00:00 AND GLORY SHONE AROUND: An Early-American Christmas with the Rose Ensemble
The Rose Ensemble, renowned for its expansive repertoire of “music from around the world and across the centuries” presents a unique Christmas special. And Glory Shone Around: An Early-American Christmas draws from 19th-century songbooks, featuring carols of the New England colonies, Appalachian folk tunes, Southern shape-note singing, Shaker spiritual songs and the close harmonies that gave birth to bluegrass.
01:00 A TRINITY CHURCH MESSIAH
Handel’s Messiah performed by The Trinity Choir and Trinity Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Julian Wachner. The concert was recorded live in December 2011 at Trinity Church (the same church where Messiah had its US premiere in 1770). A portrait of the church and surrounding lower Manhattan community in December of 2001, just two months after the September 11th attacks, is also featured. In addition, the program includes Christmas Carols by the Trinity Choir with conductor Owen Burdick: Sussex Carol, Away in a Manger, The Holly and the Ivy, and The Three Kings by Peter Cornelius.
04:00 A FESTIVAL OF NINE LESSONS AND CAROLS 2014 [repeat]
A repeat airing of the live music and spoken-word broadcast from the chapel of King's College in Cambridge, England. The 30-voice King's College Choir performs the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service of Biblical readings and music. Hosted by Michael Barone.
06:00 WHAT SWEETER MUSIC: Christmas with Madrigalia
What sweeter music can we bring than a carol? 17th-century English poet and cleric Robert Herrick captured the beauty of a joy-filled Christmas Day filled with sunshine and flowers. In 1988 John Rutter clothed these words in his own beautiful carol setting. This year the Rochester, NY chamber choir Madrigalia, and their new Artistic Director Cary Ratcliff, return to public radio for What Sweeter Music: Christmas with Madrigalia, a holiday concert that celebrates the beauty and joy of the season.
07:00 MUSIC OF THE BAROQUE BRASS AND CHORAL HOLIDAY CONCERT
Music of the Baroque wants to wish you and yours a joyous holiday season with the annual presentation of their Brass and Choral Holiday Concert. Hosted by Candice Agree, it’s two hours of great works by composers like Giovanni Gabrieli, Johann Sebastian Bach, Francis Poulenc, Samuel Scheidt, and John Tavener
09:00 ST. OLAF CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
One of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations originates at St. Olaf College in the tiny town of Northfield, Minn. More than 500 talented students perform hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections to celebrate the Nativity. Hosted by Alison Young.
11:00 THE NUTCRACKER
A WCLV tradition on Christmas morning, Peter Tchaikovsky’s complete ballet with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Peter Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Op 71 (1892)
Peter Tchaikovsky: The Crown of Roses (1883)
Anton Arensky: Variations on Theme by Tchaikovsky Op 35a (1893)
13:00 CLEVELAND ORCHESTRA CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL CONCERT
Recorded live in Severance Hall in 2011, the Cleveland Orchestra & Chorus led by the Director of Choruses, Robert Porco
15:00 CHRISTMASTIME IN NEW YORK
The Choir of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine performs at the Medieval Sculpture Hall at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a program that spans hundreds of years and describes the story of the nativity. The concert includes settings of the O Magnum Mysterium text by T. L. da Victoria, Morten Lauridsen, and Francis Poulenc; works by Byrd, Biebl, and Hassler; as well as music by Eric Whitacre, Francis Poulenc and William Byrd. Kent Tritle, conductor; Nimet Habachy, host.
16:00 BETHLEHEM BACH FESTIVAL: Magnificat
Johann Sebastian Bach’s great setting of ‘My Soul Doth Magnify the Lord’ from the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, the oldest American Bach Choir, founded in 1898
Johann Sebastian Bach: Magnificat in D BWV 243 (1723)
Antonio Vivaldi: Gloria in D RV 589 (1708)
17:00 CHRISTMAS AT THE MOVIES
The Christmas holiday is charged with nostalgia and hope, so a Christmas setting can effectively heighten the emotional power of any film. There have been many Christmas scenes in movies, and host David Garland unwraps some of the accompanying music for them. Holiday favorites such as It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle On 34th Street and The Bishop's Wife are included.
18:00 HODIE
Richard Hickox leads the Choristers of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus in the splendid Christmas cantata of Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Christmas Cantata "Hodie" (1954)
19:00 SYMPHONY AT SEVEN with John Simna
Frederick Delius (arr Sir Thomas Beecham): Hassan: Serenade (1923)
Vincenzo Tommasini: The Good-Humored Ladies: Suite (1920)
Ralph Vaughan Williams: Masque "On Christmas Night" (1926)
20:00 A CHANTICLEER CHRISTMAS
A celebration of the season as told through the glorious voices of Chanticleer, the 12-voice San Francisco-based men's choir. The program spans the globe and the centuries — from England in the 1300s to new arrangements of classic and contemporary carols to Chanticleer's popular Gospel medley of Christmas tunes. Hosted by Brian Newhouse.
21:00 ST. OLAF CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL
A repeat airing of one of the nation's most cherished holiday celebrations originates at St. Olaf College in the tiny town of Northfield, Minn. More than 500 talented students perform hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections to celebrate the Nativity. Hosted by Alison Young.
23:00 CHRISTMAS LATE PROGRAM
Ottorino Respighi: Three Botticelli Pictures: Adoration of the Magi (1927)
Morten Lauridsen (arr Feza Zweifel): O magnum mysterium (1994)
John Rutter: Five Meditations for Orchestra (c.1987)