Chapter 10 - Christmas On Records

(Compiled by Philip L. Miller, The New York Public Library; revised by Stephen Holden)

{Note: Most of the records listed are in print. Those that are not may be borrowed from record libraries. The vagaries of the recording industry are such that those not listed in the latest record catalogs may be reissued subsequently on other labels.

Christmas Programs

The records listed include collection of carols, both familiar and unfamiliar; some are sung in languages other than English. Also listed are collections of Christmas pop tunes and some spoken word recordings.

All Saints Choir, Worcester, Mass.; William Self, conductor.

Christmas Carols Old and New. Classic Editions CE 1021.

The excellent church choir balances such old favorites as Lo, How a Rose, Silent Night, and the Wassail Song, with some more novel and modern material.

Anderson, Marian, with Richard Rodney Bennett conducting chorus and orchestra. RCA Victor LSC 2613.

The legendary contralto sings familiar carols.

Selections include Twelve Days of Christmas and Schubert's Ave Maria.

Autry, Gene

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Harmony 14550.

This recording preserves the great Christmas pop hits of Gene Autry from the late 1940's that made his name synonymous with Christmas sounds of that era. In addition to Rudolph, the record includes his other great Christmas hit, Frosty the Snowman.

Baez, Joan Noel, Vanguard S 79230.

Accompanied only by lute, harpsichord, and organ, one of the greatest of contemporary folk singers sings both familiar and not-so-familiar Christmas songs. The special quality of her voice, a natural purity that is a perfect blend of the ethereal and earthy, brings an added radiance to such familiar classics as Silent Night. The arrangements, though unusual, are tasteful and perfectly suited to her unique style.
 
Canterbury Choir

Beloved Hymns and Carols; Christmas Carol (Charles Dickens) a dramatic narration with Lionel Barrymore and supporting cast. MGM 4746.

A double treat, this recording has the excellent Canterbury Choir singing familiar Christmas favorites and also preserves for posterity Lionel Barrymore as Scrooge in a dramatic narration of Dickens's classic tale. The record will appeal especially to those for whom Barrymore's annual radio dramatization was a holiday ritual not to be missed.

Cole, Nat King

Christmas Song. Capitol SW 1967.

The title song from this album, embodying the essence of 1950s holiday nostalgia, is enough reason for its purchase. The incomparably smooth style of the late crooner also caresses such favorites as Oh Holy Night and Silent Night.

Columbus Boychoir Joy to the World. Decca 78920. The famous American boys' choir sings such selections as Adeste Fideles, Coventry Carol, and Good Christian Men Rejoice.

Crosby, Bing

Merry Christmas. Decca 78128. This classic album contains the original White Christmas recording from the film Holiday Inn. "Der Bingel" also sings Christmas in Kilarney and Silent Night. There are millions for whom this album will represent the ultimate in holiday nostalgia.

Deller, Alfred, countertenor, and Deller Consort. The Holly and the Ivy. Vanguard VRS 499. Deller and his associates, with lute and recorder, sing a generous program in their customary refined and polished style. Though described as "Christmas Carols of Old England," some of the songs are not properly carols, and some are not English. Vaughan Williams's arrangement of Withers Rocking Hymn is a high spot of the program.

King's Chapel Choir, Cambridge; Boris Ord, conductor. A Festival of Lessons and Carols. Westminster WF 6036.

This is a Christmas Eve service, complete with boy choir, prayers, and a lesson read in the beautifully cultured British voice of the senior chorister. Not all the music is originally English Ding, Dong, Ding (Swedish), Hail Blessed Mary (Italian), The Infant King (Basque), The Three Kings (Cornelius) but it is very well sung.

Little Dublin Singers

Christmas in Ireland. Capitol ST 10412. Selections include Child Divine, Don Oicheud Im Beithil, Christmas in Kerry, and Brown Leaves on the Liffey.

Mitch Miller Gang

Christmas Sing Along With Mitch. Columbia CS 8027.

Although the sing-along craze of the 1960's has waned to some extent, this famous recording, consisting entirely of beloved carols and songs, will long be a classic party favorite and warm-up for caroling expeditions.

Moog Machine

Christmas Becomes Electric. Columbia CS 9559.

All the selections are familiar carols. The novelty is that they are performed by a Moog synthesizer. This record could be a harbinger of standard Christmas fare in the twenty-first century.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir with Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra

Joy of Christmas. Columbia MS 6499. A glorious recording that combines popular favorites with lesser-known material. The latter includes Carol of the Bells, Lullay My Liking, and Virgen Lava Panales.
 
Native Artists

Christmas in Germany. Capitol DT 10095.

