Christmas Carol

This carol was commissioned in 2002 by King’s College, Cambridge for their famous service of Nine Lessons and Carols. It tells the start of the familiar Christmas story: Gabriel's Annunciation; praise to the Virgin beforeshe too sings 'my soul doth magnify the Lord'; the shepherds a-watching their flocks by night; the angelic chorus in the sky; the fusion of celestial and earthy around the crib holding the baby who is also 'Lord of Time &Space'.

The text is from a variety of sources: anonymous carols of the 15th,16th & 17th centuries, Edmund Bolton (1611, 'Sweet music, sweeter far...'), the Gloria from the Mass, and a couple of linesfromwell-loved Anglican hymns.

Selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Encore’ project, this carol will offer some challenge to intermediate choirs, but will add some originality to acarol service or Christmas concert.