I recently called The Twelve Days of Christmas "inescapable and seemingly endless," so here we have a 25-minute version of it!
This is the soundtrack of a short comic film from 1955 called On the Twelfth Day, which is built around the narrative of the song - that is, it shows what would happen should your true love send you all those partridges, dancing ladies, leaping lords, milking maids, etc.
The film was devised and directed by Wendy Toye and designed by artist Ronald Searle, whose unmistakable style is on display above. Producer George K. Arthur was so impressed with his own work on the project that he manages to have his full name printed on the packaging an amazing 16 times. (Oh wait, I just thought to look on the spine - make that 17.) Too bad there weren't more days of Christmas or he could have worked himself into the rotation.
Although the carol certainly makes its appearances, the soundtrack consists mostly of music to accompany the gifts arriving at the the beloved's house (not to mention bird calls, cow noises, etc.). And it is this music that I am interested in, because it is the work of the fine but little known English composer Doreen Carwithin. She produced both film scores and concert works, but stopped composing after she married the better known composer William Alwyn in 1961, resuming her work following his death in 1985. Carwithin passed away in 2003. There have been a few CDs of her concert works, but this is the only record of her film scores that I have seen.
As far as I can tell, the film On the Twelfth Day is not commercially available, nor is it on YouTube. This LP version has not been reissued.
The record also includes some standard carols in standard arrangements with the Canterbury Choir directed by composer-conductor Macklin Morrow. I believe this is a repackaging of sides that may date back to as early as 1947.
REMASTERED VERSION (JUNE 2014)
