A Feast for Christmas (2007)
A seasonable celebration for SATB choir, optional youth choir and narrator, with piano (or brass quintet, or string quintet). Duration c. 25-30 minutes.
This 8-movement cantata contrasts the cooking of the Christmas dinner with more reflective Christmas themes, with an opportunity for the audience to join in at the end. Ideal for Christmas concerts.
We welcome you to our ‘Feast for Christmas’. In the first movement, Christmas Welcome, the scene is set: but the key to a successful Christmas dinner is forward planning and in the second movement the Christmas Pudding is prepared in November, on ‘Stir-up Sunday’. In the third movement, Christmas Eve, the early twentieth century poet Robert Bridges looks back, on a frosty evening, from his own time to the very distant past, and considers what Christmas means to him. Then in the fourth movement, our Christmas Feast is prepared, and the Christmas Grace (fifth movement) is not forgotten. It is of course impolite to sing during the actual Christmas Dinner itself, but towards the end of the meal the peace is rudely interrupted by the sixth movement, Christmas Crackers. The seventh movement, Christmas Spirit, reminds us, in seventeenth-century words, of how we should share our good fortune with those who have need of it, and in the last movement, Christmas Celebration, the audience is invited to join in, with the last verse of the well known ‘We wish you a merry Christmas’
Printed copies are available to order from Colne Edition in the UK (minimum 5 copies, £6.95 per copy plus postage, delivery approximately two weeks).
Digital downloads / pdfs are available instantly, worldwide, from Sheet Music Plus or Sheet Music Direct, minimum order 10 copies. (Prices are cheaper than print, but they vary, so do check both sites)
You can also hire the brass or string parts, or vocal score sets, direct from here
performance on YouTube (with scrolling score)
The combined first and last movements of A Feast for Christmas are available as a separate octavo entitled Christmas Celebration (Colne CE31) the perfect finale to your Christmas Concert!
Other movements which may be purchased and performed separately include Christmas Eve, Christmas Recipe, and Christmas (Festival) Grace.