Poster from the cover of the first edition of "A Christmas Carol"
Cover of the cloth first edition of "A Christmas Carol" (1843)
via Wikimedia Commons
Performance Today®

A Christmas Carol

In "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer Scrooge not only hates Christmas, he hates generosity itself... at least until a three uninvited house-guests demonstrate what greed might cost him. On today's show, join us in a musical retelling of "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Traditional: Cold Frosty Morning/Old Christmas/Breakin' Up Christmas
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra; Jeannette Sorrell, conductor
Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain: An Irish-Appalachian Celebration
Avie 2396

John Jacob Niles: I Wonder As I Wander
Kirkmount: Alex Bigney, harp and bones; Samuel Bigney, fiddle; Simeon Bigney, cello and bodhran
Mittens for Christmas
Dorian 93236

Georgy Sviridov: Molitva ("Prayer")
Chanticleer; Kory Reid, conductor
Concerts at St. Ignatius, Church of St Ignatius Loyola, New York, NY

Jaakko Mantyjarvi: Die Stimme des Kindes
Chanticleer; Kory Reid, conductor
Concerts at St. Ignatius, Church of St Ignatius Loyola, New York, NY

Ralph Vaughan Williams: Wassail Song from "Two Songs of Winter"
Judy Mason, piano; Spivey Hall Children's Choir; Martha Shaw, conductor
Spivey Hall, Clayton State University, Morrow, GA

Traditional: Child in a Manger / Gloucestershire Wassail
Kirkmount: Alex Bigney, harp and bonesSamuel Bigney, fiddleSimeon Bigney, cello and bodhran
Mittens for Christmas
Dorian 93236

Traditional: Fum, Fum, Fum!
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra; Jeannette Sorrell, conductor
Noels & Carols from the Olde World
Koch 7582

Traditional German: While by My Sheep (Als ich bei meinen Schafen)
Blake Eliason, Beth VanDam, James VanDam, soloists; Salt Lake Children's Choir; Ralph Woodward, conductor
Salt Lake Children's Choir, Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, UT

Traditional French: Il Est Ne / Masters in This Hall / Noel
Adagio Trio
Winter Gift
Adagio Trio 2

Traditional , arr. David Wilcocks: Sweet was the Song the Virgin sang
Choir of King's College, Cambridge; David Willcocks, conductor
On Christmas Night
London/Decca 425499

Traditional: Maria durch ein Dornwald ging
Uppsala Academic Chamber Choir; Stefan Parkman, conductor
Winter Sounds
Footprint 85

Harold Darke, arr. Ken Gist: In the Bleak Midwinter
Adagio Trio
Winter Gift
Adagio Trio 2

Alan Silvestri: A Christmas Carol: I'm Still Here from the film
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra
A Christmas Carol Original Soundtrack
Walt Disney 49208

Alan Silvestri: A Christmas Carol: Ride On My Good Man from the film
Hollywood Studio Symphony Orchestra
A Christmas Carol Original Soundtrack
Walt Disney 49208

Vijay Singh: A Glimpse of Snow and Evergreen
Oregon Chorale; Jason Sabino, conductor
A Glimpse of Snow and Evergreen
SELF PROD NA

Hour 2

David Dickau: Love Came Down at Christmas
Choral Arts Ensemble; Barbara Depman, conductor
MPR Taste Of The Holidays, Vol. 4
MPR 20132

Xavier Montsalvatge: Cradle Song
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano; Sharon Isbin, guitar
Alma Espanola
Bridge 9491

Felix Mendelssohn: Song without Words No. 36 "Cradle Song" Op. 67
Javier Perianes, piano
Lieder Ohne Worte
Harmonia Mundi 902195

Pietro Yon: Gesu Bambino
Massed Choirs of St. Olaf College; The St. Olaf Orchestra; Sigrid Johnson, conductor
The 2014 St. Olaf Christmas Festival, Skoglund Center Auditorium, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Peter Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 1 "Winter Dreams" Movements 3 & 4
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra; Mariss Jansons, conductor
Tchaikovsky: The Complete Symphonies
Chandos 8672

Thomas Ravencroft , arr. Abbie Betinis: Remember, O Thou Man
Jacqui Kerrod, harp; Katharine Dryden, viola; Pro Arte Singers; Arthur Sjogren, conductor
First Presbyterian Church, New Canaan, CT

Matthew Peterson: Corde Natus
St. Olaf Orchestra; Steven Amundson, conductor
St. Olaf Christmas Festival, St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

Traditional, J. Scott Irvine: I Saw Three Ships
True North Brass: Joan Watson, natural horn; Stuart Laughton, bodhran
A True North Christmas
TNB 4

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