon in 1941, the French Christmas carol Pat-a-Pan kept running through her head. As she pondered the "pat-a-pan" backbeat, Davis began hearing a "pa-rum-pum-pum-pum" rhythm that soon resulted in the carol we know today as "The Little Drummer Boy."

Davis was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1892, and composed her first piece of music at the age of 15. She studied music at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and with composer Juliette Nadia Boulanger in Paris, France. Davis taught music for decades at a girls school in Philadelphia, and later deeded to Wellesley's Music Department all of the royalties and proceeds from her more than 600 compositions -- including operas, choruses, children's operettas, cantatas, and a variety of piano and organ pieces.

Davis composed "The Carol of the Drum" (the original title of "The Little Drummer Boy") during the early years of World War II. The lyrics describe a poor young boy who has been invited by the Magi to visit Jesus. When he arrives without a gift for the Christ child, the boy offers to play his drum: "I played my best for him," he says, to which Jesus' mother Mary smiles her approval. 

Davis' "The Carol of the Drum" was first performed by the Trapp Family Singers from Austria when they recorded it on their 1951 album with Decca Records, and the Jack Halloran Singers recorded an altered arrangement in 1957. In 1958, the Harry Simeone Chorale recorded the song under its new name "The Little Drummer Boy," and the Christmas single scored in the top 40 of the U.S. music charts from 1958 to 1962. Davis, who was granted an honorary doctorate for her life's work, died in April 1980 at the age of 87. 

While the story of the little drummer boy does not appear in Scripture, the tale reminds us that often the best gift we can offer is not a material item but an act of love. As you finalize your preparations for Christmas celebrations this week, how will you turn your focus to relationships rather than worldly goods, to love rather than accumulation? 

Advent blessings,

Jennie