And the winner is: ‘O Holy Night’

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Not even yuletide carols are immune to partisan differences, if the results of a new online poll are to be believed.

The international marketing research firm Zogby has released the results of a Christmas carol survey in which participants were asked to vote for their three favorite holiday songs from a list of nine. ‘O Holy Night’ was the clear winner, with 58% of adults voting for it. Zogby said that 67% of Republicans voted for it, compared to 50% of Democrats and 56% of independents.

The online survey included responses from 2,330 adults and was conducted from Nov. 4 to 6. Rounding out the top five holiday songs are: ‘White Christmas,’ ‘The Christmas Song,’ ‘It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas’ and ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.’

According to the poll, 76% of adults who attend religious services more than once a week said ‘O Holy Night’ is on their top three list. By comparison, only 25% of people who said they never attend religious services included the song as one of their favorites.

‘O Holy Night’ is actually a French song, dating from the 19th century.

It was composed in 1847 by Adolphe Adam and was titled ‘Cantique de Noël.’ Adam was a classical composer of versatile ability whose ballets included ‘Giselle’ and ‘Le Corsaire.’ He also composed operas, including ‘Si j’étais roi’ (‘If I was king’).

In a recent review of ‘Giselle’ performed by the American Ballet Theatre, a Times reviewer wrote: ‘ ‘Giselle’ is nearly perfect, even if the ballet’s composer, Adolphe Adam, was no Tchaikovsky.’

-- David Ng

Video: Celine Dion sings ‘O Holy Night.’’