Christmas - A Celebration In Music

Christmas – A Celebration In Music

Christmas – A Celebration In Music is a beautifully varied classical Christmas collection, bringing together much-loved traditional carols with sacred choral music, organ works, Baroque concertos and orchestral pieces. Rather than concentrating solely on familiar Christmas songs, the programme moves between festive favourites and established works from the classical repertoire, making this an appealing seasonal collection for listeners looking for something more varied and traditionally classical.

The opening sequence features enduring Christmas favourites including "O Come, All Ye Faithful", "Once In Royal David's City", "Ding Dong! Merrily On High" and "Away In A Manger". These familiar carols are followed by Josef Bayer's Ballet Suite From The Fairy Doll, an enchanting orchestral work originally written for the Viennese ballet Die Puppenfee. The same recording appears on documented Christmas classical compilations alongside the carols in this programme.

The collection then moves into more substantial classical repertoire. "Ave Maria" combines the famous melody associated with Charles Gounod and J.S. Bach, while "Concerto In B Flat" is Tomaso Albinoni's Concerto à cinque in B-flat major, Op. 5 No. 1. Mozart's Vesperae Solennes De Confessore, K.339 and Corelli's Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 8 in G Minor, better known as the "Christmas Concerto", provide two particularly distinguished pieces of sacred and Baroque repertoire.

The organ takes centre stage on "Hail Thee, Gracious Jesus", an arrangement of Bach's Partite diverse sopra "Sei gegrüßet, Jesu gütig", BWV 768. The programme then returns to traditional Christmas repertoire with "The First Noel" and closes with Franz Xaver Gruber's timeless "Silent Night".

With its mixture of traditional Christmas carols, classical orchestral music, sacred works, organ repertoire and Baroque concertos, Christmas – A Celebration In Music makes an excellent seasonal listening collection. It is particularly suited to listeners who enjoy classical Christmas albums, traditional carols and atmospheric instrumental music, as well as those looking for a festive compilation that extends beyond the standard Christmas songbook.

Tracklist

1. O Come, All Ye Faithful
2. Once In Royal David's City
3. Ding Dong! Merrily On High
4. Away In A Manger
5. Ballet Suite From The Fairy Doll
6. Ave Maria
7. Concerto In B Flat
8. Vesperae Solennes De Confessore K339
9. Concerto Grosso Op. 6, No. 8 In G Minor 'Christmas'
10. 'Hail Thee, Gracious Jesus' For Organ
11. The First Noel
12. Silent Night