10 of the best Christmas musicals<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The best Christmas ballets of all time<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
Six of the best pieces of Christmas choral music<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n
The best Christmas classical music albums and recordings<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>
<\/p><\/div> <\/section>
The best pieces of Christmas classical music<\/h2>\n
Bach\u2019s Christmas Oratorio<\/h3>\n\nYou\u2019d have had to have set aside quite a chunk in your diary to hear the first performance of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/johann-sebastian-bach\/"\">JS Bach<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Christmas Oratorio<\/em> \u2013 consisting of six parts, it was sung over six different feast days between Christmas Day 1734 and Epiphany on 6 January 1735.<\/p>\nBach was evidently a firm advocate of the mantra \u2018repair, re-use, recycle\u2019, applying it liberally to his music \u2013 much of the material in the Christmas Oratorio<\/em> will have been familiar to its first listeners, as it had previously appeared in earlier choral works.<\/p>\nUnlike Handel\u2019s Messiah <\/em>(below), the Christmas Oratorio<\/em> confines itself strictly to the Christmas narrative, beginning with the birth of Jesus and ending with the adoration of the Magi. There are highlights aplenty, but few match the opening \u2018Jauchzet, frohlocket\u2019 chorus for instilling the festive feel-good factor.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/george-frideric-handel\/"\">Handel<\/a>\u2019s Messiah<\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Handel\" messiah=\"\" stephen=\"\" cleobury=\"\" academy=\"\" of=\"\" ancient=\"\" music=\"\" the=\"\" choir=\"\" king=\"\" college=\"\" cambridge=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TAaqIAEPgP8?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nIn a way, including <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/hallelujah-story-handel-s-messiah\/"\">Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em><\/a><\/strong> in a list of the greatest festive works feels a bit of a cheat. Only Part I of this mighty three-part <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-oratorio\/"\">oratorio<\/a><\/strong> deals with the Christmas story \u2013 by the time we get to Part II, we\u2019re already onto Christ\u2019s crucifixion and resurrection. What\u2019s more, the work\u2019s first performance in 1742 took place not in chilly December, but on 13 April in Dublin. Nonetheless, it has become an essential part of the yuletide repertoire, with countless performances taking place over the Christmas period right across the globe. Though the rousing \u2018Hallelujah\u2019 and \u2018For Unto Us a Child is Born\u2019 choruses are the perennial favourites, there are also more subdued moments, such as the sublime arias \u2018Every valley\u2019 and \u2018He was despised\u2019.<\/p>\n<ul><li><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-handel-s-messiah\/"\">The best recordings of Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><h3>Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019s Christmas Oratorio<\/h3>\nWhen the 25-year-old <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/camille-saint-saens\/"\">Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns<\/a> <\/strong>wrote his Christmas Oratorio <\/em>in December 1858, he clearly had one eye on Bach\u2019s notable predecessor, as there are little stylistic nods to the great man throughout the piece.<\/p>\nSaint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019s ten-movement piece is shorter and more compact than Bach\u2019s, though is lushly orchestrated for soloists, chorus, strings, harp and, of course, organ \u2013 at the time, the composer held the post of organist at La Madeleine in Paris and was a renowned player. His oratorio is a comparatively restrained affair, interspersing the Christmas narrative with reflective texts, though the uplifting final \u2018Tollite hostias\u2019 chorus always leaves the listener with a spring in the step.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Rimsky-Korsakov\u2019s Christmas Eve<\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Rimsky-Korsakov\" christmas=\"\" eve:=\"\" orchestral=\"\" suite=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/k0vFOax7ZeU?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nFestive operas are surprisingly thin on the ground, and the two most famous ones set partly on Christmas Eve \u2013 <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/giacomo-puccini\/"\">Puccini<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s La boh\u00e8me<\/em> and <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/jules-massenet\/"\">Massenet<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Werther<\/em> \u2013 have thoroughly miserable, unseasonal outcomes. Head instead, then, for <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/nikolay-rimsky-korsakov\/"\">Rimsky-Korsakov<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s jolly romp, which tells of Vakula the blacksmith\u2019s bid to win the affection of the lovely Oksana by stealing and bringing her the Empress\u2019s slippers, an adventure that comes complete with a night-time ride through the stars to St Petersburg. Rimsky\u2019s opera, which is based on a story by Gogol, enjoyed its first performance in 1895 and he later distilled some of its finer moments into an equally enjoyable orchestral suite.