The Oxen Explained

"The Oxen" is a poem (sometimes known by its first line, "Christmas Eve, and Twelve of the Clock") by the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (18401928). It relates to a West Country legend: that, on the anniversary of Christ's Nativity, each Christmas Day, farm animals kneel in their stalls in homage. It was first published in December 1915, in the London newspaper The Times.^[1] It has been set to music several times.

Musical settings

These include (in date order, where known):

• 1919Graham Peel (18781937), for voice and piano
• 1920Edward Joseph Dent (18761957), for voice and piano
• 192122Gerald Finzi (190156), for voice and orchestra, as the third piece in his song cycle By Footpath and Stile, Op. 2
• 1927Leslie Cochran, for voice and piano
• 1945Robert Fleming (192176), for medium voice and piano
• 1951Armstrong Gibbs (18891960), for voice and piano
• 1954Ralph Vaughan Williams (18721958), for baritone and orchestra, No. 7 in his cantata Hodie
• 1954Robert Williams, for unison chorus and piano
• 1958Richard K. Winslow (born 1918), for SATB chorus and piano or organ
• 1963William Reginald Pasfield (190994), for unison chorus and piano
• 1967Alan Rawsthorne (190571), for mixed chorus a cappella
• 1968Benjamin Britten (191376), for SA chorus and piano
• 1991Jonathan Rathbone, a capella, for the SATB popular group The Swingle Singers
• 2009Derek Holman (born 1931), as "Christmas Eve", for voice and piano, No.2 in his The Four Seasons
• Jonathan Elkus (born 1931), for high voice and piano

Notes and References

1. Web site: Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock . recmusic.org . 18 May 2015 .