Daily Constitutional Editor and London Music Tours Guide Adam takes a listen to some Christmas music and looks for London connections. Today it's…
In the Bleak Midwinter
The lyric – originally a poem entitled A Christmas Carol – was written by Christina Rosetti (1830 - 1894) and first published in 1872 in Scribner's Monthly in the U.S.
It has been set to music on several occasions, most famously by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934) in 1906; and by Harolde Darke, born in Highbury 1888.
Harold Darke's musical journey through London took him as organist to Emmanuel Church, West Hampstead and St Michael's Cornhill in the City of London. St Michael's is famed as the church that may have inspired Dickens in A Christmas Carol.
My own favorite version is that of the great folk singer Bert Jansch (track 2 on this playlist)…
My Public Scheduled Tours for December 2019
19th December – Old Kensington – 2pm High Street Kensington Tube
19th December – Jack The Ripper – 7.30pm Tower Hill Tube (by the tram)
20th December – Rock'n'Roll London – 2pm Tottenham Court Road Tube (exit 1)
21st December – London Horror Story – 7.30pm St Paul's Tube
23rd December – A Village In Piccadilly – 2.30pm Piccadilly Circus Tube (by Eros)
26th December – Jack The Ripper – 7.30pm Tower Hill Tube (by the tram)
27th December – Hidden London – 11am Monument Tube (Fish Street Hill Exit)
28th December – London Horror Story – 7.30pm St Paul's Tube
28th December – The Beatles & Bob Dylan In 1960s London – 10am Temple Tube
30th December – A Village In Piccadilly – 2.30pm Piccadilly Circus Tube (by Eros)
My Public Scheduled Tours for January 2020
2nd January 2020 – Inside Covent Garden – 10am Covent Garden Tube
2nd January 2020 – Old Kensington – 2pm High Street Kensington Tube
2nd January 2020 – Jack The Ripper – 7.30pm Tower Hill Tube (by the tram)
3rd January 2020 – Rock'n'Roll London – 2pm Tottenham Court Road Tube (exit 1)
4th January 2020 – The Beatles & Bob Dylan In 1960s London – 10.45am Temple Tube
4th January 2020 – Musical Covent Garden – 2:30pm Temple Tube
4th January 2020 – Rock'n'Roll London Pub Walk – 7:15pm Tottenham Court Road Tube (exit 1)
5th January 2020 – Pink Floyd In 1960s London – 10:30a.m Leicester Sq Tube (exit 1)
5th January 2020 – Women In Music 1722 - 2019 – 2pm Leicester Sq Tube (exit 1)
16th January 2020 – Inside Covent Garden – 10am Covent Garden Tube
16th January 2020 – Old Kensington – 2pm High Street Kensington Tube
16th January 2020 – Jack The Ripper – 7.30pm Tower Hill Tube (by the tram)
17th January 2020 – Beatlemania! The Beatles In London 1961-65 – 10am Embankment tube
17th January 2020 – Rock'n'Roll London – 2pm Tottenham Court Road Tube (exit 1)
18th January 2020 – London Horror Story – 7.30pm St Paul's Tube
30th January 2020 – Old Kensington – 2pm High Street Kensington Tube
30th January 2020 – Jack The Ripper – 7.30pm Tower Hill Tube (by the tram)
31st January 2020 – Beatlemania! The Beatles In London 1961-65 – 10am Embankment tube
31st January 2020 – Rock'n'Roll London – 2pm Tottenham Court Road Tube (exit 1)
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