Ralph Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on Christmas Carols

[@biographicalvideos]

Absolutely beautiful music by a wonderfully gifted composer. Thank you Colin 🙏🏻🤷‍♀️💖

[@karenpyra5200]

So so beautiful. I can’t believe I’ve never heard this variation before. My choir is going to sing selections of this on December and I can’t wait

[@timh.7283]

What better on a cold December night than to listen to this wonderful, warming Fantasia, enhanced by some magically evocative paintings. Merry Christmas one and all.

[@993Redveg]

Tim H. I'm listening at 2.00 a.m. on a late August night, and it's making me shiver! Autumn's almost with us and we have the punishing cold of winter to look forward to. Brrrrr!!!!

[@jartarmin4553]

For me the number 1 track @ christmas = beautiful

[@billwagstaff9986]

For an old Englishman living in the Algarve Portugal , warm sunny days don't seem right at Christmas time . But you're making it right for me with the combination of R V Williams Fantasia of carols and nostalgic snowy paintings . Thanks yet again Collin.

[@rskearns]

Yet another year - and again, thank you.

[@FriendofRamblinJack]

When it gets to be too much, thank the Lord there's Colin's channel, whew! Thank you, Colin.

[@271250cl]

FriendofRamblinJack Thanks for your appreciation, FRJ! :)

[@salvadordearmas-perez5246]

Stimmungsvolle Bilder;sehr schöne Musik;die Auswahl der Bilder ist sehr treffend.Wie fast immer :Die Bilder und die Musik schmelzen zusammen zu einer wunderbaren Einheit.....Gracias,Senor Colin!°

[@normahobbs6769]

Thank you Colin. The Phoenix Choir will be singing Fantasia In Leura and Lithgow in the Blue Mountains, NSW Australia on 5 & 6 December 2015. It has been a pleasure learning this beautiful piece. I have played this over and over again, can't get enough of it!

[@rskearns]

Heard snatches of this piece on the radio for many years and never could identify it, despite searching and "singing" (such as it is) the few bars to various people. Even with such a brief exposure, it seemed to depict Christmas for me - warmth in the middle of deep cold, beauty in bleakness, and of course rich chord structure and movement under lovely melody. Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting - and choosing pictures that matched the ones in my head. So glad others love and enjoy this. Scott

[@271250cl]

+rskearns Thanks, Scott, for these very kind comments.

[@leefromengland1404]

Bravo, Colin - always such a joy to hear and watch your videos on KZbin. Very much enjoyed the performance too, even if I think Richard Hickox's performance on Chandos conveys even more magic and joy. Thank you for posting.

[@271250cl]

Glad you enjoyed it! Happy New Year.

[@charlespeterson4438]

I just had to watch this again on Christmas day. A beautiful collection of pictures to compliment the music. A merry Christmas and happy New Year to you and yours.

[@271250cl]

+Charles Peterson A belated thankyou, Charles. Good wishes for the New Year and thanks for your kind comments on my videos.

[@rskearns]

Another year and still a fundamental part of my Christmas. Thank you.

[@williamskoreanclass2416]

Thank you very much for the beautiful piece of music and the paintings. The baritone and the choir are amazing. Also it is another joy to watch paintings with beautiful tunes. This is always my favorite Christmas music in this season.

[@271250cl]

Thanks for listening, William

[@FranciscoFerrerGaliana1930]

Simplemente maravilloso.¡¡¡

[@janetbaker5962]

A friend forwarded this to me and I am only now watching/hearing it. It is so, so lovely. A thousand thanks for posting. And: Happy, New, Year.

[@271250cl]

Glad you enjoyed it, Janet

[@Radda001]

Thank you Colin, for caring to share a splendid new video creation with us Absorbed in listening to RVW's inspirational composition, and the stirring choral interpretation, while watching an endearing sequence of images so carefully chosen, turning twelve minutes and twenty five seconds, of pure audio-visual pleasure, into a spiritual experience, on this New Year's Eve Wishing You the very best of everything in the New Year ..... Isaac, et al

[@271250cl]

A pleasure, Isaac. Thanks for your very kind comment. Let us hope that 2014 is a good year for us all.

[@timh.7283]

Well, another year gone and here we are again. It begins with solemnity: bare trees and a low winter sun. Then breaks into Dickensian jollity: ruby cheeks, Dingly Dell and a roaring fire, before closing with a wholly satisfying synthesis. (A lesson to us all) Merry Christmas to everyone (especially Colin).

[@271250cl]

Many Thanks and Seasons Greeting to you and all my followers - and all lovers of RVW's music, of course!

[@1RobertCEvans]

Thanks for another splendid video!

[@deborahbaker999]

Ely Cathedral Choir will be doing this on Sunday, 28 December.

[@charlespeterson4438]

I've. just watched your video again. A Christmas treat with its lovely sequence of pictures to compliment RVWs wistful fantasia. May I wish you a happy Chtristmas and a safe, healthy and fulfilling New Year with, I hope, more of your delightful creations.

[@adeleozanne3427]

Things such as these are getting me through Covid19

[@janetbaker5962]

Amen!

[@stevepayne5965]

If it's Britain, and it's winter, Uncle Ralph and 'Frozen Mutton' Farquharson are the best combination. Instant Christmas kit ☺

[@ArchivesofSound]

Thanks for posting this. If you'll forgive the shameless advertising, kzbin.info has a wealth of material from the Rose era at Guildford, little of which has been widely heard before.

[@chiaracassara237]

Tristarella , va bene per i morti 😢

[@a18ion]

Hello Colin, Did you splice the 4 movements together? Or is there a version of these recordings on sale that has them as one 12 minute piece instead of 4 separate movements with a gap between them (annoying)? I've only seen the four separate movements for sale on Amazon, iTunes and the like. Thanks. Wonderful video. Happy Christmas!

[@271250cl]

Hi - Though it is in four section, the composer intended the piece to be sung without a break. On CD, though, you CAN play individual tracks, but there should never be more than a very brief pause between the sections.