Christmas in Italy. Capitol DT 10093.

Obernkirchen Children's Choir Christmas Songs. Angel S 35914. The famous children's choir sings familiar carols in different languages. Selections sung in German include Es Hat Sich Halt Eroffnet Das Himmilische Tor, Alle Jahre Wieder, and O Jesulein Zart.

Ormandy, Eugene, and the Temple University Choir.

Christmas Festival. Columbia MS 6639. The great lush sound of the Philadelphia Orchestra combines with the Temple University Choir to provide sumptuous arrangements of familiar hymns and carols. Selections include Oh Tannenbaum, For Unto Us a Child Is Born, and the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.

Glorious Sound of Christmas. Columbia MS 6369.

The same combination sings familiar Christmas music. Selections include Adeste Fideles and the very beautiful O Come, O Come Emmanuel.

Petits Chanteurs de Versailles

Christmas In France. Capitol DT 10108.

Price, Leontyne

Christmas Offering. London OS 25280. The world's greatest lyric soprano turns her artistry to a program of familiar carols and hymns. Selections include It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, Bach's Vom Himmel Hoch, and Oh Holy Night.

Pro Arte Motettenchor; Peter Mark, conductor. Old World Christmas Carols. Concert Hall CHS 1232.

No record better sums up the Christmas season as a person of German extraction might think of it. O Du Frohliche, Vom Himmel Hoch, 0 HeiL·nd, Reiss Die Himmel Auf, Es 1st Ein Ros Entsprungen, Ihr Kinderlein Kornmet, and the rest are here. The choir is good, supported by the organ.

Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth

Christmas Album. Angel S 36750. The distinctive German soprano, so intimately associated with German opera, operetta, and lieder, sings a superior selection of Christmas music. Included on the record are O Du Frohliche, In Dulei ]ubilo, and Maria Auf Dem Berge.

Sceger, Pete

Nativity. Folkways S 35001. This lovely recording contains both traditional Christmas carols sung by the noted folk singer and the reading of a Christmas story by Sholem Asch.

Shaw Chorale; Robert Shaw, conductor.

Christmas Hymns and Carols, RCA Victor LSC 2139.

For decades this recording has been an annual best seller; it is the most obvious answer for anyone wanting good performances of our best-known Christmas carols and hymns.

Shea, George Beverly

Christmas Hymns. RCA Victor LSP 2064. Familiar to many as a result of his long association with the Reverend Billy Graham's crusades, Shea possesses a pleasantly earthy baritone and sings without pretention. Selections on the album include / Wonder As I Wander, Go Tell It on the Mountain, and Once in Royal David's City.

Harry Simeone Chorale O Bambino. Kapp 3450.

The ensemble achieved worldwide fame with their Christmas hit, Little Drummer Boy, which is included on this record along with the title song and the lovely Marys Little Boy Chile.
 
Streisand, Barbra

Christmas Album. Columbia CS 9557. This great star applies her volatile style to a variety of holiday fare, ranging from the familiar torch song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas to The Lord's Prayer.

Sutherland, Joan

Joy of Christmas. London OS 25943. The great coloratura sings many of the best-known carols as well as Schubert's Ave Maria.

Svend Saaby Choir

Christmas Around the World. Decca 8204. Selections include Maria Wiegenlied, O San-ctissima, Kommt All Herein, Marche des Rois, and Void L·Noel.

Trapp Family Choir; Franz Wasner, conductor. Christmas with the Trapp Family Singers.

Decca S 79553.

The great success of the Broadway musical and subsequent movie The Sound of Music has made this disc one of the classics of the Christmas repertory. The Trapp Family was for some years an institution of the American concert hall, especially around Christmastime. The Decca disc is international in scope, with each carol, motet, or hymn in its original language or dialect. The style of singing, as always, is peaceful and reserved. The voices were not numerous or strong, and they kept well within their limitations.

Roger Wagner Chorale

Christmas Festive. Angel S 36016. This fine ensemble sings sacred seasonal music from the baroque and pre-baroque eras. Selections include ]ubiL·te Deo and Beata Es Virgo Maria, both by the Italian master Giovanni Gabrieli, and Hodie Christus Natus Est by Palestrina.

Great Choral Music of Christmas. Capitol STBB 488.

On this two-record album, the Wagner Chorale sings old favorites. Titles that are not quite so well known include Good Christian Men, Virgins Slumber Song, Coventry Carol, and O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

Welch Chorale; James B. Welch, conductor. Music Box of Christmas Carols. Vanguard VRS 428.

