Completed just ten days before its premiere on Christmas 1858, the story goes that Camille Saint-Säens spent around two weeks composing his Christmas Oratorio.

Upon one performance of it, a critic noted that Oratorio de Noêl was "providing a welcome change from Bach" proving that, once again, using snark in music journalism goes back centuries. Interestingly enough though is that Saint-Säens was not even aware of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio when he composed his own.

What are you listening to tonight?