Pop songs give us the happy, party side of Christmas. Bing Crosby and Judy Garland give us the nostalgic side. What does classical Christmas music give us? Nostalgia too, at times, and a cosy sense of gathering round the fire. In this article, we’re offering you a selection of the most beautiful classical Christmas pieces to add to your playlist!
1) The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky
The story of The Nutcracker is adapted from the E.T.A. Hoffmann fantasy story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. The complete Nutcracker has enjoyed enormous popularity since the late 1960s. It's the ballet's ability to reach out and touch a part of you that triggers a warm holiday memory.
2) Christmas Oratorio by Bach
The Christmas Oratorio (German: Weihnachts-Oratorium) is in six parts, each part being intended for performance on one of the major feast days of the Christmas period. The piece is often presented as a whole or split into two equal parts. The total running time for the entire work is nearly three hours.
3) Troika by Prokofiev
Troika from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite conjures up a crisp, bell-filled wintry scene and fits this time of year perfectly. After a grand brass introduction, the famous fourth movement Troika breezes along, creating the impression of a fast-moving sleigh. The music was written for a Soviet film in 1933 – when Prokofiev returned to his homeland after a ten-year residency in Paris – and charts the life of a fictional military officer.
4) Sleigh Ride by Mozart
Sleigh Ride was originally a part of a set of Three German Dances, completed in early 1791. It was a prolific time for Wolfgang, as he was also completing two of his iconic symphonies: No. 40 and No. 41. Each the Three German Dances featured different combinations of instruments, with only the violins remaining constant. Trumpets star in the first, woodwinds in the second. Sleigh bells take the lead in the third.
5) Winter by Vivaldi
Where would we be at Christmas without Vivaldi? Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concerto is unmistakably his most famous work, and Winter opens with relentless icy daggers that engulf the string orchestra. Vivaldi composed the Four Seasons roughly between 1720 and 1723, and published them in Amsterdam in 1725. Few composers 'get' winter quite like him - though it begins dramatically with a stormy first movement, the beautiful second movement is a cosy delight to be enjoyed with a nice drop of mulled wine.
6) December: Christmas by Tchaikovsky
Vivaldi's wasn't the only composer to write about the Four Seasons - Tchaikovsky gave it a go as well. The Seasons, Op. 37a, is a set of twelve short character pieces for solo piano by Tchaikovsky. Each piece is the characteristic of a different month of the year in Russia. This joyful Christmas waltz from Tchaikovsky is a delightful nod to the festive season.
7) A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 by Benjamin Britten
Britten's A Ceremony of Carols is a masterpiece for Christmas scored for three-part treble chorus, solo voices, and harp. The text, structured in eleven movements, is taken from The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems, edited by Gerald Bullett. It is principally in Middle English, with some Latin and Early Modern English. It was composed in 1942 on Britten's sea voyage returned to England from the U.S., a touching evocation of boyhood lost but never forgotten.
8) A Christmas Greeting by Elgar
In December 1907, whilst in Rome, Elgar composed a part-song carol, A Christmas Greeting, putting music to the words of a poem written by his wife Alice. It is probably one of Elgar's least-known and underrated works. He sent the piece back to the U.K. for Dr. G R Sinclair and the choristers of Hereford Cathedral to use in their Carol Concert to be held the Cathedral. It was written for two female sopranos, a male chorus and accompanied by two violins and a pianoforte and was published by Novello and company.
9) Christmas Oratorio by Camille Saint Saens
Saint-Saens's Christmas Oratorio begins with what he called a ''prelude dans le style de Seb. Bach''—which constitutes a wry commentary on the ignorance of Bach then still prevalent. This ten-movement work is presented by an unusual ensemble: The vocal part, with string quintet and organ accompaniment, is augmented by the special sonorous effect of a harp, which lends a special atmosphere to the piece. The resulting tensions lead to the engaging charm of this work, which also explains the worldwide success of the oratorio.
10) The Christmas Tree Suite by Liszt
Christmas Tree is a suite of 12 pieces written by Franz Liszt in 1873–76, with revisions in 1881. It is dedicated to his first grandchild Daniela von Bülow. The suite includes O Holy Night, Adeste Fideles and Evening Bells.
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