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The Christmas Truce: Christmas Music

$52.00 USD
$52.00 USD
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The Christmas Truce Cover Image
The Christmas Truce: Christmas Music

The Christmas Truce: Christmas Music

for Mixed Choir and Ensemble

By Judith Bingham

Item: 98-EP71191B
$52.00
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Description

Winner of the 2004 British Academy Award for Choral Music

commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and first performed December 11th, 2003 by Robert Quinney (organ); the BBC Singers, and the Britten Sinfonietta, conductor Nicholas Cleobury; Saint Andrew's Hall, Norwich

Text: eyewitness and newspaper accounts selected, adapted, and poeticised by the composer

2nd edition (incorporates a number of small changes and revisions made after the premiere

"Dedicated to my grandfathers, Vivian Thomas MacGowan and Bruce Percy Bingham, who were there." - Judith Bingham

"An R.A.F. flying officer, R.J. Fairhead, observed after the Second World War that if the soldiers along the Western Front in 1914 had refused to go back to fighting after the Christmas Truce, there would have been no 'power-mad dictators' in Europe and WW2 with its loss of millions of lives would never have happened. God's Truce. as many called it at the time, seemed a pivotal moment of opportunity for the western world, and yet the rank and file soldier by and large went back to fighting afterwards with nary a backward glance. One man described it as nothing more than an inteval in a boxing match, and indeed many of the extraordinary events that took place still seem based on competition and conflict - football matches (the Germans winning, generally), chasing rabbits and hares, swapping food and souvenirs, and the alternate singing of carols and folk songs.

And yet it is hard to get away from an overwhelming feeling of wonder and compassion when reading about the Truce. The Christmas setting is part of it - the fact that the Incarnation itself took place in a hostile and dangerous setting somehow imbues the Truce with a sense of the miraculous, of God intervening. The terrifying contrast, too, between the sentimental songs sung by both sides; in particular O Tannenbaum and Silent Night, and the unbelievable level of brutality and dehumanizing violence evokes in us, as human beings, pity for those young men who so easily sacrificed themselves, and regret for the endless chain oif conflict that defines our world.

The piece falls loosely into three sections, following the chain of events. At the opening, it is Advent and the men in their separate trenches sing two Advent hymns - a verse from the German chorale O Jesu Christ, du Höchstes Gut, and Stainer's hymn Come, thou long-expected Jesus. As if in answer to these prayers for help, it begins to snow. (It was the freezing weather that winter that enabled the men to walk easily across No-man's Land to each other.) Now it is Christmas Eve, and each side sings its favorite carol, O Tannenbaum and Silent Night. The Truce oiver, the bombardment recommences. Afterwards, the Stainer reprises as if at an interment of the dead. Each of these sections is punctuated by commentaries from the women's voices, acting like a kind of detached Greek chorus. I wanted to avoid using war poetry with all its iconic overtones, and so I have 'poeticized' many eyewitness accounts from both sides, and two newspaper reports, from The Daily Mail and The Manchester Guardian." -- Judith Bingham

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Additional Details
Series: Edition Peters
Publisher: Edition Peters
Page Count: 60
ISBN10: 0-57-708957-9
ISBN13: 979-0-5770-8957-7
SKU: 98-EP71191B

More about this title

About the Composer: Judith Bingham

Judith Bingham is a British composer whose choral and vocal works have been commissioned by major broadcasters and performed by ensembles including the BBC Singers and London Philharmonic Choir. Her music demonstrates a gift for setting words with clarity and emotional directness, combining accessible harmonic language with structural sophistication. The Christmas Truce exemplifies her ability to work across large-scale forms, weaving together historical texts into a coherent musical narrative that respects both the source material and the singers performing it.

Bingham's compositional voice draws on the English choral tradition while remaining thoroughly contemporary. She has received recognition including the 2004 British Academy Award for Choral Music, and her works span orchestral, chamber, and vocal genres. Her approach to text setting reveals careful attention to how words sit in the voice and how meaning emerges through musical gesture rather than mere illustration.

Why we love this

This work transcends seasonal programming by grounding itself in historical testimony and emotional complexity. Rather than sentimentalizing the Christmas Truce, Bingham builds the narrative from eyewitness accounts and newspaper records, which gives singers and audiences a sense of encountering something real. The 2004 British Academy Award acknowledges what choral directors will feel immediately: this is substantial music with genuine dramatic and spiritual weight, yet it remains performable by committed choirs without requiring soloists or extended vocal ranges.

What to expect

The music balances stark moments of realism with passages of unexpected warmth and even beauty, mirroring the paradox of the truce itself. There's a sense of witnessing something precious yet fragile, with the instrumental contribution (organ and orchestra in the original version, though this is a choral octavo) creating space for voices to emerge with intimacy. The weight of historical knowledge underlying the text infuses the singing with purpose that reaches beyond entertainment.

Who it's for

This work suits accomplished community choirs and university ensembles with strong sight-reading skills and the maturity to engage with its subject matter. Singers need comfort with contemporary harmonic language and the ability to sustain long phrases with emotional shape. It's equally valuable for choirs seeking concert programming that moves beyond familiar seasonal fare into territory that challenges and rewards both singers and listeners.

How to get the most out of it

  • Treat the text excerpts as primary material. The words come from soldiers' accounts, and singers will benefit from understanding the specific historical moment each section documents rather than reading through without context.
  • Shape the vocal lines with attention to natural speech rhythms within the phrases. Bingham's setting respects how language falls in the voice, so trust the melodic contour over metronomic regularity.
  • Use dynamic contrast across sections to clarify the work's narrative arc. The shift from conflict to the spontaneous moments of truce and back again needs light and shade in tone rather than consistent intensity.
  • Pay close attention to ensemble balance in passages mixing multiple voice parts. The 60-page score likely includes moments of textural complexity where clarity of individual lines prevents the piece from becoming muddy.

How to use it

This work functions as a powerful centerpiece for a winter concert exploring themes of peace, conflict, and human connection across cultures. Program it in a concert that pairs it with smaller-scale works or carols to provide tonal variety, allowing its 60-page scope to anchor the second half. It also serves well as a festival piece or special commissioning project that gives a choir extended time to develop interpretive depth with a single substantial score.

Skills your students will build

  • Reading contemporary harmonic language and modal structures
  • Sustaining long phrases with varied dynamic shaping
  • Interpreting text-driven music where meaning emerges through word placement and vocal color
  • Ensemble balance in multi-part writing with mixed textures
  • Emotional nuance and dramatic arc across an extended work

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