| Carol Symphony | |
|---|---|
| Composer | Victor Hely-Hutchinson |
| Year | 1927 |
| Type | Symphony |
| Period | 20th-century classical music |
| Style | Chorale prelude |
Carol Symphony is a collection of four preludes, written by Victor Hely-Hutchinson in 1927.
Contents |
It had its first performance on 27 September 1929 at a promenade concert at the Queen's Hall which was broadcast live on the BBC's 2LO, with other music by Elgar, Vaughan-Williams and Percy Pitt. It was conducted by the composer.
It is based on four Christmas carols, given additional orchestration and counterpoint arrangements. The four movements are written to be played uninterrupted consecutively.
Two sections from the First Noël section were used for the opening and closing titles of the 1984 BBC adaptation of John Masefield's The Box of Delights. It featured a recording conducted by Barry Rose in 1966 of the Pro Arte Orchestra at Guildford Cathedral. During World War II, the book had been adapted for radio on the BBC's Children's Hour, and Hely-Hutchinson's same music had been used. Prof Hely-Hutchinson later became the BBC's Director of Music, in 1944, until his death in 1947.
For many people who grew up listening to radio Children's Hour programmes, the haunting harp theme in the Symphony as the First Noel motif starts is as magically evocative of the spirit of Christmas as is the lone chorister who starts to sing Once in Royal David's City at the beginning of the King's College, Cambridge Festival of Lessons and Carols.