28. My Christmas Cracker!

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So here we are, the first Christmas episode of Perfect Pitch. This has never been, nor ever will be, a platform for commentary on the times in which we live. But have we ever needed cheerful music like we do today? Christmas 2020 was all but cancelled by a global pandemic, and many face the prospect of a rather bleak one in 2021, especially those who have lost loved ones in the last year or so. But the birth of a child, whether you subscribe to the Christian story or not, is a good reminder of new beginnings. So today's music is going to be unashamably uplifting and optimistic. Bursting into song is a completely natural and instinctive human response in times of joy. I've got a few of my favourites coming up, although we will conclude with something orchestral and a piece, which will not come as much of a surprise. But in the end, everything has to start with Bach. His Christmas oratorio, which lasts nearly three hours if played in full, was designed to be played over six days in 1734, and is made up very largely of his many earlier compositions. Picking up the point I made about the desired birth into the song, it opens with the words Jackset for Locket, Auf Preiser die Targa. Shout for joy, exult, rise up, praise the day. It's sung here by the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra conducted by Ton Kooperman. Poor old Cornelius. He did in fact write a number of works, including three operas, and was friendly with and influential on Wagner and Liszt. But he's now chiefly known for this. But if you're going to be known for one piece alone, you could do a lot worse. If you listen to the third final verse here, I think Cornelius might just have got that first. Here is the chorus heralding the arrival of the infinite Jesus. Again, it doesn't particularly matter whether you believe in the virgin birth or not. I remember the Catholic journalist Paul Johnson defending it by saying that the idea of it was so ridiculous you couldn't possibly make it up. But the excitement of his arrival is there in this joyful music. I love the light touches of the strings and opening vocals, contrasting with his growingly exuberant declaration of wonderful and a counselor. Colin Davis was surely one of the greatest choral conductors that ever was, and here he is with a Telebray Choir and the London Symphony Orchestra. In fact, he was christened Christian Victor, an acknowledgement of that. We've listened to a couple of his songs before, and nowadays his other compositions are rarely played. But his carol symphony always gets a healthy airing at this time of year. I'm not gonna lie, this is probably my least favorite carol of all. It has nine verses, and very few tunes survive eight repetitions. This one certainly doesn't, in my opinion. And yet, it's by far my favorite passage in Victor's Symphony. All of us have different visions or images when we listen to music. But humor me for a moment while I tell you what mine is. A field under a starlit night, introduced with a few bars on the Coventry Carol, which in the minor key evoke a mysterious mood. There's definitely a sense of something about to happen. But in just a few moments, with the key shifting to major and with the help of the harp, the listener is soon assured that this is a moment not of fear, but of magic, of wonder. In come the violins with the theme of the first Noel, soon joined by weight of strings and dancing woodwind, culminating with a brass underlying the emphatic statement, Bourne is the King of Israel. It's a wonderful piece of orchestration. Karl returns with a coventry carol, and it's not hard to imagine a group of shepherds rubbing their eyes, each wondering who is going to be the first to ask. Did you see that? I mean, did you see that? Off they go. And Victor leads us straight over to the jubilant finale, with a fugue based on the opening of the symphony, soon followed by orchestral rollicking in Here We Come A Wrestling, with Okam Oliver Faithful blazing out above it. The tunes are not his, of course. But the orchestration, the rhythms, and blending of the carols are all his, and I never tire of it. Perfect pitch will take its own Christmas break and be back with you in 2022. Thank you for your company, which I really appreciate. Happy Christmas and a very happy new year. The third and fourth parts of Victor Hingley Hudson's Carol Symphony are played here by the Pro Art Orchestra and Barry Brothers.