Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas Carols

This page lists all recordings of Fantasia on Christmas Carols, by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) on CD. Generally, more recent CDs are listed first, but with priority given to items that are in stock.

Recommendations

Gramophone Magazine

Editor's Choice
December 2006

All recordings

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Vaughan Williams:

Hodie (A Christmas Cantata)

Vaughan Williams’s Christmas Cantata Hodie (This Day) is a brilliant mosaic of musical styles set to poetry from the most diverse sources

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

The Fantasia on Christmas Carols, which incorporates a number of traditional English carols, is notable for the obbligato cello part and for the varied treatment of the choir, which provide an atmospheric choral-orchestral texture.

Janice Watson (soprano), Peter Hoare (tenor) & Stephen Gadd (baritone)

Guildford Choral Society, St Catherine’s School Choir & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hilary Davan Wetton

“This is a work that should be done far more often… The clamour of bells, large and small, and of celebration prepare any audience to go out glowing into the snowy night and home.” MusicWeb

Naxos - 8570439

(CD)

£4.99 (£4.25 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Vaughan Williams - Christmas Music

Vaughan Williams:

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

The First Nowell

On Christmas Night

Sarah Fox (soprano) & Roderick Williams (baritone)

The Joyful Company of Singers & City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox

Gramophone Magazine

Editor's Choice - December 2006

Chandos - CHAN10385

(CD)

£12.99 (£11.06 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album

Adam:	O Holy Night
Berlioz:	L'Enfance du Christ, Op. 25 - L'Adieu des bergers
Britten:	A New Year Carol
Handel:	For unto us a child is born (from Messiah)
Leighton:	Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child, Op. 25b
Scheidt:	In dulci jubilo
Sweelinck:	Hodie Christus natus est
Tavener:	The Lamb
trad.:	The holly and the ivy Blessed be that maid Mary Somerset Wassail Shepherds in the field abiding The Infant King What is this lovely fragrance? Gabriel's message Still, still, still Quittez, pasteurs Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle Personent hodie
Vaughan Williams:	Fantasia on Christmas Carols Stephen Varcoe (baritone)
Victoria:	O magnum mysterium
Warlock:	I saw a fair maiden

The Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia, John Rutter

Collegium - CSCD512

(CD)

£8.49 (£7.23 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Noël - Christmas at King's College

	35 Christmas Carols
Vaughan Williams:	Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Choir of Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

Decca - Double Decca - 4448482

(CD - 2 discs)

£9.49 (£8.08 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Essential Carols

Cornelius:	The Three Kings
Darke:	In the Bleak Midwinter
Gauntlett:	Once in Royal David's city
Goss, J:	See amid the winter's snow
Joubert:	Torches
Kirkpatrick:	Away in a Manger
Mendelssohn:	Hark! the herald angels sing
Ord:	Adam lay y-bounden
Praetorius, M:	Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Tchaikovsky:	The Crown of Roses
trad.:	The First Nowell While Shepherds Watched I saw three ships Ding dong! merrily on high King Jesus hath a garden In dulci jubilo (arr. Pearsall) Unto us is born a Son O little town of Bethlehem The Holly and the Ivy God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen Past Three a Clock Gabriel's Message Sussex Carol Little Jesus, sweetly sleep ('Rocking') Rejoice and be merry The cherry tree carol As with gladness men of old The Infant King Christ Was Born On Christmas Day Blessed be that maid Mary The Lute-Book Lullaby 'Sweet was the song the Virgin sang' Myn Lyking Personent hodie Coventry Carol Shepherds in the field abiding
Vaughan Williams:	Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Wade:	O come, all ye faithful
Warlock:	Balulalow

King’s College Choir, Cambridge

Classic FM CD of the week

Decca - 4756655

(CD - 2 discs)

£8.49 (£7.23 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

A Classic Christmas

Adam:	Cantique de Noël
Anderson, Leroy:	Sleigh Ride
Bach, J S:	Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (from Cantata BWV147)
Delius:	Midnight Sleigh Ride
Gauntlett:	Once in Royal David's city (arr. Rutter)
Glazunov:	Bacchanale and Winter
Hely-Hutchinson:	Carol Symphony: God rest ye merry, gentlemen, The First Noel, O come all ye faithful
Humperdinck:	Hänsel & Gretel Overture
Mendelssohn:	Hark! the herald angels sing
Prokofiev:	Lieutenant Kijé: Troika
trad.:	Deck the Hall I saw three ships (arr. Rutter) O little town of Bethlehem Ding dong! merrily on high We wish you a merry Christmas (arr. Ryan) Silent Night (arr. Rutter) In dulci jubilo (arr.Rutter)
Vaughan Williams:	Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Various orchestras & choirs

EMI - 5572562

(CD)

£5.99 (£5.10 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days.

