All of our eSongbooks are supplied with a single user licence which allows the Words on Screen™ software to be installed on ONE computer only, or be streamed by a single user. Based on a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti, this carol was written sometime before 1872 in response to a magazine request for a Christmas poem. The poem became recognised as a carol after it appeared in The English Hymnalin 1906, with music by Gustav Holst. Rather than celebrating the birth of Christ, the text of this hymn represents Christ’s triumphant return. The words, dreamed up by English writer Isaac Watts, are based on the second half of Psalm 98 in the Bible. In the late ’90s, it was named the most-published Christmas hymn in North America. You can just feel the merriness pouring out of it.

First composed in 1684, ‘Sussex Carol’earned its name when Ralph Vaughan Williams set the text to music in the late 1800s, after he heard it being sung near Sussex. Joachim Badenhorst (clarinet), Heida Arnadottir (voals), Hilmar Jensson (guitar), Kristin Thora Haraldsdottir (viola), Eirikus Orri Olafsson (trumpet) Winter & Winter 910 260-2 Based upon a poem by 19th-century English poet Christina Rossetti, “In The Bleak Midwinter” was first set to music in 1906 by The Planets composer Gustav Holst. This tale of Christ’s first and second coming is one of the world’s most stirring hymns and is delivered here with a suitable potency by Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Choir Of King’s College, Cambridge: Ding Dong Merrily On HighThere’s a delicious tang and freshness to the singing and the period-instrument accompaniments. A second disc has random ‘greatest hits’ of Baroque music, including Bach’s Magnificat, Handel’s Dixit Dominus, and Corelli’s Christmas Concerto. This carol represents the moment in the Bible when Angel Gabriel visits Mary, and declares she is to bear the son of God. The text quotes the Gospel of Luke, while the melody is taken from Basque tradition. The lyrics for this carol were written by Massachusetts pastor Edmund Sears and refer to ideas of war and peace. The most common musical setting was adapted from an English melody in 1874 by Arthur Sullivan.

Christine Schäfer, Bernarda Fink, Werner Güra, Gerald Finley, Christian Gerhaher; Arnold Schoenberg Choir; Concentus Musicus Wien/Nikolaus Harnoncourt Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 8869711225-2 The O Antiphons of English composer Christopher Fox were first performed complete by the Choir of St Catharine’s College, Cambridge in March this year, and recorded a few days later. They form the centrepiece of Alpha & O, a disc which also includes music by Judith Weir, Diana Burrell and Jeremy Thurlow.Resonus RES10293 Winter Tales (Works by Brian Eno, Vikingur Olafsson, Peter Gregson, Hania Rani et al) As school choirs go, Westminster School’s is rather fine, its dynamic range and blend top notch. An ambitious yet attractive programme. Nowell synge we bothe al and som: A Feast of Christmas Music in Medieval England Schütz’s Italianate oratorio is one of the masterpieces of the early Baroque and is performed beautifully here. Voices and instruments are superbly balanced within the rich recorded texture. Adventa The merriment here is rather sober, but not without its charms. There’s some welcome sparkle in Bednall’s brass writing and Chilcott’s entry has a wistfully sweet innocence. O Holy Night Nelson wrote his enduring Christmas classic, “Pretty Paper,” inspired by a memory of a legless man in Fort Worth who pushed himself down the sidewalk on rollers and sold gift wrap. Roy Orbison turned it into a Top 20 single in 1963, and Nelson re-recorded it for this 1979 album produced by Booker T. Jones of the MGs. A country singer with a Texas twang and jazz phrasing, Nelson can make the most familiar songs sound new, especially slow numbers such as “White Christmas” and “Blue Christmas.” —Geoffrey Himes