<\/p>\n<ul><li><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/recordings\/best-recordings-rimsky-korsakov\/"\">The best recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><h3>Respighi\u2019s Lauda per la Nativit\u00e0 del Signore<\/h3>\nRimsky-Korsakov\u2019s famed mastery of orchestration can be seen in the music of <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ottorino-respighi\/"\">Ottorino Respighi<\/a><\/strong>, who was briefly a pupil of his in the early 20th century. Today, the Italian is best known for his barnstorming \u2018Roman Trilogy\u2019 \u2013 the Fountains of Rome<\/em>, the Fountains of Rome<\/em> and Roman Festivals<\/em> \u2013 though many of his less ebullient, more refined works are well worth investigating.<\/p>\nTry, in particular, his 1930 Lauda per la Nativit\u00e0 del Signore <\/em>for soloists, chorus and small instrumental ensemble. In this 20-minute <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/what-is-a-cantata\/"\">cantata<\/a><\/strong>, Respighi brilliantly conjures up the mystery and awe of the Nativity scene, not least through the use of pastoral tunes on the wind instruments. One of his most evocative trademarks \u2013 the interweaving of Gregorian chant \u2013 is also there too.<\/p>\n<ul><li><a class=\""standard-card-new__article-title"\" href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/features\/articles\/best-recordings-respighis-pines-rome\/"\">The best recordings of Respighi\u2019s Pines of Rome<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Britten\u2019s A Ceremony of Carols<\/h3>\n<iframe title=\""Benjamin\" britten=\"\" a=\"\" ceremony=\"\" of=\"\" carols=\"\" width=\""200"\" height=\""113"\" src=\""https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-IEuxKCB6o8?feature=oembed"\" frameborder=\""0"\" allow=\""accelerometer;\" autoplay=\"\" clipboard-write=\"\" encrypted-media=\"\" gyroscope=\"\" picture-in-picture=\"\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\/>\nInspiration comes in unexpected places. In <a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/benjamin-britten\/"\">Britten<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s case, this was having the idea to write a Christmas work while crossing the Atlantic on a cargo ship heading from the US to war-torn Britain in the spring of 1942 \u2013 hardly festive. Discovering a book of poems in a shop in New England at the beginning of the journey had provided the spark, and by the time the ship docked in Liverpool, his suite of songs for three-part treble or soprano choir and harp was well on the way to completion. Beginning and ending with a processional chant, the Ceremony<\/em>\u2019s highlights include the atmospheric chill of \u2018In Freezing Winter Night\u2019, the hauntingly plaintive \u2018That yong\u00eb child\u2019 and the simply exquisite \u2018There is no rose\u2019.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Vaughan Williams\u2019s Hodie<\/h3>\n<a href=\""https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/composers\/ralph-vaughan-williams\/"\">Vaughan Williams<\/a><\/strong> loved carols. As well as writing a Fantasia on Christmas Carols<\/em> in 1912, he also incorporated several into 1926\u2019s Dickens-based masque On Christmas Night<\/em> and, at his death in 1958, was working on a new carols-based suite called The First Nowell<\/em>. His biggest-scale Christmas work, however, was Hodie<\/em>, a 16-part cantata written in 1954.<\/p>\nVaughan Williams drew on all manner of texts for the work, including well known passages from the bible plus poetry by the likes of Milton and William Drummond. The narrative takes us on the familiar journey from the birth of Christ through to the visit of the Magi, though there is plenty of reflection and rejoicing on the way. The critics were initially sniffy about it, but it has lasted the test of time well.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n<hr class=\"no-tts wp-block-separator\"\/>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Jeremy Pound Published: Thursday, 25 November 2021 at 12:00 am From \u2018In the Bleak Midwinter\u2019 and \u2018Silent Night\u2019 to Slade\u2019s \u2018Merry Xmas Everyone\u2019 and The Pogues\u2019 \u2018Fairytale of New York\u2019, Christmas has no shortage of memorable and deservedly popular carols and songs \u2013 and highly welcome they are too. But what if you want […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":7597,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time.jpg",1200,900,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time-768x576.jpg",768,576,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time-1024x768.jpg",800,600,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time.jpg",1200,900,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2021\/11\/christmas-classical-music-the-best-festive-pieces-of-all-time.jpg",1200,900,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 Jeremy Pound Published: Thursday, 25 November 2021 at 12:00 am From \u2018In the Bleak Midwinter\u2019 and \u2018Silent Night\u2019 to Slade\u2019s \u2018Merry Xmas Everyone\u2019 and The Pogues\u2019 \u2018Fairytale of New York\u2019, Christmas has no shortage of memorable and deservedly popular carols and songs \u2013 and highly welcome they are too. But what if you want…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/7596"}],"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\/7597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}