As it's just 9 months to Christmas, I thought I would seek inspiration from this forum on what I could perform as a tenor solo in the festive season. Although "O Holy Night" has gone down very well over the past few years, we are going to the same venues this year, and I would like to try something new. Any favourites?

Regular forum readers will not be surprised to hear me (yet again) recommend my personal favourite Christmas song: "The Oxen" by Armstrong Gibbs (a gorgeous setting of the poem by Hardy). I have sung it a a soprano but the only CD I have ever found it on has it sung by a light baritone. If you do a search you can find the CD on the Hyperion label. All the best with your search!

PS Welcome to the forum, by the way

There is nothing like getting in before the rush!
It would help if we knew a little more about your voice, your age, your range and abilities first but as a starter how about one of the tenor solos from Messiah?

Here are two for you which we, our music group lyric tenor and I, find go down very well each year;

Candle in the window - words by Arthur Scholey and music by John Jones.

Shine on, bright star - an old English carol by C. G. Case (our arrangement by Karl Duclos).

If you have difficulty locating them just email me.

one candle lights the way.............

Thanks for the suggestion - I have previously performed the tenor solos in Messiah with a large church choir, and regularly guest with choirs for Olivet to Calvary and Stainers Crucifixion. I have been described as a lyrical tenor, with some voice training in my early 40s (10 years ago!). My range is pretty wide - down as far as a bottom G in the mornings, and up with Bocelli on a D flat in Cujus Animam in the evenings.
I feel rather privileged to get advice and suggestions from stalwarts of this forum!



Thanks for your welcome - must be great to live in Italy, the land of the operatic tenor!

Yes - at the risk of going totally it is just fantastic! I've been here 3 years now and still pinch myself every morning not quite believing I'm really here! And they do love their music. My only complaint is that despite being a nation who love their cultural events Italian TV is utterly naff! Good excuse for going out and actually doing stuff rather than trying to watch it on the telly.