1980s: Working List of Classical and Choral Christmas Recordings from the 1980s

 

1980s: Working List of Classical and Choral Christmas Recordings

By R. Rojas

The descriptions below are those of record labels or the ensembles and are not reviews by the Christmas Carols Blog. Some have been altered for better web viewing. Don't fret, we left the King's English intact. Links to the ensemble or record label have been included to make purchasing easier. We will be adding some link where they have been left off, as well as adding tracks, as we get the information. If we missed your new recording, email us at: christmascarolblog@gmail.com.

1982

1 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Procession
2 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Wolcum Yole!
3 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: There Is No Rose
4 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: That Yonge Child - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Andrew Olleson
5 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Balulalow - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Edward Harris
6 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: As Dew In Aprille
7 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: This Little Babe
8 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Interlude - Frances Kelly
9 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: In Freezing Winter Night
10 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Spring Carol
11 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Adam Lay I-Bounden
12 A Ceremony Of Carols, Op.28: Recession
13 Te Deum in C - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Edward Harris
14 Hymn To St. Peter - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Andrew Olleson
15 Hymn To The Virgin - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Edward Harris/Jonathan Cooke/Teehan Page/Nigel Howells
16 Hymn To St. Cecilia - Frances Kelly/Harry Bickett/Edward Harris/Mark Slater/Niall Weir/Nigel Howells

ASV

1983

ASV

1. Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day  - John Gardiner

2. Remember, O Thou Man n- Arthur Oldham

3. I sing of a Maiden - Patrick Hadley

4. Sing Lullaby - Herbert Howells

5. Here is the Little Door - H. Howells

6. Sir Christemas - Willaim Mathias

7. In Dulci Jubilo - Pearhall

8. Jesu, as thou art our saviour - B. Britten

9. O little one sweet - arr. J.S. Bach

10.The Crown of Roses - Tchaikovsky

11. A Spotless Rose - H. Howells

12. Alleluya, a new work is come on hand - Peter Wishart

1985

The University of Oxford's world famous choir performs a selection of famous and lesser-known carols.

1 O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
2 Adam Lay Ybounden, Carol (English)
3 Owt of Your Slepe Aryse (15th C. English), Carol
4 The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came (Birjina Gaztettobat Zegoen, Basque Carol)
5 A Spotless Rose, for Chorus
6 Ding Dong! Merrily on High (French)
7 In the Bleak Midwinter
8 The Holly and the Ivy (English)
9 I Wonder As I Wander (American)
10 A Babe Is Born, for Chorus & Organ, Op. 55
11 Sussex Carol ('On Christmas Night')
12 This Is the Truth Sent from Above (English)
13 A Virgin Most Pure (English)
14 Here Is the Little Door, Carol-Anthem for Chorus
15 Alleluia: A New Work Is Come on Hand
16 Coventry Carol (2): 'Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child'
17 In Dulci Jubilo (Pi' Cantiones)
18 There Is No Rose of Such Virtue (English)
19 Rocking Carol (Czech)
20 Wassail Song ('Here We Come A-Wassailing'), Carol (A.K.A. 'Here We Come A-Caroling')
21 Once in Royal David's City, Carol

CRD Records Ltd.

1986

1983

1984

1 Trad. Up! Awake! from Highest Steeple (Wachet Auf!) (Arr.

Jacob Praetorius) 2 Arthur Oldham Remember O Thou Man 3 Trad. There Stood in Heaven a Linden Tree (Arr. G.H. Palmer) 4 Peter Wishart Alleluya, a New Work Is Come on Hand 5 Charpentier Salve Puerile (Arr. John Rutter) 6 Trad. the Holly and the Ivy (Arr. H. Walford Davies) 7 Poston Jesus Christ the Apple Tree 8 Praetorius Resonet in Laudibus (Arr. Herbert Birtner) 9 Trad. Ding Dong! Merrily on High (Arr. Charles Wood) 10 Maxwell Davies Nowell (Out of Your Sleep Arise) 11 Hammerschmidt Alleluja! Freuet Euch, Ihr Christen Alle 12 Trad. Up! Good Christen Folk, and Listen (Arr. G.R. Woodward) 13 Trad. in Dulci Jubilo (Arr. R.L. Pearsall) 14 Mendelssohn Hark! the Herald Angels Sing 15 Scheidt Puer Natus in Bethlehem 16 Trad. Rocking (Arr. Sir David Willcocks) 17 John Gardner Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day 18 Trad. Illuminare Jerusalem 19 Britten a Shepherd's Carol 20 Trad. Good King Wenceslas

Eloquence

1984

‎ Deutsche Grammophon

1986

Chandos

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%208485

1999 Editor's note: I have information of a compact disc version of this released in 2007, mentioning that it's original release was in 1999. Fielder died in 1979, so release date may be inaccurate. 1 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town 2 Sleigh Ride 3 Parade of the Wooden Soldiers 4 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Boston Pops Orchestra 5 Winter Wonderland - Boston Pops Orchestra 6 Sleigh Ride, No. 3 7 March of the Toys 8 Silent Night 9 The Little Drummer Boy 10 Here We Come A-Caroling/O Christmas Tree/I Saw Three Ships Legacy Recordings

1987

Editor's note: I have information of a compact disc version of this released in 2007, mentioning that it's original release was in 1999. Fielder died in 1979, so release date may be inaccurate.

