A DREAM OF CHRISTMAS (score & parts)

Unfortunately, the English composer Gustav Holst (1874-1934) never enjoyed particularly good health. It was poor eyesight caused by neuritis that rendered him unfit for active service in World War One. It was also on account of his health that in 1917 (incidentally the year he completed the orchestration of The Planets) he and his wife moved from London to the pretty Essex village, Thaxted, to escape the foggy air that affected his breathing. There, Holst was very much involved in the local church and he also founded a series of Whitsun music festivals in which students from Morley College and St Paul’s Girls’ School (where he taught) performed together with locals. Perhaps the carol for sopranos and accompaniment A Dream of Christmas was written for the festival?

Like in many of his carols, Holst uses words from Mary Segar’s Medieval Anthology. Here Holst uses anonymous 15th century lyrics, which begin:

The other night I saw a sight, all in my sleep: Mary, that may, she sang: Lulay, and sore did weep.

CHORUS: “Ah my dear! ah my dear Son!” said Lady Mary, “Ah my dear! Kiss Thy mother, Jesu, with a laughing cheer.”

A Dream of Christmas is a gently lilting and beautifully expressive carol. Holst uses the Dorian mode in the first half of the carol which makes way (when the text mentions Christ) to a brighter, major feel in Mixolydian mode in the second half.

Delivery Details

We endeavour to dispatch all orders which are in stock on the day the order has been placed. If you need delivery by a certain time please state this clearly on your order and we will do our best to oblige.

For Royal Mail Special Delivery, Airmail (Signed For) and Courier shipments, a signature may be required upon delivery to your address. You are responsible for your order once the package arrives at the supplied delivery address. We cannot be held responsible if the package(s) goes missing once delivered. If any goods are received faulty or damaged on receipt, you must notify us within 7 days of receiving them (via email or telephone) quoting your order reference. We cannot be held responsible for goods that do not arrive with the customer due to errors made by the customer when entering their address details. Please ensure that you check all your details before confirming your order. For more information on deliveries, please click here.