The novelty here is the alternation between singing and playing. Again we have the familiar fare, but for the interludes we hear an old-fashioned Regina music box. The effect at the same time is nostalgic and festive. The Regina is from the Bornand Collection.

Williams, Andy Andy Williams Christmas Album. Columbia CS 887.

Andy Williams's television Christmas specials became almost an American institution in the 1960's. Selections on this album include Oh Holy Night, Little Drummer Boy, Christmas Song, and Little Jesus Boy.

Music By Individual Composers

Bach, John Sebastian, 1685-1750

Cantata No. 1: Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern, Mathis, Haefliger, Fischer-Dieskau, Richter and the Munich Bach Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon ARC 198465. Founded on one of the most familiar and most beautiful of old chorales, this cantata is full of Bach's best music. The performance is excellent.

Cantata No. 63: Christen, atzet diesen Tag. Opawsky, R6ssl-Majdan, Kmentt, Hermann, Gielen and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Bach Guild BG 518.

There is some good solo singing in this recording, especially by Hilde R6ssl-Majdan, the contralto.
 
Cantata No. 122: Das neugebor'ne Kindelein. Opawsky, R6ssl-Majdan, Kmentt, Hermann, Gielen and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Bach Guild BG 523.
 
Christmas Oratorio. Ameling, Watts, Pears, Krause, Miinchinger and the Stuttgart Orchestra and Chorus. 3-London 1386. The Christmas Oratorio, actually a cycle of six cantatas, is one of the great masterpieces appropriate to the season. Especially notable is the extraordinarily intense tenor, Peter Pears.

Magnificat in D. Venora, Tourel, Oberlin, Bressler, Farrow, Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Columbia MS 6375.

Bach composed his Magnificat for the Christmas season in the Thomannerkirche at Leipzig. Originally he set it in the key of E-flat, adding four interpolations appropriate to Christmas, two in German and two in Latin.
 
This recording follows Bach in his later transposition to D major and features the countertenor Russell Oberlin in the contralto solos.

Berlioz, Hector, 1803-69

L'Enfance du Christ. De Los Angeles, Gedda,

Blanc, Cluytens and the Paris Conservatory

Orchestra, 2-Angel S 3680. At long last this heartwarmingly simple and sincere oratorio is making its way as a regular part of our Christmas. This is the best of available recordings, featuring the flawless soprano Victoria De Los Angeles. Andre Cluytens, one of the great interpreters of French music, brings out the full subtlety and uniquely French quality of Berlioz's beautiful score.

Britten, Benjamin, 1913

A Ceremony of CaroL·. Bragg, Texas Boys' Choir. Decca 710060.

In this work, written in 1942, Britten gave new settings to some lovely old English poems, introducing and ending the cycle with the plaintive Hodie Christus Natus Est, The boy choir is supported only by the harp.

Charpentier, Marc-Antoine, 1634-1704

Messe de Minuit. Willcocks and the English

Chamber Orchestra and King's College Choir. Angel S 36528.

This joyous and festive Mass is to be performed, of course, on Christmas Eve; it is based on several traditional carol tunes. The music is not easy, but it is handled expertly by the King's College Choir, perhaps the world's greatest men's and boys' chorus. The happy coupling is Purceh"s beautiful Te Deum,

Corelli, Arcangelo, 1653-1713

Concerto Grosso, Op. 6, No. 8 ("Christmas Concerto"). Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche Grammo-phon 2530070.

On this recording, Corelli's classic work has been happily combined with similar concerti of Torelli, Manfredini, and Locatelli. As always, the conducting of the great Herbert Von Karajan rises majestically to the occasion.
 
Cornelius, Peter, 1824-74

Weihnachtslieder. Seefried. Decca DL 7545. In our age of brilliance, hurry, and pretense such a simple little gem of a song cycle is apt to be forgotten. Thanks, therefore, are due Irmgard Seefried not only for discovering the work, but for singing it so beautifully. Among the several songs that complete the recital are Wolf's Schlafendes ]esuskind and Reger's Maria Wiegenlied.

Distler, Hugo, 1908-^2

Die Weihnachtsgeschichte, Op 10. Voorborg and the Netherlands Madrigal and Motet Choir. Epic LC 3153.

Hugo Distler was a gifted young German composer who took his own life during the Second World War. His Christmas Story stems directly from Schiitz. It is sung unaccompanied throughout. A narrator tells the story, with other soloists impersonating the various characters in the drama. The choral parts are virtually variations on the fine old chorale Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen. Coupled with the Honcgger Christmas Cantata, the recording, now a collector's item, is a real find.

Handel, George Frederic, 1685-1759

Messiah. Sutherland, Bumbry, McKellar, Ward, Boult and the London Symphony Orchestra. 3-London 1329.

