Concert Archive

In Britain the annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has become a staple ingredient of many millions of people's preparations for Christmas.  It was devised in 1918 by Eric Milner-White, Dean of King's College, Cambridge and it has been sung there every Christmas Eve since.  It has been broadcast by the BBC since 1928, and now, in the age of satellite and the Internet, it is listened to (and watched) by people throughout the world.

The service is based around nine short Bible readings telling the Christmas story.  Interspersed with these are carols, both familiar and new, some sung by the choir alone, others by the choir and congregation together.  There are short prayers towards the beginning and the end of the service.

The musical items, on the other hand, show a great deal of diversity.  The King's College service always contains at least one piece that has not been heard before, and over the years, many of these have gone on to become well loved Christmas pieces.  The congregational carols also change from year to year, with the exception of the first one and the last two.  The service always begins with Once in Royal David's City, with the first verse sung solo by a boy chorister.  The final hymns are two perennial favourites: O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, both featuring glorious descants soaring above the massed voices during the last verse.

Programme

Once in Royal David's City
I saw three ships
In The Bleak Midwinter
God rest ye Merry Gentlemen
While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night
O Come all Ye Faithful
Hark the Herald Angels sing

Hymn to the Virgin (choir 1: Gabrielli,  & Choir 2: Exsultate Boys Choir )Good King Wenceslas
A Babe is Born
All Bells in Paradise
Adventi Ének
Adam Lay Y Bounden

The admission is free, donations are gratefully accepted

Links:

• St. Columba’s Scottish Presbyterian Church
• Exsultate Boys’ Choir