Christmas With The Tabernacle Choir

American folklorist John Jacob Niles was visiting Murphy, North Carolina, in the summer of 1933 when he heard a young girl, Annie Morgan, sing a fragment of a haunting melody in the town square. Niles completed and published the song in 1934, it and quickly became a much-beloved Christmas carol worldwide. Watch Broadway star Michael Maliakel perform, accompanied by The Tabernacle Orchestra.

Watch Broadway star Michael Maliakel perform "God Help the Outcasts" with The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra. Written by 8-time Oscar winner Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, the song first made its first appearance in the 1996 animated feature 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame', loosely based on Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.

Broadway star Michael Maliakel invites us backstage with Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir, and describes how this stunning production sets a new standard for Christmas celebrations. He shares what makes it different from a traditional Broadway show, and explains how Choir Director, Mack Wilberg made his experience into a singer's dream come true!

This choral meditation was originally penned by Mack Wilberg in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when peace and hope seemed unattainable to so many. David Warner’s lyrics, adapted for this Christmas setting, invite the listener to put peace first, replacing all inner trouble and doubt. Watch as The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra perform this chorus into a Nativity lullaby.

Broadway star Michael Maliakel joins The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra to sing "Joy To The World." The18th-century hymn writer Isaac Watts initially penned the lyrics for “Joy to the World” as a rhyming paraphrase of Psalm 98, and his poem was first published in 1719. It became a Christmas classic when it was set to music by Lowell Mason, the “father of American hymnody,” in 1836.

The beloved account of Jesus Christ’s birth found in the Gospel of St. Luke has long been the traditional centerpiece of The Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concerts. In this year’s concert, Lesley Nicol’s narration of the Nativity is accompanied by an orchestral meditation by Mack Wilberg that incorporates musical motifs based on his arrangement of “O Little One Sweet.”

While “Patapan” is often listed as a traditional French carol, its text and music are usually credited to the 18th-century French author Bernard de la Monnoye. This orchestral fantasy by Ryan Murphy combines the musical motifs of “Patapan” with references to the well-known English carol “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.”

The tune for this popular Christmas song "Angels from the Realms of Glory" comes from the 18th-century French carol “Les Anges dans nos Campagnes.” In Mack Wilberg’s stirring arrangement,which traditionally features solos by the guest singer, (this year Broadway star Michael Maliakel) this carol has become the signature finale at The Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concerts.

Watch The Tabernacle Choir and orchestra perform “Noe! Noe!” with the Bells on Temple Square. The cheerful Franco-Provençal carol is attributed to the 17th-century author and composer Brossard de Montaney, and expounds on the joyous exchange of angels announcing the news of Christ’s birth to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem.

Over the years, Richard Elliott’s organ performances have become a much anticipated highlight of The Tabernacle Choir’s Christmas concerts. This year, Elliott created a spirited Christmas fantasia for organ and the Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble based on the 17th-century French carol “Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella.”

A young Felix Mendelssohn wrote this Christmas cantata based on Martin Luther’s “Vom Himmel hoch.” Mendelssohn’s inspiration sprang not from Luther directly, but from his own respect for J. S. Bach, who had also borrowed Luther’s hymn frequently. This performance, by The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra with the Gabriel Trumpet Ensemble, culminates with the final, triumphant stanza of Luther’s hymn.

Long beloved as a German Christmas carol, “O Jesulein süss” began appearing in English translation in the early 20th century. It was Anglican priest and liturgist Percy Dearmer, who arranged Bach’s harmonization of a solo song and recast it for four-part chorus in 1928, published as “O Little One Sweet.” Hear The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra's beautiful interpretation, arranged by Mack Wilberg.