The Oxen

"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 (1840–1928). 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):[1]

• 1919 – Graham Peel (1878–1937), for voice and piano
• 1920 – Edward Joseph Dent (1876–1957), for voice and piano
• 1921–22 – Gerald Finzi (1901–56), for voice and orchestra, as the third piece in his song cycle By Footpath and Stile, Op. 2
• 1927 – Leslie Cochran, for voice and piano
• 1945 – Robert Fleming (1921–76), for medium voice and piano
• 1951 – Armstrong Gibbs (1889–1960), for voice and piano
• 1954 – Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958), for baritone and orchestra, No. 7 in his cantata Hodie [2]
• 1954 – Robert Williams, for unison chorus and piano
• 1958 – Richard K. Winslow (born 1918), for SATB chorus and piano or organ
• 1963 – William Reginald Pasfield (1909–94), for unison chorus and piano
• 1967 – Alan Rawsthorne (1905–71), for mixed chorus a cappella
• 1968 – Benjamin Britten (1913–76), for SA chorus and piano
• 1991 – Jonathan Rathbone, a capella, for the SATB popular group The Swingle Singers [3]
• 2009 – Derek 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

References

1. "Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock". recmusic.org. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
2. Hodie (Vaughan Williams, Ralph): Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
3. The Swingle Singers: The Oxen, Composed by Thomas Hardy at AllMusic. Retrieved 18 May 2015.