The Christmas Song
Nat King Cole
This track brings back memories of Christmases at home as a child. My parents loved the old crooners and Nat King Cole was a firm favourite during the festive season, along with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong. Clive Myrie
We sang this in sixth form. Five part acapella. I can still remember my baritone part so it fills me with nostalgia whenever I hear it. Linton Stephens
Christmas Oratorio (Opening Chorus)
JS Bach
For me the thwack of the timpani that begin Bach’s Christmas Oratorio spells out Christmas and it’s impossible to resist being swept up in the festive flurry of flutes, trumpets, strings, and voices to carry you off to the starlit stable via snowy Leipzig. Hannah French
If Christmas Eve is a time for quietness, reflection and mystery, Christmas Day is much more extrovert affair in my home. First thing on Christmas morning, I slap Christmas Oratorio on the stereo and crank the volume up high (my neighbours love me, I’m sure!). Bach begins with an exhilarating, heraldic fanfare and chorus, “Jauchzet, frohlocket”, and my favourite recording is especially joyful and boisterous: Jan Willem de Vriend directing Combattimento Consort and Cappella Amsterdam (2006). Sara Mohr-Pietsch
The Nutcracker Suite: Sugar Plum pas de deux
Tchaikovsky
We all love a trip to see a Christmas Ballet, and The Nutcracker is the granddaddy of course. It’s tempting to choose the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy but this is my favourite. Katie Derham
Silent Night arr. Jonathan Rathbone
Tenebrae
Rathbone’s arrangement of Silent Night is one of the highlights of our carol service every year. It can be hard to write a “hit” arrangement of such a well-known tune, but he achieves it with schmulzy harmonies and unexpected modulations. The moment the full choir joins together to sing the final verse pianissimo in Db major always gives me goosebumps, particularly when we’re singing it in a full, candlelit chapel. Anna Lapwood
Festive Music from Truro Cathedral
Truro Cathedral Choir, Christopher Gray director, Luke Bond organ
Christmas is a time to think of home and distant friends and family. I’ll be in London but I have chosen Truro Cathedral Choir as a) they are one of the best choirs in the country, and b) make me think of my beloved Cornish homeland. This album is a brilliant mix of classic carols, new works and music from Cornwall. Petroc Trelawny
Father Christmas
Lord Kitchener
Sometime on Christmas afternoon we’ll shift into full party/chaos mode, heralded by the A Calypso Christmas album. We all start shimmying about with our aprons on. Impossible to argue while shimmying to calypso. Kate Molleson
Fantasia on Greensleeves
Vaughan Williams
When I lived in Cambridge I used to walk around the city and along the River Cam on a daily basis. There’s something about Fantasia on Greensleeves that takes me straight back to Cambridge’s Christmas market. Beautiful memories. Eric Whitacre
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
Sakamoto
From the opening piano snowflakes to the emotionally expansive melody, this is one of my dad’s favourite tunes and is a warm reminder of home and family. Jess Gillam
Little Girl Blue
Nina Simone
Christmas can be a very bleak and lonely time for a lot of people, and although listening to festive music can be something of a pick-me-up, sometimes we just need someone to meet us where we are with tenderness and understanding. So, for anyone who’s got the Christmas blues, I recommend the raw vulnerability of Nina Simone, who spins the carol Good King Wenceslas into a melancholic piano rhapsody in the intro to her lonesome gem, Little Girl Blue. SMP
Joy to the World
Handel
Nan and Grandad were the centre of our Christmas as kids. And their house was like this wonderfully lit grotto. They had this Santa figurine in the hallway that would play music and the first thing was Joy to the World. We lost Nan and Grandad two years ago so it’s a bittersweet one for me when I hear this. But even from my atheist point of view still such a lovely message. LS
The Ivy and the Holly
Kate Rusby
Wherever I am at Christmas, I put on some of Yorkshire folk singer Kate Rusby’s carols and I feel like I’m home. This is caroling for the pub rather than the church, and this particularly mischievous one (a cover of Chris Sugden’s 1980’s number for The Kipper Family) is a reverse take on the Holly and the Ivy – pointing out their useless practical properties rather than their symbolic ones. HF
Marian Anderson’s Christmas Carols
RCA Victor
There is something gloriously camp about the tradition of famous opera singers releasing Christmas discs. The artwork, the arrangements, Bryn Terfel’s White Christmas, Joan Sutherland’s Twelve Days of Christmas, Montseratt Caballe singing Mary’s Boy Child… I have chosen the great American contralto Marian Anderson, working with master arranger Robert Russell Bennett. Perfect for unwrapping presents. PT
Frank Sinatra’s Christmas Waltz
Laufey
