Those mentioned above (we have an Audible version of A Christmas Carol narrated by Tim Curry = excellent) + “Christmas Bells” by Longfellow:
http://www.hwlongfellow.org/poems_poem.php?pid=40
History of the Poem:
The poem was written six months after the battle of Gettysburg where 40,000 soldiers lost their lives. In addition to despairing over the bloody war, Henry was also mourning the death of his beloved wife Fanny Appleton Longfellow. Fanny died in a tragic fire the same year that the Civil War broke out.
In November of 1862 another personal tragedy added to his pain. His son, Union Lieutenant Charles Appleton, was wounded in the Army of the Potomac. On Christmas morning in 1883, while sitting at his desk at the Craigie House in Cambridge, MA, Henry was inspired to write a poem as he listened to the church bells pealing. Their constancy and joyous ringing inspired him to write “Christmas Bells.” In spite of his sadness, Longfellow expresses his belief in God and innate optimism that indeed:
God is not dead;
nor doth he sleep
The Wrong shall fail;
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!
Sometime after 1872 Longfellow’s poem was adapted into a Christmas Carol. John B. Caulkin(1827-1905) was a famous English composer who set the lyrics to a gentle, melodic tune which is reminiscent of bells ringing. The carol is entitled “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day.”Alternative tunes have been written for the lyrics but Caulkin’s melody remains predominant.
