Poster 18th Century Christmas
18th Century Christmas
Artist Unknown
Performance Today®

Christmas Eve around the world

On Tuesday's Performance Today we're featuring music for Christmas Eve from concert halls and churches around the world. From music that is fervent and passionate to music that is quietly reverent, we'll hear a wide range of heartfelt music for the Christmas season.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Marc-Antoine Charpentier: Noels pour les instruments: Or nous dites, Marie; A la venue de Noel; Ou s'en voint ces gais bergers?
Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie, conductor
Dorian 90180

Gian Carlo Menotti: Amahl and the Night Visitors: Introduction, March, and Shepherd's Dance
Buffalo Philharmonic; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

John Tavener: A Christmas Round and Today the Virgin
Chanticleer; Jace Wittig, interim music director
Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, New York, NY

Mykola Leontovych: Carol of the Bells (Ukrainian Bell Carol)
West Edge String Quartet
Christmas Around The World
Centaur 3087

Traditional Gaelic melody: A Holly and Ivy Calypso
West Edge String Quartet
Christmas Around The World
Centaur 3087

John Rutter: Nativity Carol
Choir of Clare College, Cambridge; The Dmitri Ensemble; Graham Ross, director
All Hallows' Church, Gospel Oak, London, England
Lux de Caelo
Harmonia Mundi

Hershey Kay: Pat-a-Pan
St. Olaf College Orchestra; Steven Amundson, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Skoglund Center Auditorium, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Traditional Carols from Austria, France, & Peru: Still, Still, Still (Austria); Il est ne, le divin Enfant (France); Venir, pastorcitos (Peru)
Salt Lake Children's Choir; Lysa Rytting, harp; Ralph Woodward, conductor
Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT

Traditional: O Come, O Come Emmanuel and Away in a Manger
Ensemble Galilei: Sue Richards, Celtic harp; Ryan McKasson, fiddle
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC

Francis Poulenc: Quatre Motets pour le Temps de Noel/Poulenc: O Magnum Mysterium; Quem Vdistis Pastores dicite; Videntes stellam; Hodie Christus Natus est
Netherlands Radio Chorus; Gijs Leenaars, conductor
Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Hour 2

Leroy Anderson: Suite of Carols: Shepherds in Bethlehem (Spain); Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella (France); Wassail Song (England)
London POPS Orchestra; Frederick Fennell, conductor
Frederick Fennell conducts Leroy Anderson and Eric Coates
Mercury 434376

Daniel Kallman: Messiah, Prince of Peace
St. Olaf Orchestra; Steven Amundson, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Skoglund Auditorium, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

William Billings: Bethlehem
Anonymous 4
St. Bernard's Church, St. Paul, MN

Franz Biebl (arr. Feza Zweifel): Ave Maria
Burning River Brass
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Traditional English: Improvisation on "Greensleeves"
Bolette Roed, recorder
Music in Paradise Festival, Seminar Church, Paradyz, Poland

Traditional Welsh: Wassail, wassail throughout all this town!
Danielle Svonavec, soprano; The Baltimore Consort
Wesley United Methodist Church, Bethlehem, PA

Adolphe Adam (arr. Joseph Jennings): O Holy Night
Chanticleer; Dale Warland, guest music director
St. Vincent de Paul Church, Petaluma, CA

Jonathan Dove: Seek Him that Maketh the Seven Stars
Choir of the St. Andrew and St. Paul Church; Jonathan Oldengarm, organ; Choir of the St. Andrew and St. Paul Church; Jordan de Souza, conductor
Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal, Canada

Aaron Jay Kernis: Musica Celestis (excerpt)
St. Olaf Orchestra; Steven Amundson, conductor
Skoglund Center Auditorium, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Franz Gruber (arr. Mark Small): Silent Night
Eva Beneke, guitar; Scott Tennant, guitar
In Dulci Jubilo
GSI 700261980102

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