Vaughan Williams - Serenade to Music

Vaughan Williams:

Serenade to Music

Elizabeth Connell (soprano), Amanda Roocroft (soprano), John Mark Ainsley (tenor), Martyn Hill (tenor), Maldwyn Davies (tenor), Anne Dawson (soprano), Linda Kitchen (soprano), Alan Opie (baritone), Gwynne Howell (bass), Sir Thomas Allen (baritone), Sarah Walker (mezzo-soprano), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzosoprano) & John Connell (bass)

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Thomas Allen (baritone)

Flos Campi

Nobuko Imai (viola)

Five Mystical Songs

Sir Thomas Allen (baritone)

English Chamber Orchestra & Corydon Singers, Matthew Best

Hyperion - CDA66420

(CD)

£12.99 (£11.06 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days.

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams:

Hodie (A Christmas Cantata)

Janet Baker, Richard Lewis, John Shirley-Quirk

Bach Choir, Westminster Abbey School Choristers, London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Guidford Cathedral Choir, Barry Rose

30% off over 600 EMI discs!

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EMI British Composers - 5674272

(CD)

Normally: £5.99 (£5.10 ex. VAT)

Special: £4.19 (£3.57 ex. VAT)

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days.

Vaughan Williams - Choral Works

from CDA66420, CDA66655, CDA66511 & CDA66569

Vaughan Williams:

Serenade to Music

English Chamber Orchestra

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Thomas Allen (baritone)

English Chamber Orchestra

Flos Campi

Nobuko Imai (viola)

English Chamber Orchestra

Five Mystical Songs

Sir Thomas Allen (baritone)

English Chamber Orchestra

Dona Nobis Pacem

A Cantata for soprano and baritone soli, chorus and orchestra

Judith Howarth (soprano) & Thomas Allen (baritone)

Corydon Orchestra

Four Hymns

for tenor, viola and strings

John Mark Ainsley (tenor) & Matthew Souter (viola)

Corydon Orchestra

O Clap Your Hands (Psalm 47)

Lord, Thou has been our refuge

Sir Thomas Allen (baritone)

The Pilgrim's Progress - A Bunyan Sequence

Text and music adapted by Christopher Palmer from the 1942 radio version of The Pilgrim's Progress.

Sir John Gielgud, Richard Pasco, Ursula Howells (speakers), Aidan Oliver (treble)

The City of London Sinfonia

A Song of Thanksgiving

Sir John Gielgud (speaker), Lynne Dawson (soprano) & John Scott (organ)

The London Oratory Junior Choir

Three Choral Hymns

Magnificat

Catherine Wyn-Rogers (mezzo-soprano), Duke Dobing (flute) & Roger Judd (organ)

The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains

Bryn Terfel (baritone), Alan Opie (baritone), Adrian Thompson (tenor), Jonathan Best (bass), John Mark Ainsley (tenor) & Linda Kitchen (soprano)

The Hundredth Psalm

Corydon Singers, Matthew Best

Issued to mark the fiftieth anniversary of Vaughan Williams’s death, this collection is tantalizing: it starts with one of the best-selling discs in the the catalogue, the Serenade to Music, and includes such favourites as the Five Mystical Songs and The Hundreth Psalm. There are also two intriguing pairings: in Dona nobis pacem, RVW warns of the impending doom of WWII, in A song of thanksgiving we hear his moving response to its successful conclusion; in The shepherds of the delectable mountains we hear an early working of Bunyan’s literary masterpiece, later extensively reworked in the landmark 1942 BBC radio production of The Pilgrim’s Progress featuring Sir John Gielgud and reprised here, this time in condensed form.

“The performances are splendid, graced by such soloists as Thomas Allen (Dona nobis pacem, Five Mystical Songs) and Bryn Terfel (The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains)..The rapturous Serenade to Music has a cast of 16 singers fit to rival those of the original recording. Anne Dawson’s top note on the word “music” is spine-tingling.” Sunday Times, 1st June 2008 ****

“Performances like these don’t come along very often; each one is an absolute winner, and with rich, atmospheric recording quality the satisfaction is of a very special quality” CD Review

“Best has a fine sense of VW as a dramatic composer, bringing tremendous urgency to Dona Nobis Pacem and real passion to the Five Mystical Songs. Best's Serenade to Music is the original, not least in matching the star quality of the singers, but also in its magical atmosphere. He equally evokes VW's sensuous side, not only in Flos Campi but also in the Magnificat with its ecstatic writing for female voices.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

Hyperion - CDS44321/4

(CD - 4 discs)

£20.99 (£17.86 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

Vaughan Williams - The Collector’s Edition

Vaughan Williams:

