Carol Symphony
Carol Symphony is a collection of four preludes, written by Victor Hely-Hutchinson in 1927. It is based on four Christmas carols, given additional orchestration and counterpoint arrangements. The four movements are written to be played uninterrupted consecutively.
The first movement is based on "O Come All Ye Faithful". The second movement is a scherzo on "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen". The third movement is a slow movement whose outer sections are based on the Coventry Carol, with a central interlude on "The First Noël". The finale recapitulates material from the first movement, and also uses The Wassail Song before concluding with a re-statement of "O Come All Ye Faithful".
Two sections from the "First Noël" section were used for the opening and closing titles of the 1984 BBC adaptation of John Masefield's The Box of Delights. It featured a recording conducted by Barry Rose in 1966 of the Pro Arte Orchestra at Guildford Cathedral. During World War 2, the book had been adapted for radio on the BBC's Children's Hour, and Hely-Hutchinson's same music had been used.