"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):[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "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.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.