Leroy Anderson
Large Christmas Works: Part 5: Twentieth Century - Working List
Compiled by R. Rojas
Updated Jan. 20, 2023
Previous Post: Romantic Period
Editor's Note: This list was originally in one blog post but due to the amount of YouTube videos we embed, the post would take a long time to load on some browsers, so we have divided it into six parts by classical music period. We have kept the same introduction for each post.
We spend so much time focusing on Christmas carols on this blog and our social media. The carol is the namesake of our blog. However, I bet composers of larger Christmas works are saying, "What about us?"
About the list
So here is another working list as we attempt to chronicle large Christmas works and medleys. I bet there is an annotated bibliography done by some great scholar hidden in some hidden corner of a university library, I wanted to present not just a list but an audio/video of the piece so that it is readily available for the listener.
Although the three-minute mark is more of a post-advent-of-recording phenomenon, I have used it as our mark for what makes a larger Christmas work. Some pieces are just above and others way above. There are some that are so famous, we had to include them even if they were under three minutes.
As you know, we feature a lot of winter-themed classical music across our social media and blog, but sadly, we will not include them here because it would be an endless list. So, Sergei Prokofiev's Troika's "Sleigh Ride" or even Leopold Morzart's "Sleigh Ride" will not be included. If the winter piece mentions Christmas will be the exception.
About Medleys
I was hesitant to use the various Christmas carol medleys out there, but I think the study of the medley is an important one. In the mariachi world that I was once part of, there are a number of medleys called "popourri" in Spanish. There some really good ones, and some not so good. I think the main marker of a good quality medley is the transition, although sly modulations are also impressive. While you're making the transition, can the arranger give a prelude of the next song while still in the former?
O Magnum mysterium
We also hesitated to include "O Magnum mysterium," as well as o antiphons. However, with "O Magnum mysterium" being one of the most famous Christmas texts, we just could not. However, we limited their inclusion only to those composition over three minutes or if they had multiple movements.
Chronology
Those works which I do not have a date for, I have put at the bottom while I research the date. I have use dates of publication or first recording or but a "before" date using the date of the video. For some composers in which we do not know the date of publication of the work, we put the date of death of the composer's death to help the reader in placing in time, or we just posted the year the video was posted.
Obviously, there is a lot of Christmas works out there that has not been recorded or are in audio-only and have not been posted to YouTube. See our list of Lost Christmas Music.
Also, some Christmas works do not have a full video of the entire piece, so I have only posted the first video of the composition hoping you will go to YouTube to see the rest of the videos/movements. For example, John Rutter's Dancing Day, I did not post a video of the entire work, but just the first movement. If later find a video of the work in its entirety, will replace the video we have with the video of the entire work.
Yes, this is a rabbit hole we gone down and this list will probably never be complete.
However, from what I have, it is a good look at the trajectory of Christmas music in the choral and classical world from Bach's Christmas Oratorio to Patrick Hawes' The Nativity and Bob Chilcott's Christmas Oratorio.
Please send corrections on dates of publication or premiere to christmascarolsblog@gmail.com or message us on our social media.
1907
A Christmas Greeting, Op. 52 Edward Elgar
1907
Four Old English Carols, Gustav Holst
1. A babe is born
2. Now let us Sing
3. Jesu, Thou the Virgin
4. The Savior of the World
1906-1916
Two Carols, Gustav Holst
| 1. A Welcome Song | |
| 2. Terly Terlow |
1910
Christmas Day, Gustav Holst
Christmas Cantata for soli and chorus, words by Rose Dafforne Betjemann, Julius Harrison
Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Ralph Vaughn Williams
1911
No video
Christmas Cantata for soli and chorus, words by Rose Dafforne Betjemann, Julius Harrison
1912
Fantasia on Christmas Carols, Ralph Vaughn Williams
1912
"Christmas Eve on the Mountains" (Original), Arnold Bax
1915 - First Grouping under Opus 1, but they were written at various points between 1897 and 1913
Romanian Christmas Carols, Bartók
Christmas Songs, Op. 1 (1897-1913), Sibelius
1915
1916-17
Three Carols, Gustav Holst
1. I saw three ships
2. Personent hodie
3. Masters of this Hall
1917
A Dream of Christmas, Gustav Holst
1919
1920
Two Traditional Carols from Herefordshire for chorus and organ, Ralph Vaughn Williams
1921
Weihnachtsmusik, Arnold Schoenberg
2021
Christmas Eve, Tone Poem (revision of "Christmas Eve on the Mountains"), Arnold Bax
1922
Constant Christmas, Amy Beach
Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, Cyril Rootham
Lauda per la natività del Signore, P. 166, Ottorino Respighi
Christmas Prelude for Chamber Orchestra – Vítězslava Kaprálová
Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus
("Twenty Contemplations of the Christ-Child"),
Olivier Messiaen