Symphonies Nos. 1-9

Joan Rogers (soprano), William Shimell (baritone), Alison Barlow (soprano)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Oboe Concerto in A minor

Jonathan Small (oboe)

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Serenade to Music

choral version

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Partita for double string orchestra

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

The Wasps - Aristophanic Suite

London Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Prelude and Fugue in C minor

London Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Piano Concerto in C major

Piers Lane (piano)

London Philharmonic Orchestra & Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Vernon Handley

Piano Concerto in C for two pianos

Vitya Vronsky & Victor Babin

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Serenade to Music

16 soloists

London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

English Folk Song Suite

(orchestral)

London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1

London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

The Lark Ascending

London Symphony Orchestra & New Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis

English Folk Song Suite

(band)

Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra

Tuba Concerto in F minor

Serenade to Music

(orchestral)

Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Old King Cole

Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Five Mystical Songs

Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Sea Songs

Northern Sinfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Variations for Brass Band

(orchestral)

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Northern SInfonia of England, Richard Hickox

String Quartet No. 1 in G minor

Britten Quartet

Violin Concerto in D minor 'Concerto Accademico'

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra & Northern SInfonia of England, Richard Hickox

Violin Sonata in A minor

Music Group of London

String Quartet No. 2 in A minor

Music Group of London

Toward the Unknown Region

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Dona Nobis Pacem

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Magnificat

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

An Oxford Elegy

Kings College Cambridge & London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Flos Campi

Kings College Cambridge & London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Whitsunday Hymn

Kings College Cambridge & London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Sancta Civitas

Kings College Cambridge & London Symphony Orchestra, David Willcocks

Five Tudor Portraits

Bach Choir, New Phil Orch & LSO, David Willcocks

Benedicite

Bach Choir, New Phil Orch & LSO, David Willcocks

Five Variants of ‘Dives and Lazarus'

Bach Choir, New Phil Orch & LSO, David Willcocks

Hodie (A Christmas Cantata)

(w/strings & organ)

Janet Baker

Bach Choir & LSO, David Willcocks

Fantasia on Christmas Carols

(w/orch)

Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

All people that on earth do dwell

Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

Te Deum in G

Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

Household Music

Kings College Cambridge, David Willcocks

Four Hymns

Ian Partridge

Music Group of London

Merciless Beauty

Ian Partridge

Music Group of London

Ten Blake Songs

Ian Partridge

Music Group of London

On Wenlock Edge

Ian Partridge

Music Group of London

House of Life

Anthony Rolfe Johnson & David Willison

Songs of Travel

(piano)

A Song of Thanksgiving

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Adrian Boult

Epithalamion

Meredith Davies

London Philharmonic Orchestra & Orchestra Nova of Londo, David Willcocks

Riders to the Sea

Meredith Davies

London Philharmonic Orchestra & Orchestra Nova of Londo, David Willcocks

Hugh the Drover

Robert Tear / Sheila Armstrong / Michael Rippon & Robert Lloyd

Choristers of St Paul's Cathedral & RPO, Charles Groves

Sir John in Love

Felicity Palmer / Robert Tear / Robert Lloyd & Helen Watts

New Phil Orchestra, Meredith Davies

The Pilgrim's Progress (complete)

& rehearsal sequence

Ian Partridge / John Shirley-Quirk / Jean Temperley & John Noble

LPC / LPO, Adrian Boult

Celebrated as the musical poet of the English landscape, Vaughan Williams was also a visionary composer of enormous range: from the pastoral lyricism of The Lark Ascending and the still melancholy of Silent Noon to the violence of the Fourth Symphony and the grand ceremonial of All people that on earth do dwell, he assumed the mantle of Elgar as our national composer. This edition, released to mark the 50th anniversary of his death, presents all the major orchestral, chamber, vocal and stage works, as well as many lesser pieces and rarities, in the finest interpretations. All your favourite Vaughan Williams is here, in over 34 hours of music on 30 CDs

“A convincing and deeply moving showcase… exceptional value… it’s scope breathtaking. This is the essential set, and if you're at all drawn to VW you might as well buy the whole damn show now - because sooner or later you're going to anyway.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

EMI - 2066362

(CD - 30 discs)

Normally: £59.99 (£51.06 ex. VAT)

Special: £49.99 (£42.54 ex. VAT)

In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day.

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Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Recommendations

All recordings

Vaughan Williams - Christmas Music

The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album

Noël - Christmas at King's College

Essential Carols

A Classic Christmas

Vaughan Williams - Serenade to Music

Ralph Vaughan Williams

Vaughan Williams - Choral Works

from CDA66420, CDA66655, CDA66511 & CDA66569

Vaughan Williams - The Collector’s Edition