{"id":7218,"date":"2021-11-05T11:43:17","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T10:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=7559"},"modified":"2021-11-05T12:00:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-05T11:00:08","slug":"six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Six of the best pieces of Christmas choral music"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Freya Parr\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 05 November 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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For many, Christmas hasn\u2019t officially begun until they\u2019ve been to a choral concert. The angelic sounds of young choristers, the booming acoustic of a chapel or cathedral \u2013 there\u2019s nothing that stirs the heart more during the festive period. We\u2019ve picked out some of the best pieces of Christmas choral music to get you excited for the season ahead\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2018O Radiant Dawn\u2019 by James MacMillan<\/h2>\n
There are few songs which open with as much impact as\u00a0O Radiant Dawn<\/em>, taken from James MacMillan\u2019s Strathclyde Motets. It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/five-best-contemporary-choral-works\/"\">Five of the best contemporary choral works<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/whats-the-difference-between-a-christmas-carol-and-a-hymn\/"\">What\u2019s the difference between a Christmas carol and a hymn?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/download-score-our-exclusive-christmas-carol-composer-dobrinka-tabakova\/"\">Good-will to men, and peace on Earth\u00a0<\/em>by Dobrinka Tabakova<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\nEvery year,\u00a0BBC Music Magazine\u00a0<\/em>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. You can hear this carol on the cover CD of the Christmas 2019 issue of\u00a0BBC Music Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/download-score-our-exclusive-christmas-carol-composer-dobrinka-tabakova\/"\">Download the score to Dobrinka Tabakova\u2019s carol<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018Lully, Lulla, Lullay\u2019 by Philip Stopford<\/strong><\/h2>\nWritten in 2008, this stunning interpretation of the 16th<\/sup>-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\u2019s interpretation is simple, lilting and beautiful.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Voces8\" stopford:=\"\" lully=\"\" lulla=\"\" lullay=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cte1DONjr24?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/best-new-christmas-classical-music-releases\/"\">The best new Christmas classical music releases<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>\u2018<\/em>Bethlehem Down\u2019 by Warlock<\/strong><\/h2>\nThis 1927 carol has a beautiful tenderness to it, and proves a perfect pace-breaker in concerts. The story of its composition is surprising \u2013 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\u00a0The Daily Telegraph<\/em>.<\/p>\n<iframe title=\""Bethlehem\" down=\"\" warlock=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/52b5ntrop3U?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""http:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/article\/five-best-modern-christmas-carols"\">Five of the best modern Christmas carols<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/here-little-door-owain-park-bbc-music-magazine-2019-christmas-carol\/"\">\u2018Here is the little door\u2019 by Owain Park<\/strong><\/a><\/h2>\nThis year,\u00a0BBC Music Magazine<\/em>\u2019s commissioned carol came from the brilliant young composer Owain Park, set to Frances Chesterton\u2019s\u00a0Here is the little door<\/em>, a poem also set by Howells in 1918. It\u2019s a wonderfully expressive piece, with the choir moving together as one, but is also uncomplicated, so is easy for choirs to have a go!<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/here-little-door-owain-park-bbc-music-magazine-2019-christmas-carol\/"\">Download the score to Owain Park\u2019s carol<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Freya Parr Published: Friday, 05 November 2021 at 12:00 am For many, Christmas hasn\u2019t officially begun until they\u2019ve been to a choral concert. The angelic sounds of young choristers, the booming acoustic of a chapel or cathedral \u2013 there\u2019s nothing that stirs the heart more during the festive period. We\u2019ve picked out some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":7219,"template":"","categories":[1,17],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music.jpg",625,350,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music-300x168.jpg",300,168,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music.jpg",625,350,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music.jpg",625,350,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music.jpg",625,350,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/six-of-the-best-pieces-of-christmas-choral-music.jpg",625,350,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Freya Parr Published: Friday, 05 November 2021 at 12:00 am For many, Christmas hasn\u2019t officially begun until they\u2019ve been to a choral concert. The angelic sounds of young choristers, the booming acoustic of a chapel or cathedral \u2013 there\u2019s nothing that stirs the heart more during the festive period. We\u2019ve picked out some of…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/7218"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}