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Published: Wednesday, 11 December 2024 at 11:06 AM
Christmas choral music: 11 transcendentally beautiful works for the festive season
For many, Christmas hasn’t officially begun until they’ve been to a choral concert. The angelic sounds of young choristers, the booming acoustic of a chapel or cathedral – there’s nothing that stirs the heart more during the festive period. We’ve picked out some of the best pieces of Christmas choral music to get you excited for the season ahead…
Christmas choral music: the most beautiful festive works
1. ‘O Magnum Mysterium’ by Morten Lauridsen
A Latin text from the traditional Christmas Matins, ‘O Magnum Mysterium‘ celebrates the profound mystery of Christ’s birth. Its words express wonder at the humble setting of the Nativity, where the infant Jesus was born among animals and witnessed by the Virgin Mary. The text has inspired numerous choral settings by composers across centuries, blending spirituality with evocative musical expression.
A modern choral classic, Morten Lauridsen’s setting of the text captures the mystery and reverence of Christ’s birth with vivid, opulent harmonies.
2. ‘Lux Aurumque’ by Eric Whitacre
Nevada-born composer Eric Whitacre is one of the most celebrated contemporary choral composers, known for his lush harmonies, innovative textures, and emotionally evocative music. His works have a global following and are frequently performed by professional choirs, collegiate groups, and high school ensembles.
A modern classic, Whitacre’s piece ‘Lux Aurumque’ sets a serene Latin text (“Light and Gold”) to lush, shimmering harmonies. It’s a staple of contemporary American choral repertoire for the holiday season.
3. ‘O Radiant Dawn’ by James MacMillan
There are few songs which open with as much impact as O Radiant Dawn, taken from James MacMillan’s Strathclyde Motets. It’s simultaneously serene and powerful. The long, drawn-out suspensions build excitement, and the moment the choir comes in each time to sing the refrain, it practically blows the ceiling off.
4. ‘Good-will to men, and peace on Earth’ by Dobrinka Tabakova
Every year, BBC Music Magazine commissions a new carol and in 2018, Dobrinka Tabakova took on the challenge and wrote this fabulously lilting carol, which could be equally effective in a pub as in a church. The syncopated rhythms and off-beat claps are difficult to get right, but when executed well, are incredibly powerful and fun.
5. ‘Ave Maria’ by Franz Biebl
Like ‘O Magnum Mysterium’ above, the ‘Ave Maria’ is a key Christian text that has been blessed with many a musical setting down the ages. Composers such as Schubert and Bruckner have tried their hand with the ‘Ave Maria’, but one of our favourite and most festive settings is by the relatively little known 20th-century German composer Franz Biebl.
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The title ‘Ave Maria’ is commonly associated with musical settings of the Latin prayer ‘Hail Mary’, though the term can also refer to pieces inspired by its text. This prayer, derived from the Gospel of Luke and later traditional Christian liturgy, is a central expression of devotion to the Virgin Mary. Biebl’s deeply moving setting beautifully mingles traditional Ave Maria texts with intricate choral writing.
Christmas choral music: six more exquisite works
6. ‘Lully, Lulla, Lullay’ by Philip Stopford
Written in 2008, this stunning interpretation of the 16th-century Coventry Carol is much more melancholic in tonality than its original version. The text is similarly sorrowful in both: it tells the story of the Massacre of the Innocents, the events in which King Herod ordered all boys under the age of two to be killed. The carol is written as a lament from a mother to her doomed child. Stopford’s interpretation is simple, lilting and beautiful.
This beautiful carol features high up in our list of the greatest Christmas carols of all time.
7. ‘Bethlehem Down’ by Peter Warlock
This 1927 carol has a beautiful tenderness to it, and proves a perfect pace-breaker in concerts. The story of its composition is surprising – the composer Peter Warlock and his friend, the poet Bruce Blunt, indulged in a few too many drinks at Christmas, and decided they should write a carol together, in the hope it would be published in a national newspaper. A few days later on Christmas Eve, it was written and published in The Daily Telegraph.
Did we mention that Warlock liked a drink? In fact, he was a regular rabble rouser. He crops up in our list of the worst-behaved composers of all time! He’s an unexpected, but very welcome entrant into our list of the best Christmas choral music.
8. ‘Here is the little door’ by Owain Park
Back in 2019, BBC Music Magazine’s commissioned Christmas carol came from the brilliant young composer Owain Park, set to Frances Chesterton’s Here is the little door, a poem also set to music by the composer Herbert Howells in 1918. It’s a wonderfully expressive piece, with the choir moving together as one, but is also uncomplicated, so is easy for choirs to have a go!
9. Christmas Oratorio by JS Bach
Bach’s intricate and celebratory oratorio narrates the Nativity story with exquisite choral and orchestral interplay. Written for the Christmas season in 1734, the Christmas Oratorio is a six-part composition for performance across the major feast days of Christmas and New Year. Each part corresponds to a specific day in the liturgical calendar, making for a gripping musical narrative of the Nativity tale.
A masterpiece of storytelling and musical expression, the Christmas Oratorio weaves together its theological themes with the artistry you expect from our greatest Baroque composer. Its dazzling choruses, intricate counterpoint, and emotive arias make it a favourite in Christmas performances across the globe.
10. Hodie by Ralph Vaughan Williams
Vaughan Williams‘s festive cantata combines biblical texts and poetry, this work celebrates the Christmas story with grandeur and intimacy.
Composed in 1954, ‘Hodie’ is a masterful and brilliantly festive work that weaves together texts from the Bible, hymns, and poetry to recount the Nativity story. Composed for choir, soloists, and orchestra, Hodie is a brilliant showcase of Vaughan Williams’s deep connection to English musical traditions, and of his uncanny ability to blend spiritual and secular elements.
11. A Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten
This 11-part cycle for treble voices and harp combines Medieval texts with Benjamin Britten’s unmistakably adventurous-yet-accessible composing style.
The work has links to both Britain and America. Britten himself was British (indeed, he was one of the greatest British composers of all time), but he composed A Ceremony of Carols in March to April 1942, while crossing the Atlantic in the midst of the Second World War.
Britten and his partner, the tenor Peter Pears, were returning to Britain after a three-year stay in the US. This link has helped to make A Ceremony of Carols a popular staple of American Christmas performances. Its beautiful mixture of harp accompaniment and medieval English texts creates a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere.
Its 11 movements feature a mix of hymns and carol settings. They include ‘Wolcum Yole!’, a joyous welcome to the Christmas season; ‘Balulalow’: a tender lullaby with an delicious melody; and the jubilant thanksgiving carol ‘Deo Gracias’.