Of the various Messiah recordings this is decidedly the best. American conductors tend to conduct this masterpiece in an overly romantic style. Sir Adrian Boult's tempi are brisk, alert, and vital. At the same time he has avoided any suggestion of dry musicology.

Hindemith, Paul, 1895-1963

Des Marienleben. Lammers. 2-Noncsuch 73007.

This mystical cycle, on poems of Rainer Maria Rilke, was originally composed in 1923, but realizing that he had made well-nigh impossible demands upon the singer, the composer later revised the work. The new version was introduced to concert audiences in 1949. Even as it stands now, the score is a challenge for any interpreters.

Honegger, Arthur, 1892-1955

Christmas Cantata (1953). Mollet, Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande

Choruses. London 25320. Honegger's Christmas message begins with darkness covering the earth and the anguished cries of humanity. The message itself comes in several languages, many people singing their own traditional carols. As the work develops, these songs weave together in counterpoint, not only of tunes but of tongues.

Hovhaness, Alan, 1911

Triptych: Ave Maria (1946), Christmas Ode (1952), Easter Cantata (1953). Valente, An-tonini, Bamberg Symphony Orchestra members, and the Bay Rund Singers. Composers Recordings, Inc. S 221.

Liszt, Franz, 1811-86

The Christmas Tree. Szegedi. Mace 9006. A Liszt piano cycle in the spare, introspective style, characteristic of the composer's late works, that expresses the many moods of Christmas.

Locatelli, Pietro, 1695-1764

Concerto Grosso, Op. 1, No. 8 ("Christmas Concerto"). Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche Grammophon 2530070.

See remarks under Corelli.

Manfredini, Francesco, c. 1680-1748

Christmas Concerto in C. Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Deutsche

Grammophon 2530070. See remarks under Corelli. Menotti, Gian-Carlo, 1911- Amahl and the Night Visitors. King, Yaghjian, McCollum, Patterson, Grossman. RCA Victor LSC 2762.

Written for television, this little holiday opera found such favor that it has become a fixture in theaters as well as on the air each year. The music, in the romantic style of Puccini, and the sentimental miracle story are irresistible.

Messiaen, Olivier, 1908-Vingt regards sur l’Enfant Jesus. Ogdon.

2-ArgoZRG 650/1.

A modern masterpiece by a major twentieth-century composer, this long piano cycle expresses a deeply personal religiosity. The music is extraordinarily varied in mood and the performance by John Ogdon expresses every color of this complex and difficult score by one of the greatest musical colorists.

Monteverdi, Claudio, 1567-1643

Vespro delta Beata Vergine. Harnoncourt and the Vienna Concentus Musicus, Vienna Boys Choir, and the Hamburg Monteverdi Choir. 2-Telefunken S 9501/2.

Palestrina, Giovanni, 1525-94

Christmas Mass, "Hodie Christus natus est." Schrems and the Regensburg Choir. Deutsche Grammophon ARC 198343.

Magnificat. Willcocks and the King's College Choir, Cambridge, Argo 5398.

Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista, 1710 36

Magnificat. Baker, Vaughan, Partridge, Keyte, Willcocks and the St. Martin-In-The-Fields Academy and King's College Choirs. Argo Z5O5.

Purcell, Henry, 1659-95

Anthems, Psalms, Sacred Songs, Services. Willcocks, the Leonhardt Consort and King's College Choir. Telefunken S 9558. This is a recording gem. The singing of the King's College Choir is exquisite. The use of antique instruments by the Leonhardt Consort adds a special richness that is rarely, if ever, heard on baroque music recordings.

Scarlatti, Alessandro, 1660-1725

Chamber Cantata: "Oh di Betlemme." Stok-lassa, Kehr, and the Mainz Chamber Orchestra. Turnabout 34180.

Schiitz, Heinrich, 1585-1672

Christmas Oratorio. Mathis, Jelden, Ocker,

Thamm, Windsbach Boys Choir. Angel S 36211.

In this wonderful work of Bach's great forerunner, the story is told by the tenor narrator, with the soprano repeating the Angel and the bass Herod. The trio of shepherds with ob-bligato by two recorders is particularly disarming.
 
Torelli, Giuseppe, 1658-1709

Concerto Grosso, Op 8, No. 6. Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Deutsche Grammophon 2530070. See remarks under Corelli.

Villa-Lobos, Heitor, 1887-1959

Caixinha de Bods Festas. Castro and the Rome Symphony Orchestra. RCA Victor LM 2143. The Surprise Box is a Christmas ballet for children, written in Villa-Lobos's characteristic rhythmic and colorful style.

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