Gen Z’s answer to Sarah Vaughan has the kind of voice which perfectly lends itself to a Christmas song, and she does a great cover. KD
Gaudete
Steeleye Span
I love the way 16th century carol collides with 1970s folk rock in this. Everyone from Christmas stalwarts like The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge to The King’s Singers have recorded this ancient carol, which is a song of praise to the Virgin Mary in Latin. I love the Steeleye Span version which made it to Number 14 in the UK Singles Chart in 1973 for its gutsy harmonies, slightly West-Country accents, and the searing purity of Maddy Prior’s vocal. It’s the musical equivalent to swigging a pint of mead on Christmas morning. GM
Sleep Jesus
Silvestrov
As parts of the world face extreme and tragic conflict and uncertainty, I find this song offers a moment of solace, reflection and gratitude. JG
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming
Michael Praetorius
My favourite piece of Christmas music, hands down. EW
Hansel and Gretel Overture
Humperdink
I first played this when I was in the National Children’s Orchestra and so now whenever I hear it I’m transported straight back to that giddy joy I felt, playing in a ‘proper’ orchestra for the first time. A couple of minutes into the overture there is a dancing, swirling string melody that feels like it is constantly striving for something just out of reach – it makes me think of Hansel and Gretel reaching for sweets! AL
Carol of the Bells
Wynton Marsalis
I love the kitsch opening of high pitched horns (Christmas can be very kitsch of course) and then the way the whole thing settles into a laid back, kick off your shoes jazz groove. This tune is based on a traditional Ukrainian folk melody and I like that link to a place that’s been an important part of my life in the last couple of years. CM
Deilig er Jorden
Lise Davidsen, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Christian Egge
I’ve fallen in love with this gorgeous recording of the popular carol Deilig er Jorden (how lovely is the earth)” on Lise Davidsen’s stunning new Norwegian Christmas album. Her voice is perfection – so agile and warm – in a sumptuous arrangement by conductor Christian Egge. SMP
Rebel Jesus
Jackson Browne
I see this one has been discussed online as “the worst Christmas song ever”. Couldn’t care less. Sure the words are a bit preachy but the message (about poverty) is sound. Jackson Browne wrote it for a guest appearance on a Chieftons Christmas album but it’s the raucous version on the McGarrigle Christmas Hour that I’m addicted to. KM
Sugar Rum Cherry
Duke Ellington and his Orchestra
This is quite simply the funkiest Christmas music imaginable; Tchaikovsky’s glittery Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy gets elegantly sozzled in a funky re-working by pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington and his long-time collaborator Billy Strayhorn. They created their take on Tchaikovsky’s festive ballet suite in 1960 and it oozes languorous cool, slowing that famous tinkly tune right down and giving it to a swinging horn section. GM
Vienna New Year Concert 2016
Vienna Philharmonic/Mariss Jansons
I am so lucky that I get to see the New Year in in Vienna. The programme of waltzes and other Viennese dances is led by a starry conductor every year – I was fortunate to introduce the late and much missed Marris Jansons conducting the gala twice. PT
Noel nouvelet
Beautiful strange 15th century French carol. I’m a sucker for the old minor-key modal ones. KM
Tundra
Ola Gjeilo
Icy, magical, atmospheric choral music which evokes a snowy Christmas card scene. KD
Nutcracker Suite: Coffee (Arabian Dance)
Tchaikovsky
In a Christmas ballet brimming with perfect melodies, this has always been my favourite. When the strings enter, all muted and smoky, I get chills every time. EW
Christmas Baby Please Come Home
Darlene Love
I first heard this when I was about 11 and I instantly fell in love. I’ve even been known to enjoy it in April – it’s that storming saxophone solo! JG
Mother’s Love
Emahoy Tségue-Mariam Guèbrou
Emahoy was an Ethopian nun and composer who lived an extraordinary life, and died earlier this year at the age of 99. She wrote and played solo piano music as an expression of her deep devotional faith. This gorgeous miniature draws the language of Ethio-jazz and traditional ‘tizita’ songs into a lilting lullaby, a homage to the deep love of the Virgin Mary for her newborn baby. SMP
Sleigh Ride
Leroy Anderson
This piece always reminds me of playing trumpet in my school orchestra as a kid. It’s so evocative of this time of year with the braying trumpet at the end mimicking one of the horses pulling the sleigh. So much fun. CM
O Little Town of Bethlehem
Ralph Vaughan Williams
This is the carol that takes me back to Christmas as a child. The magic of the nativity, shopping for presents, Christmas Day with the family. But I find the melody and lyrics so wonderfully calming too. It just captures the magic of the season. LS
