It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

By Julia Hudson 

With Christmas around the corner, we’ve been travelling all over the South of England with performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and much more. We’ve been carol singing, shopping and consuming a healthy amount of mulled wine (although this year I highly recommend mulled cider as an alternative…). Caught up in the whirl of present-buying, tree decorating and social gatherings, and with every politician’s Christmas card portraying themselves, rather than remembering why they’re sending them in the first place, music fortunately gives us a moment to sit and reflect on what Christmas is all about, whatever your religious leanings or otherwise.

 

I have been particularly busy this year carol singing at various venues around London and Berkshire, and have been amazed by the welcome and response we have received. When else would you see five men propping up a bar, joining in with “O TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY” at the tops of their voices? The traditional format of Nine Lessons and Carols, seen everywhere from parish churches to cathedrals, to me embodies the spirit of Christmas. To this end, I’ve been conducting a wonderfully enthusiastic and well-meaning church choir in Wiltshire, my family’s home, whose sole annual performance is at the carol service. After a surprisingly encouraging rendition of Rutter’s ‘What Sweeter Music’ last weekend, I discovered that a few key members have been holding additional rehearsals up to four times a week – if that isn’t the Christmas spirit, I don’t know what is.

Attending a particularly lovely Southern Sinfonia performance last week of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with the Windsor and Eton Choral Society in Eton’s beautiful school hall, I felt this again. Not as conventional or as well-known as Handel’s Messiah or the classic Christmas carols, the audience still felt drawn together and unified by the story; with no need for a programme, “there were shepherds in the fields” immediately signposts you (like a star, perhaps), familiarising yourself with the story while allowing you to explore the new music.

Finally, since this wouldn’t be a blog post without giving you a comprehensive account of my free time, my choir spent a day recently at a school which was running a carol composition competition. We sang through all the entries (much fantastically joyous sightreading…) voted for our winners and performed them in a concert at the end of the day. With an age range of 10-18, the standard was wonderfully high – I certainly wasn’t composing for four-part double choir in Latin, aged 10, though you may have been – and there was a huge variety of styles. A few of the younger children focussed on more obvious aspects of the Christmas tradition “Best of all, are the presents underneath [the tree]”, but what struck me even amongst these young musicians was the overriding sense of thoughtfulness and spirituality which pervaded the majority of the pieces. In styles reminiscent of Morten Lauridsen, Eric Whitacre and Bob Chilcott, the tuneful shapes woven by the students created dreamy and pensive musical pictures.

So, as I depart for a few days of Christmassy cheer, let me leave you with some advice for a thoughtful musical moment in your festive celebrations:

• Try and spare time to watch Carols from King’s. Christmas Eve, 6.15pm. An hour and a bit of stunning Christmas music, which I was lucky enough to attend one year. Perfection.

• Seek out the following carols: Howells ‘A Spotless Rose’, Cornelius ‘The Three Kings’, Tavener ‘God is With Us’, Tchaikovsky ‘Crown of Thorns’. My highly subjective shortlist of gorgeous choral music.

• Purchase those lovely crackers which have a whistle as the gift. Find seven friends and a handy conductor. Good luck!

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