1

1 A Christmas Festival - Boston Pops Orchestra 2 White Christmas 3 Sleigh Ride 4 Winter Wonderland - Boston Pops Orchestra 5 Parade of the Wooden Soldiers 6 The Little Drummer Boy 7 Fantasia on "Greensleeves" (What Child Is This?) 8 The Toy Trumpet 9 Carol of the Bells 10 March of the Toys 11 Dream Pantomime 12 Sleigh Ride, No. 3 13 Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairy - Leo Litwin 14 Here We Come A-Caroling/O Christmas Tree/I Saw Three Ships 15 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - Boston Pops Orchestra 16 Silent Night 17 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town RCA 1985 Performed by the choir of new college, oxford and the collegium novum ensemble. Edward Higginbottom, director. Howard Moody on the organ. Musical Heritage Society

Editor's Note: This is probably a new cover. There was a release in 1988 using another cover.

Christmas in Leipzig was always a busy time for Johann Sebastian Bach. Each year between December 25 and January 6, a period of just 13 days, no less than six cantatas were required, as well as other concerted music. Bach's first Christmas in Leipzig as the kantor of the Thomaskirche, 1723-24, was preceded by an extraordinary period of creativity. At this time he composed or revised for the 13-day period from Christmas Day to Epiphany the first version of the Magnificat (BWV 243a) and six cantatas.

—Robin A. Leaver


Cantata BWV 63: Christen ätzet diesen Tag
**-**1. Chorus: Christen ätzet diesen Tag
2. Alto Recitative: O selger Tag!
3. Aria (Duet): Soprano, Bass: Gott, du hast es wohl gefüge
4. Tenor Recitative: So kehret sich nun heut
5. Aria (Duet): Alto, Tenor: Ruft und fleht das Himmel, an
6. Bass Recitative: Verdoppelt euch demnach, ihr heissen Andachtsflammen
7. Chorus: Höchster, schau in Gnaden an
Cantata BWV 65: Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen
8. Chorus: Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen
9. Chorale: Die Kön'ge aus Saba kamen dar
10. Bass Recitative: Was dort Jesaias vorhergesehn
11. Bass Aria: Gold aus Ophir ist zu schlecht
12. Tenor Recitative: Verschmähe nicht
13. Tenor Aria: Nimm mich dir zu eigen hin
14. Chorale: Ei nun, mein Gott, so fall ich dir
From the Mass in B Minor BWV 232
15. Chorus: Sanctus

https://www.sonoluminus.com/dorian/christmas-in-leipzig

1

1986-7 1 O Come, O Come Emanuel 2 Once In Royal David's City 3 Unto Us A Child Is Born 4 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 5 Good Christian Men Rejoice 6 O Holy Night 7 The Holly And The Ivy 8 See Amid The Winter Snow 9 I Saw Three Ships 10 This Christmastide 11 Coventry Carol 12 In The Bleak Mid-Winter 13 Silent Night 14 Angels We Have Heard On High 15 We Three Kings Of Orient Are 16 Joy To The World 17 Adeste Fideles 18 Amen

Phillips

1 Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (Adapted By w. H. Cummings from Mendelssohn's Festgesang for the Gutenberg Festival) 2 A Virgin Most Pure (English) 3 Work(S): Jingle Bells / Star of Bethlehem 4 Work(S): Carol Medley: Angels from the Realms of Glory / Away in a Manger / O Little Town of Bethlehem / the 5 Work(S): Carol Medley: As with Gladness Men of Old / Glory to God in the Highest / See Amid the Winter Snow 6 O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) 7 Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night) 8 Down in Yon Forest, Carol (English) 9 Good King Wenceslas (Piae Cantiones, 1582) 10 Work(S): Carol Medley: Little Jesus Sweetly Sleep (Rocking Carol) / Little Drummer Boy / Deck the Hall (Nos 11 Work(S): While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night / Auld Lang Syne (Followed By Change Ringing from the 1986 1 Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly 2 Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming 3 Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella 4 The First Noel 5 Angels We Have Heard on High 6 We Three Kings of Orient Are 7 O Come, All Ye Faithful 8 O Sanctissima 9 O Tannenbaum 10 O Come, O Come, Emanuel 11 Good King Wenceslas 12 Silent Night, Holy Night 13 Joy To The World 14 The Twelve Days of Christmas 15 Coventry Carol 16 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen 17 Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 18 It Came Upon a Midnight Clear 19 Good Christian Men, Rejoice 20 O Holy Night 21 What Child Is This? 22 Wassail Song 23 O Little Town of Bethlehem 24 Away In A Manger 25 We Wish You a Merry Christmas 1981 Composer arr. Edmund Walters Traditional Composer arr. Edgar Pettman Old Basque Noel Composer Edmund Walters Composer William Byrd Composer arr. Edmund Walters Spanish Anon Composer harmonized J.S. Bach Old German Melody Composer Harold Darke Composer arr. Edmund Walters German Traditional Chandos https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%206672 1985 Chandos https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%208436

1989

CRD Records LTD.

1987

Music by Holst and Walton provides [a] must for Yuletide
music in the air (San Francisco Chronicle).

Nimbus Records

1983

1 Good Christian Men Rejoice 2 Silent Night 3 Patapan 4 O Come, All Ye Faithful 5 O Sanctissima 6 Joy to the World 7 Away in the Manger 8 Fum Fum Fum: March of the Kings 9 What Child is This 10 Hark the Herald Angels Sing 11 Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella 12 Angels We Have Heard on High 13 Break Forth, O Beateous, Heavenly Light 14 The First Nowell 15 O Little Town of Bethlehem 16 I Saw Three Ships 17 Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly Telarc

1980

16 favourite carols including Once in Royal David's City, Away in a Manger & Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Ding dong! Merrily on high, God rest you merry, gentlemen, Unto us is born a son, Stille Nacht.

Decca

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