Children, Go Where I Send Thee
Nina Simone
This is the most joyful, gospel-infused song, with the most infectious piano hook, guaranteed to pick up the collective mood after potential festive over-eating or board-game-related fallouts. It’s on Nina’s second studio album which came out in 1959, but the routes of this song go way back. It’s spiritual but its origins are complicated, and it’s thought that its nearest known relative is the English folk song The Twelve Apostles – a song which the classical composer Percy Grainger made the first ever sound recording of on a phonogram in 1908. In 1934 the American folklorists John Avery Lomax and Alan Lomax travelled to the Bellwood Labor Camp in Atlanta Georgia and made the first American recording with a group of convicts. My favourite thing about it is the repeated refrain: One for the little bitty baby which Nina sings with such relish. GM
Maria Wiegenlied
Max Reger
Such a sweet, delicate melody. Every time I hear this it is stuck in my heart for weeks. EW
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Poston
This is the piece which opens our Advent carol service every year – there is a beautiful familiar simplicity to the opening, the melody sung in unison by the upper voices. As the piece progresses, it’s as if the music is unfurling like a flower, gently closing again when the piece draws to a close. AL
Bob Chilcott’s Christmas Oratorio
Choir of Merton College Oxford/Ben Nicholas
One of the joyous wonders of Christmas is that it prompts such a great outpouring of new music each year. This year I’d recommend trying a Christmas Oratorio written by Bob Chilcott – packed full of glorious seasonal music. And with starry performers too – Nick Pritchard, Dame Sarah Connolly, Neal Davies and Benjamin Nicholas’s award-winning Choir of Merton College, Oxford. PT
Trad: Ding! Dong! Merrily on High
Sung by the Choir of King’s College Cambridge
Quintessential Christmas Eve: peeling brussels sprouts while watching Carols from Kings, and, ever since she’s been tiny, hearing my daughter belt out the Gloria chorus from Ding Dong, punching the air when she gets though it all in one breath. HF
All I Want for Christmas
Mariah Carey
Let’s face it. It’s not a festive season until Mariah has thawed out. LS
The Holly Bears a Berry
The Watersons
Every December my parents have a party where all their friends pack around the piano in the living room and sing carols together. When I was a teenager I thought it was deeply embarrassing but now I think it’s the greatest thing. At some point in proceedings, my parents’ friend Pete from Sheffield leads a full-voiced version of The Holly Bears a Berry. Apparently it’s an old Cornish carol, but in my mind it’s always associated with Pete and his broad Yorkshire accent. There’s a great recording by The Watersons. KM
Christmas Concerto
Corelli
This is great music to accompany the rituals of Christmas – stuffing the turkey or roasting the sprouts, wrapping presents or dressing the tree. Lovely. CM
The Secret of Christmas
Ella Fitzgerald
This is one of the most beautiful and moving Christmas songs on the planet and Ella Fitzgerald’s voice is just something else. JG
Il est né, le divin Enfant
Clare College Singers and Orchestra, conducted by John Rutter
So much of the magic of Christmas music comes from childhood associations. I was taught this 19th century French carol when I was nine, and I don’t think I ever had a clue what the words meant, but I loved the way they felt to sing. “Il est né le divin enfant, Jouez hautbois, résonnez musettes”, has stayed in my mind ever since that first Christmas singing it; it means: “He is born, the Heav’nly Child, Oboes play; set bagpipes sounding”. This version from John Rutter, a man who has written so much great Christmas music himself, really plays up the medieval resonances in the words with atmospheric drums and oboes heralding that beautiful French melody. GM
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Ella Fitzgerald
It’s Christmas time! You’ve got to have some Ella! CM
What could be better than Ella Fitzgerald singing Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas as you sip mulled wine in the glow of the tree lights? Nothing. HF
Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
Michael Praetorius
Another oldie, this time from Germany. Perfection in the early 17th century harmonisation by Praetorius which gives us a citrus twist of an unexpected major chord at just the right sweet spot. KM
Ballade de Jesus Christ arr. J. Lenehan
Huw Wiggin and Oliver Wass
This was a relatively new discovery for me, but I find I keep coming back to it! I love the combination of saxophone and harp (one I haven’t really heard much before), particularly when the saxophone is soaring high in its register and feels so similar to a human voice. The Ballade de Jesus Christ is a tune I know well in the form of the hymn Let all mortal flesh keep silent, but this arrangement brings that familiar melody even more emotional power. AL
What Child Is This?
