It is startling to recall that this much-loved cornerstone of the Christmas repertory was, within living memory, banned by radio stations in the American South because of the ’socialist’ and anti-slavery sentiments of its text. The author, de Roquemaure, was a friend of the composer and a leading intellectual light in Paris during the period leading up to the 1848 revolution; the translator was the American abolitionist John Sullivan Dwight (1812-93). The composer, Adolphe Adam, remembered mainly for his attractive ballet score to Giselle and for this, his Cantique de Noël, spent most of a busy life prolifically writing operas and ballets in Paris. Ironically, the 1848 revolution led to his bankruptcy when a new opera house he had backed was forced to close due to the fighting.

from notes by John Rutter © 2003