The Swingle Singers' Bach renditions always put me in a festive mood

Two years ago my church choir (SSATB quintet) decided to make a recording of the majority of the music from our Advent and Christmas services, as a gift for our number one fan - our churchwarden - and his wife on the occasion of their Golden Wedding.  We only had a minidisc recorder and a lapel mike, and the usual background noise, but I shall certainly be listening to my copy of the disc over the festive period this year.  It also has a nostalgic aspect now; we had the same five regular singers for nearly seven years, and now our tenor has left

Reiner, I too prefer the Christmas Oratorio to Messiah at this time of year.  I also need to acquire a decent recording of some of Bach's Advent cantatas.  There's nothing quite like "Wachet auf!" in its entirety (though I'd rather be singing it than listening to it).

And just for fun, the Hallé Christmas Classics CD which my then-flatmate bought me as a present when it was first released.

Ruth - I well remember the sessions for that Halle disc - middle of June, sweltering heat... can't quite equate Christmas with the music now...

I can well imagine, roslynmuse

I don't really go for "Christmas Classics" discs as a rule - after all, if I want to hear this kind of stuff over the Christmas period, turning on Classic FM costs nothing - but the disc features my pet diva, so I was grateful to be given it!

Liszt's Christus - we listened to it last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.  Listening to it at this time of year will probably become a family tradition!

Hi, Don B!

The setting of the Field-Mouse Carol is something my bro dug out for the Wassail we used to do each year for charity - one of the other Wassailers was Opilec here

I'll see if I can root-out the tune, at least... I'm in London briefly & without my laptop, but I could make a quick midi file (plays in Windows Media Player) for you at least! 

You´d have to dust off a couple of bottles of Old Burton to complete the atmosphere

PS I've already bored everyone stiff with this of couirse, but since we're on the topic... in both l'Enfance du Christ and Christmas Oratorio there's an imitation - using oboes & bassoons - of the Zampogna bands of Italian shepherds. Once the flocks were penned-up,for winter the shepherds were laid-off by the farmers, so they went busking to make money over the winter. They played the Zampogna - a huge baritone-pitched bagpipe with a dual pair of chanters that played along in parallel thirds (one chanter in each hand). Above this the melody could be sung by the player, as the Zampogna is bellows.blown with the right elbow..leaving the performer free to sing along.  Very often another player would double up the melody on a little shawm (later an oboe would be.used), and then take the hat round during the sung verses.  Almost all.the music they played was in a liltingn 6/8 tempo and centred on Christmas stories about the shepherds.  They still play this stuff in Calabria - with.songs like Venite, tutti quanti, voi pastore, l'Infan Jesu in mezzo di animale...  It's the authentic Christmas Carol music of the C18th...they toured all over, even reaching Edinburgh   The close-harmony rolling thirds and sixths, and triple-time measures were 'the sound of Christmas', and both Bach & Berlioz included it as.a charming seasonal touch that our C21st ears no longer recognise. Handel inserts a similar Pastorale into the MESSIAH prior to 'And there were shepherds in the.same country../but doesn't allow himself the luxury.of oboes & bassoons as Bach does