Christmas in July is the name of a 1940 American comedy film about a lottery. It’s also the name of informal Christmas-themed gatherings in Australia and other southern hemisphere countries, where July is cold and wintry and a little more like the stereotypical Christmas of the northern hemisphere.
For choir directors everywhere, though, July is a peak month for planning the Christmas season! Here’s a pick of Canasg Christmas pieces which are rewarding to sing and suitable for a wide range of choirs:
- Christmas Canon a 6 voci and Christmas Round a 4 voci. Mixed or equal voices. Two lovely and highly original pieces by the Scottish composer David Johnson (1942 – 2009). The first uses the medieval English text ‘There is no rose of such virtue’ and bell-like chords sound at the end of each verse. The second, expressing quiet adoration of the Christ child, and is based on a 16th century translation of Martin Luther’s hymn Von Himmel Hoch.
- Maria Durch ein Dornwald Ging (Mary in the Thorn-wood). SAA a cappella. A simple arrangement by Frances Cockburn of the beautiful German carol telling how a long-barren thorn-wood flowers as Mary carries Jesus through it. In German, with pronunciation guidance provided.
- The Sans Day Carol arr. Sheena Phillips. SATB with optional guitar and/or treble instrument and hand-held percussion. A delightfully sturdy and jaunty carol from Cornwall in the southwest of England, named after the village of St. Day (itself named after the Breton saint). A close relative of The Holly and the Ivy, but with a different tune.
- The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn by Douglas Cook. SATB or SSAA a cappella. Part of a suite of four carols – and the Editor’s favourite – this piece is a simply exquisite lullaby that swells and dies in two-bar phrases and rocks gently between major and minor tonalities. Words in Latin, from a print found by Samuel Taylor Coleridge during a visit to Germany in 1799. Also available for SSA.
- Villanelle de Noël by Michael Buck. SATB a cappella. This setting of words by Scottish poet Tom Scott (1918 – 1995) makes for an unusual and touching Christmas number. It links the red plumage of the robin to a fable about how a robin tried to help Christ on the cross. The music is strophic, with two slightly different verse forms alternating. Supplied in two keys (F minor and G minor) so that you can take your pick.
For Canasg’s full Christmas and mid-winter collection, go to our catalogue page and select Christmas, midwinter, New Year from the drop-down menu at the top left. Apart from the titles listed above, you’ll find wassail or luck visit songs, other traditional carols from France, Germany, Scotland and Wales, pagan songs (check out Dies Natalis Invicti Solis and A Carol for the Wanderer), Paul Ayres’ sea-shanty-styled I Saw Three Ships, and much more. Happy Christmas in July!
