HANDEL’S MESSIAH
As Christmas approaches, Paul Riley tells how an oratorio written originally for Easter became an essential part of the festive season
Christmas choral music The Queen’s College, Oxford
An exclusive recording of seasonal works, including pieces commissioned exclusively by BBC Music Magazine
PLUS! Richard Morrison celebrates the wonderful choirs of Britain’s parish churches; Owain Park composes a new carol exclusively for BBC Music Magazine readers; Simon Heighes hunts for treasures in the vast EMI archives; Balakirev is our Composer of the Month; and George Hall names the best recordings of Massenet’s Werther