A Christmas History of Sacred Music

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Simon Russell Beale

Andy King-Dabbs

Helen Mansfield

John Rutter

The Sixteen

Harry Christophers

Episode 1: A Christmas History of Sacred Music

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Classical: Choral

Episode 1

BBC Four - A Christmas History of Sacred Music

How the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity.

Simon Russell Beale visits Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria to see how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity.

Simon Russell Beale takes a journey through Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria as he explores how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity. His story takes us through two millennia of music, from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the stories behind Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Silent Night and In the Bleak Midwinter, and the work of popular Christmas composer, John Rutter. Music is performed by Harry Christophers and his choir, The Sixteen.

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Episode 1: A Christmas History of Sacred Music

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