Christmas is the busiest time of year by far for the Oxford Music Hire Library. Oxford University Press publishes most of the carols the world knows and loves — the one that has just popped into your head is probably one of ours — with newly-composed Christmas titles added every year. Carol orders come in as early as August and keep rolling in until worryingly close to the big day itself. In 2014, our carols are being performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Germany, South Africa, and more. So far this year, we have had orders for over 600 orchestral sets for Christmas titles for nearly 200 orchestras and choirs. Inevitably, the lead up to Christmas gets a bit frantic! We need to make sure we have enough copies of the most popular carols to supply any last minute requests, as unexpected changes to concert programmes can and do happen to us all.
Many of our most popular carols come from the much-loved Carols for Choirs series, and most of our top 10 can be found in the ever popular 100 Carols for Choirs. To help you get into the Christmas spirit, here’s a playlist of OUP’s 10 most-requested carols in 2014.
Looking more closely, here are the top 20 carols of 2014. Most are old favourites, but there are a few newer carols here too.
1. Shepherd’s pipe carol — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 2 and 100 Carols for Choirs
2. Hark! the herald-angels sing — Mendelssohn arr. David Willcocks, from Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs
3. The twelve days of Christmas — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 2 and 100 Carols for Choirs
4. Star Carol — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 3 and 100 Carols for Choirs
5. O come, all ye faithful — David Willcocks, from Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs
6. Once in royal David’s city — Gauntlett arr. David Willcocks, from Carols for Choirs 2 and 100 Carols for Choirs
7. Angels’ Carol — John Rutter
8. Candlelight Carol — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 5
9. Jingle bells — Pierpont arr. David Willcocks, from 100 Carols for Choirs
10. O little town of Bethlehem — Vaughan Williams, from Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs
11. A merry Christmas — arr. Arthur Warrell, from Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs
12. Jesus Child — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 3 and 100 Carols for Choirs
13. Nativity carol — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 2 and 100 Carols for Choirs
14. O Holy Night, Adolphe — arr. John Rutter
15. I saw three ships — John Rutter, from Carols for Choirs 3 and 100 Carols for Choirs
16. Ding dong! Merrily on high — David Willcocks, from Carols for Choirs 2 and 100 Carols for Choirs
17. Joy to the world — John Rutter, from 100 Carols for Choirs
18. On Christmas Night – Bob Chilcott
19. What sweeter music — John Rutter
20. The shepherd’s farewell — Hector Berlioz, from Carols for Choirs 1 and 100 Carols for Choirs
All images courtesy of the Music Hire Library.
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