Christmas Day
Choral Fantasy on Old Carols H 109, 1910
Christmas Day by Gustav Holst is an artfully crafted fantasy on traditional English Christmas carols. Composed in 1910 for his students, the work weaves together well-known melodies such as “Good Christian Men, Rejoice” and “The First Nowell” into an engaging musical narrative that captures the essence of the Yuletide spirit. Thanks to the skillful orchestration and rich harmonies, this classic of the British choral tradition fits into almost any festive program — even outside its British homeland.
The editor is the English conductor and composer Howard Arman, who is making the work available for the first time as a critical Urtext edition. With its transparent structure and flexible accompaniment options, the work is suitable for choirs of various sizes and abilities.
Holst himself offered flexible performance options. It is possible to perform the work with orchestra and choir; alternatively, the wind parts may be omitted, for which case Holst supplied the string parts with corresponding cue-sized notes that should then be played. Using the organ reduction, the work may also be performed by organ and choir, or alternatively piano and choir.
Christmas Day – a simple yet effective addition to the choral repertoire for the festive season!
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Composer
Gustav Holst
| 1874-1934Gustav Holst (1874–1934) was a British composer. Today, he is best known for his orchestral suite The Planets, which he composed in 1914 during a period of interest in astrology. Apart from this audience favourite, Holst also wrote several operas and other orchestral works, including the St Paul's Suite, which is a popular piece with youth orchestras as it is relatively easy to play. He also wrote sacred and secular vocal works. Personal details
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Editor
Howard Arman
| 1954Versatility is a musical characteristic which defines the work of the London-born conductor and composer Howard Arman. He has distinguished himself in all aspects of classical music, from historically-informed performances of baroque music, to opera, symphony and jazz as well as large-scale orchestral “singalong” concerts, and his work as a writer and narrator of broadcasts about music. Choral music is of particular importance. From 1998 to 2013 he was Artistic Director of the MDR (Central German Radio) Choir, which appointed him Honorary Conductor in 2019. From 2016 to 2022 he was Artistic Director of the Bavarian Radio Choir, with whom he similarly produced a large number of CD, video and television productions. Howard Arman has appeared as a guest conductor throughout Europa as well as in Asia and America.
His own compositions include choral, orchestral and stage works, beside numerous arrangements for choir and orchestra, and a series of editions of music from the 17th to the 19th century. He has held professorships both at the Mozarteum, and at the Hochschule Lucerne in Switzerland.
At Carus Howard Arman has presented us with a completed version of Mozart’s Requiem.
Personal details
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