Let the National Jukebox provide your soundtrack to the holiday season this year! The National Jukebox makes historical sound recordings available for streaming online, and contains classical, popular, ethnic, and spoken word recordings. This playlist features popular and classical holiday music from the likes of vaudeville singer and actress Elsie Baker, soprano Olive Kline, opera star Enrico Caruso, and conductor Walter B. Rogers; instrumental music from Arthur Pryor’s Band; spoken word; and carols sung in several different languages including German, French, Italian, Slovak, and Norwegian. These recordings were all released between 1901 and 1922, in the early days of the commercial music industry.
- “The Night Before Christmas” (3:43) – Cora Mel Patten, recitation (1914)
- “Christmas Light, Behold” (3:43) - Peerless Quartet with the Victor Orchestra, vocal quartet and orchestra (1913)
- “Christmas Eve” (3:27) – Elsie Baker, vocal solo with orchestra (conducted by Walter B. Rogers) (1914)
- “Yule-tide: A Christmas Fantasia” (3:55) – Arthur Pryor’s Band, instrumental (band) (1912)
- “Around the Christmas Tree” (2:23) – Elsie Baker, vocal solo with piano (1914)
- “Christmas Day in the Morning” (3:16) – Olive Kline, vocal solo with chorus and orchestra (conducted by Walter B. Rogers) (1914)
- “Christmas Songs and Carols” (4:11) – Victor Orchestra with the Victor Mixed Chorus and Trinity Choir (1912)
- “Nazareth” (4:07) – Frank Croxton, vocal solo with orchestra (1912)
- “No Candle Was There and No Fire” (3:00) - Elizabeth Wheeler, vocal solo with orchestra (1912)
- “Cantique de Noël” (4:03) - Enrico Caruso, vocal solo with orchestra (conducted by Walter B. Rogers), sung in French (1916)
- “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” (2:24) – Mendelssohn (composer) – Lucy Isabelle Marsh (soprano), Marguerite Dunlap (contralto), Harry Macdonough (tenor), Reinald Werrenrath (baritone), Trinity Choir, vocal quartet with orchestra (1911)
- “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht” (2:43) – Marguerite Dunlap, vocal solo with orchestra (1912)
- “Noël” (2:42) - Pol Plançon, vocal solo with orchestra, sung in French (1906)
- “Vstávajte pastieri” (2:44) - Elnick Boda and Emilio Blažević, vocals with organ, sung in Slovak (1919)
- “Jule Nat” (3:05) - Nathalie Hansen, vocal solo with orchestra, sung in Norwegian (1917)
- “K Ježiškovi” (3:11) – Elnick Boda and Emilio Blažević, vocals with organ and celeste, sung in Slovak (1919)
- “Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem” (3:45) – Trinity Choir, chorus with soloists and orchestra (1916)
- “Novena di Natale” (2:39) – Pasquale Feis, vocal solo with Italian bagpipes (zampogna and ciaramella), sung in Italian (1917)
- “Kring Granen” (2:41), violin and accordion duet (Swedish) (1921)
- “Angels From the Realms of Glory” (3:55) – Trinity Choir, chorus with soloists, orchestra, and celeste (1916)
- “Weihnachtslieder-Potpourri” (3:36) – Heim’s Brass Octet, instrumental (1922)
- “Christmas Morning at Clancey’s” (2:41) – Steve Porter, comedy, descriptive scene with orchestra (1908)
- “Merry Christmas” (2:37) – Olive Kline, vocal solo with orchestra (1913)
- “The Star of Bethlehem” (3:40) – Harry Macdonough, vocal solo with orchestra (1909)
- “Noël” (3:28) – Venetian Trio, instrumental (violin, cello, harp) (1915)
- “The Night Before Christmas” (3:04) - Len Spencer and Gilbert Girard, recitation (1901)
All of these recordings can be found by searching the National Jukebox. For even more holiday music, just search “Christmas” in the Jukebox’s main search bar.