Friday 24 December 2010

The Twelve Days of Christmas in Music



Over the the next few days I shall be listening to a number of musical works - most are old favourites but one or two are relatively new to me. Additionally, not all of them are British, although most have a long association with this country. It seemed a good idea to list twelve of them. In some cases I will note the version and the performer.

Day 1. Handel's Messiah - the first part. King's College Cambridge conducted by Sir David Willcocks
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Day 2. Fred. Delius's Sleigh Ride - this is a good companion piece to Leroy Anderson's similarly titled piece
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Day 3. Gerald Finzi's In Terra Pax- for tenor, soprano and choir. I always listen to this piece on Christmas Eve.
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Day 4. Ralph Vaughan Williams' Hodie
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Day 5. William Henry Fry's Santa Claus Symphony - this was released on Naxos
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Day 6. Ralph Vaughan Williams' The First Nowell - 'a sort of musical nativity play'
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Day 7. Johann Sebastian Bach Christmas Oratorio - Philippe Herreweghe & the Collegium Vocale
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Day 8. Benjamin Britten A Boy was Born
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Day 9. Heinrich Schutz The Christmas Story
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Day 10. Arnold Bax Christmas Eve - a tone poem
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Day 11. Hely Hutchinson - A Carol Symphony
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Day 12. Benjamin Britten A Ceremony of Carols

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