Sonate D-Dur "Am Weihnachtsbaum"

The lyricist Hermann Kletke published the text to this song in 1841 in his collection Phantasus. A Children's Book under the title Weihnachtsspruch.

The melody had already been handed down a few years earlier in Meiningen in Thuringia with the text "Schön ist die Jugend bei frohen Zeiten", as well as in Saxony with the text "Es blühen Rosen, es blühen Nelken", and is dated to around 1830. However, the exact time of composition and the composer have not been handed down. It is also sung, especially in free churches and in the community movement, with the text Gott ist die Liebe, lässt mich erlösen by August Rische.

Following a development of Christmas carols in the early 19th century after secularisation, the historical content of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, is not mentioned at all in the carol text. Instead, the author focuses on describing the mood of the celebration of Christmas in his time. Around the festively decorated Christmas tree, lit with candles, the whole family is gathered, young and old. Invisibly and inaudibly, two angels bring God's blessing to "the good people who love each other".

A Christmas carol was first dedicated to the Christmas tree in 1824, 17 years before this song was written, with O Tannenbaum. There, as here, the tree is described as a symbol of hope. But while O Tannenbaum refers to the evergreen "leaves" of the Christmas tree, Am Weihnachtsbaum die Lichter brennen sings of the decorated tree in the glow of lights. The custom of the candle-lit Christmas tree was not yet widespread in the first half of the 19th century, when the song was written, and only wealthy families could afford such a tree.