Favourite Christmas Music

[ardcarp]

Someone mentioned the Novello 'Sing Nowell' book. The Kenneth Leighton arrangement of O Leave Your Sheep in there is absolutely masterful !

A great carol book...sadly not used mush these days, it seems. It has, of course, Kenneth Leighton's Lully Luula (surely one of the most moving carols of the 20th cent?) but also Peter Racine Fricker's A Babe is Born and Peter Aston's Dormi Jesu, both superb IMO.

[BBMmk2]

My American friend that gave me my opportunity, in America, mentioned a piece by Leroy Anderson, Christmas Festival. A really uplifting Christmas music piece!

[hmvman]

My favourite Christmas music is VW's Fantasia on Christmas Carols. I always play my old LP of it several times each year (Guildford Cathedral Choir/Pro Arte Orchestra, EMI recording).

Other essentials for me are Warlock's Bethlehem Down and Chilcot's Shepherd's Carol.

[Beef Oven!]

30 years ago!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!!


Time really fugits

[cloughie]

Christmas has truly started now - Christmas Eve morning spent singing Merritt, Warmington and other carols with the Harmony Choir through the streets of Falmouth - on return the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

[ardcarp]

Well, I've just heard the performance of a lifetime...Godjul by the...wait for it....Oslo Fagott Chor. No not bassoons, but a very fine choir of gay men with (non-gay) orchestral accompaniment. The highlight of the show was an incredible arrangement which spliced The Little Drummer Boy with Ravel's Bolero. I wonder if this was an original idea? Whoever put it together was a genius.

[Beef Oven!]

Well, I've just heard the performance of a lifetime...Godjul by the...wait for it....Oslo Fagott Chor. No not bassoons, but a very fine choir of gay men with (non-gay) orchestral accompaniment. The highlight of the show was an incredible arrangement which spliced The Little Drummer Boy with Ravel's Bolero. I wonder if this was an original idea? Whoever put it together was a genius.

That sounds so interesting, drummer boy & Bolero- genius!

Will it be loaded onto Youtube?

[BBMmk2]

I might have a look!!

[Beef Oven!]

This is on repeat!





Disc: 1

1. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - John & Yoko
2. Wonderful Christmastime - Paul McCartney
3. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday - Wizzard
4. Merry Christmas Everybody - Slade
5. Do They Know It's Christmas - Band Aid
6. I Believe In Father Christmas - Greg Lake
7. A Spaceman Came Travelling - Chris De Burgh
8. The Power Of Love - Frankie Goes To Hollywood
9. Angels - Robbie Williams
10. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Tom Jones with Cerys from Catatonia
11. Saviour's Day - Cliff Richard
12. Step Into Christmas - Elton John
13. Sleigh Ride - Spice Girls
14. Little Saint Nick - Beach Boys
15. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town - Jackson 5
16. In Dulci Jubilo - Mike Oldfield
17. Stop The Cavalry - Jona Lewie
18. Christmas Wrapping - Waitresses
19. Ring Out, Solstice Bells - Jethro Tull
20. The Millennium Prayer - Cliff Richard


Disc: 2

1. White Christmas - Bing Crosby
2. The Christmas Song - Nat 'King' Cole
3. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - Dean Martin
4. Mary's Boy Child - Matt Monro
5. Mistletoe and Wine - Cliff Richard
6. Walking In The Air - Aled Jones
7. Winter Wonderland - Peggy Lee
8. Lonely Pup (In A Christmas Shop) - Adam Faith
9. Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Mel & Kim
10. Last Christmas - State Of The Heart
11. Little Town - Cliff Richard
12. Frosty The Snowman - Nat 'King' Cole
13. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - Dean Martin
14. Lonely This Christmas - Mud
15. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Ella Fitzgerald
16. Deck The Halls - Treorchy, Morriston Orpheus & Pontarddulais Male Choirs With The Band Of The Welsh Guards
17. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Jane McDonald
18. We Wish You A Merry Christmas - The Weavers
19. The Twelve Days Of Christmas - The Spinners
20. Gaudete - Steeleye Span
21. Silent Night, Holy Night - Sinead O'Connor
22. In The Bleak Midwinter - Bert Jansch
23. Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy - David Bowie/Bing Crosby
24. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve - Mary Margaret O'Hara (Frank Loesser)

[Cheapskater]

My favourite Christmas music is VW's Fantasia on Christmas Carols. I always play my old LP of it several times each year (Guildford Cathedral Choir/Pro Arte Orchestra, EMI recording).

Other essentials for me are Warlock's Bethlehem Down and Chilcot's Shepherd's Carol.

Excellent choices here. I'm very keen on the VW Fantasia on Christmas Carols - a delightful piece.

[teamsaint]

just going to plug this again, to give folks time to pick up a used bargain..or get that download for £1 !!

This really is a quite lovely CD, the Amazon reviews are spot on.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gabriels-Message-Thousand-Years-Carols/dp/B001LZN70I/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1417281538&sr=8-4&keywords=gabriels+message

Trust me on this one !!

[terratogen]

A year or two ago, I picked up a used copy of a Christmas disk from St Mary's, Edinburgh (dir. Timothy Byram-Wigfield) that has since become perhaps my favourite Christmas CD next to George Guest's Christmas Carols from St John's. It was recorded in 1992 or 1993, but there's a warmth and gentleness both to the choir and to the recorded sound in general that lend the whole thing a slightly older air. If the featured arrangement of the Coventry Carol didn't suffer from a case of If It Ain't Broke..., it would be just about the perfect recording for the less bombastic end of the choral carol spectrum.

In the Bleak Midwinter (Herald, 1993)
Choir of St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh
Master of the Music: Timothy Byram-Wigfield
Organist: Peter Backhouse

[Beef Oven!]

And I will be posting it again, nearer the time.

[Alison]

Disappointing choice for the astute Wagnerian that you are Beefeeeeeey.

[ardcarp]

If you are looking for a new choral CD to give (or receive) as a prezzie, there's this from Gonville & Caius:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/dormi-jesu-a-caius-christmas-mw0002736726

Lovely!

[Don't be alarmed at the ghastly cartoon figure that forms a background to this site!]