A Christmas Cantata, Geoffrey Bush
Une cantate de Noël for Baritone, Children and Mixed Choruses, Organ and Orchestra, H. 112, Arthur Honegger
H 212 Une cantate de Noël (A Christmas Cantata),
Arthur Honegger
1925 (published posthumously)
Christmas Overture, Samuel Coledrige-Taylor
1926
On Christmas Night (1926): masque adapted from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, Ralph Vaughn Willaims
1927
Carol Symphony (1927), Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-47)
1928
Ode on the Morning of Christ's Nativity, Cyril Rootham
1930
1933
A Boy Was Born for treble voices and choir (1933; revised 1955)
1934
1935
La Nativité du Seigneur ("The Lord's Nativity") , Olivier Messiaen
- La vierge et l'enfant ("The Virgin and Child")
- Les Bergers ("The Shepherds")
- Desseins éternels ("Eternal Designs")
- Le verbe ("The Word")
- Les enfants de Dieu ("The Children of God")
- Les anges ("The Angels")
- Jésus accepte la souffrance ("Jesus accepts suffering")
- Les mages ("The Magi")
- Dieu parmi nous ("The Lord Amidst Us")
1939
1942
A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 - Benjamin Britten
1944
Vingt Regards sur l'enfant-Jésus
("Twenty Contemplations of the Christ-Child"),
Olivier Messiaen
1945
Two Carols, Ralph Vaughn Williams
1946
Twenty Polish Christmas Carols, Lutosławski
1947
A Christmas Cantata, Geoffrey Bush
1948
"Der kleine Melchior und das Weihnachtskind", R. Rudolf Mauersberger
1948
Die Weihnachtsgeschichte, Carl Orff
1950
"Suite of Carols for Brass Choir" by Leroy Anderson
1950
A Christmas Festival, Leroy Anderson
1950
Bertold Hummel (1925-2002): Christmas suite (1950)
1951
Quatre motets pour le temps de Noël, FP 152, Francis Poulenc
- O magnum mysterium
- Quem vidistis pastores dicite
- Videntes stellam
- Hodie Christus natus est
1951
Amahl and the Night Visitors, Gian Carlo Menotti
1952
Anthony Collins (1893-1963) (after Liszt) : Christmas Tree Suite for strings and celeste (1952)
I. Lighting the Tree II. Old Times III. Games IV. Bedtime. Performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Barry Wordsworth. While the first three movements derive from Liszt's Weihnachtsbaum for piano S. 186, the fourth movement is based on En rêve for piano S. 207
1952
Une cantate de Noël for Baritone, Children and Mixed Choruses, Organ and Orchestra, H. 112, Arthur Honegger
1953
Arthur Honegger
1953
Hodie!, Ralph Vaughn Williams
1954
Hodie, Ralph Vaughan Williams
1955
Echoes Of Christmas, George Feyer
1956 or sooner
In Terra Pax, Op. 39 Finzi
1955
Suite of Carols, for orchestra, Leroy Anderson
Suite of Carols, for woodwinds, Leroy Anderson
1957
Christmas Cantata, Daniel Pinkham
1959
Geoffrey Grey
1960
New Born King, Gordon Jacob (not the above video is with piano accompaniment.
1960
O magnum mysterium, Peter Maxwell Davies
1. O magnum mysterium (treble solo)
2. Haylie, comley and clene
3. Sonata I: Puer Natus
4. O magnum mysterium (treble and solo)
5. Alleluia, pro Virgine Marai
6. Sonata II: Lux fugebit
7. The Fader of Heven
8. O magnum mysterium (full choir)
9. Organ Fantasia on 'O magnum mysterium'
Before 1963
1. O magnum mysterium
2. Quem vidistis pastores dicte
3. Videntes stellam
4. Hodie Chistus natus est
1966
Five Carols, Peter Maxwell Davies
1967
Five Carols, Richard Rodney Bennett
1969
1970
Christmas Cantata Ein Krippenspiel aus Köröshegy, Weihnachtskantate (Nativity play of Köröshegy, Christmas cantata) edited in English, German, French, Hungarian, for narrator, mixed or children's choir, organ and instrumental ensemble (6 instruments) or orchestra (1970), Ferenc Farkas
1979
Little Suite For Christmas, A.D. 1979 George Crumb (*1929) after Giotto’s Nativity frescoes in the Arena Chapel at Padua I. The Visitation
II. Berceuse for the Infant Jesu
III. The Shepherd's Noël
IV. Adoration of the Magi
V. Nativity Dance
VI. Canticle of the Holy Night
VII. Carol of the Bells
1981 or sooner
Nativitas, Jean Belmont
1985
1987
God is with Us: A Christmas Proclamation, Johne Tavener
1989
Christ's Nativity for SATB and Organ, Iain Hamilton
1994
1996
Christmas Fantasy Orgel-Variationen zur Weihnacht - Variations on Christmas Carols for Organ op. 46 (1996) - Hans Uwe Hielscher
1990
Partridge Pie, Richard Rodney Bennett
1990
Festive Cheer Medley, Arr. Roger Harvey
1991
1992
A Christmas Bouquet, Alexander Courage
c. 1990. The dating of this is ambiguous in the liner notes.
Medley of Christmas Spirituals, arr. Joseph Jennings
1992
A Visit from St. Nicholas, Arranger: Joe Reisman
1996
Arthur Honegger: A Christmas Cantata (Une cantate de Noël)
1998
Isaiah 35 – Three Advent Carols (1998), Jonathan Rutherford
1. Rejoice, you barren land
2. The Sofferent thatte seeth evere seycrette
3. The Wilderness and the Solitary Place
1. Rejoice, you barren land
2. The Sofferent thatte seeth evere seycrette
3. The Wilderness and the Solitary Place
1998
Three Christmas Carols for organ op. 49,
Hans Uwe Hielscher,
1. 00:00 Hark, the herald angels sing 2. 01:54 O little town of Bethlehem 3. 03:26 We wish you a Merry Christmas
1999 or sooner
1999 or earlier, Robert Shaw (d. 1999)
The Many Moods of Christmas, Suite 2: O Sanctissima / Joy to the World / Away in a Manger /..., arr. Robert Shaw
Many Moods of Christmas: Suite No. 3, Robert Shaw
Many Moods of Christmas: Suite No. 4, Robert Shaw
2 Carols, Herbert Sumsion
Undated
Undated
12 Traditional Carols from Herefordshire, Ralph Vaughn Williams
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Next Period: Large Christmas Works: Part 6 2000 Modern to Present
