The music on which this work is based was written for productions of "A Christmas Carol" and "Oliver Twist" at the Liverpool Playhouse. "This Suite of Christmas songs can be performed by any four-part ensemble or choir (there were eight voices in the Liverpool Playhouse productions). The accompaniment is optional and need not necessarily be a piano. The Suite could be performed as part of a carol service or in a Christmas concert. It does not have to be done in its entirety or even in order, and it could be interwoven with suitable Christmas readings such as excerpts from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (though there are many others). Given their origin, the songs might lend themselves to some theatricalization, but this shouldn't go too far." (Stephen McNeff) |