Vince Guaraldi Trio
The opening theme which is repeated throughout this wonderful piece, reminds me of falling flakes of snow. The tune is familiar as Greensleeves, but given a wintery Christmas twist. Reminds me of log fires, mince pies and mulled wine. CM
Eit barn er født i Betlehem (A Child is Born in Bethlehem)
Trad arr. Ørjan Matre
I can remember feeling like time stood still in the studio when I first heard the Christmas music of Norwegian composer Ørjan Matre and his luminous arrangement of this old Danish carol has been part of my soundtrack to Christmas ever since. HF
Wassail Song
John Kirkpatrick
My friend played this to me last year and I absolutely love the groove in the opening. When the singers join in, it’s impossible not to smile. JG
O Magnum Mysterium
Francis Poulenc
This exquisite motet by Francis Poulenc gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. I’ve sung it a lot with choirs, too, and although Poulenc’s harmonies are often tricky to navigate, for the listener this motet is magical, a touchingly simple and hushed homage to the wondrous mystery of birth. My favourite recording is by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen. SMP
A Christmas Fantasy
The Ayoub Sisters
There’s something about this medley which seems to capture all the anticipation, excitement and warmth of the Christmas season. I was in the National Youth Orchestra with Laura and have been following her career ever since – I think one of the things I love about this piece and all their arrangements is how their personalities always shine through so strongly. AL
Fairytale of New York
The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
This year, of all years, surely we have to have the Christmas hit which never seems to date… KD
The Lamb
John Tavener
Such a haunting and beautiful piece. Quite simply it wouldn’t be Christmas without it! It’s one of the most perfect choral works ever written. EW
Troika from Lieutenant Kijé
Prokofiev
This started life as Soviet era film music. Prokofiev had been working in Paris and had earned a reputation as a bit of a musical radical, he’s proving here that he can write big, accessible tunes. A Troika is a Russian harness driving combination involving three horses pulling a sleigh, and the genius of this music is that you can feel the cold air on your face, the rhythm of the horse’s hooves and the magic of snowfall as you listen. GM
‘Clive Myrie at Christmas’, Sundays to 24 December, 1-2pm; ‘Inside Music with Eric Whitacre’, Saturday 16 December, 1pm-3pm; Hannah French presents ‘EBU Christmas Around Europe’, Sunday 17 December, 2-3pm and 4-11.30pm; Kate Molleson presents ‘Composer of the Week: A Vaughan Williams Christmas’, Monday 18 – Friday 22 December, 12-1pm; Katie Derham and Sean Rafferty host the ‘In Tune Christmas Special’, Wednesday 20 December, 5-7pm; ‘Inside Music with Anna Lapwood’, Saturday 23 December, 1pm-3pm; ‘This Classical Life – Jess Gillam with Lise Davidsen’, Saturday 23 December, 12:30-1pm; ‘Sara Mohr-Pietsch’s Hygge Christmas’, Sunday 24 December, 7-9pm; Georgia Mann presents ‘BBC Radio 3 at Ronnie Scott’s’, Sunday 24 December, 9-10.30pm; Petroc Trelawny hosts ‘Christmas Morning Live’, Monday 25 December, 9am-1pm and the ‘New Year’s Day Concert from Vienna’, Monday 1 January, 10.15am-1pm.