Cambridge Christmas Eve #106: plus ça change

Last week, the exemplar of the modern English choral sound — Kings College Cambridge — reprised their 106th annual Christmas Eve service of Nine Lessons and Carols. The recording of the live BBC broadcast is available until January 23 and the bulletin is available at KCC’s Lessons & Carols website.

The service, created in 1918 and broadcast (almost) continuously since 1928, was central to defining and promoting the distinctive “English” choral sound after World War II.

Both the service and the sound were created by the legendary Arthur Henry Mann (1850-1929), the former Norwich chorister who was appointed to lead KCC in 1876. The transformation of KCC — and English choral music — was brilliantly described by Timothy Day in I Saw Eternity the Other Night, his 2019 book about the choir, which I was fortunate to review in 2021 for the Journal of Anglican Studies.

Changed and Now Different

Although I listen every year, the last time I published a systematic analysis was for 2020’s recorded Covidtide performance. Some things are different and some are not: as the French would say, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. 

This year most noticeable change is the near absence of the work of Stephen Cleobury (1948-2019), who conducted more Christmas Eve broadcasts (37) than any other, with the longest tenure of any KCC music director since Mann.

In 2018 — the centennial of Lessons and Carols and Cleobury’s final Christmas Eve service — both Cleobury and KCC pulled out all the stops, with a major promotional push, a documentary and two CDs — one in anticipation of the centennial and one capturing the centennial service.

The December 2018 service included one piece arranged by Cleobury (“Seven Joys of Mary”), and one edited by him. It also (characteristically) featured three hymns with Cleobury descants: “Once in Royal David’s city,” “While shepherds watched their flocks,” and “Hark, the herald angels sing.” The first was the standard arrangement to open the KCC service for many years: it is listed as the opening descant in the oldest online program for KCC — the 1997 service recorded in the archives of KCC’s 2019 website (as well as 2000, 2010 and many services in between).

As every year since December 2019, the service was led by Daniel Hyde (1980- ), who succeeded Cleobury as music director in October 2019, less than two months before his death. A choral scholar at KCC under Cleobury in 2000, Hyde used the Cleobury opening descant in 2019 and 2020, but not any service since. In fact, none of the hymns sung by the choir since 2021 have included one of Cleobury’s familiar descants.

Changing but the Same

While the service is world-popular for the singing, the original point was the lessons. As the 2020 booklet summarized

Wherever the service is heard and however it is adapted, whether the music is provided by choir or congregation, the pattern and strength of the service, as [Eric] Milner-White pointed out, derive from the lessons. ‘The main theme is the development of the loving purposes of God ...’ seen ‘through the windows and the words of the Bible’.

Unlike the original 1918 service created by Mann and Rev. Milner-White — but like all services from 1997-2007 and since 2018 — the first reading censors God’s pronouncement from Genesis 3:16 as being offensive to modern sensibilities:

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

However, consistent with KCC’s official hymnal, the 1986 New English Hymnal — and unlike (say) Hymnal 1982 — the new-born King was “born that man no more may die” and “to raise the sons of earth.”

The service also continues to introduce new music, both the annual new commissioned carol (instituted by Cleobury in 1983) and another new work in memory of Cleobury.

Congregational Hymns

This year, the congregation had a chance to sing five hymns:

1. Once in Royal David’s City, verses 3-6
2. O Little Town, verses 1-4. Americans are reminded that it's always Ralph Vaughan William’s Forest Green and not the St. Louis we hear on the radio.
3. The First Nowell, verses 1,2,4,6 (and all refrains)
4. O Come All Ye Faithful, verses 1-7
5. Hark! the Herald-Angels Sing, verses 1-3. As in the New English Hymnal used at King’s College (but unlike Hymnal 1982) Jesus was “Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth.”

According to David Sniden’s KCC database, the first hymn and the last two are unchanged for all services since 1997, and were part of the original 1918 service (although in 1918 the choir performed a carol before the first hymn).

With Cleobury’s descants banished, #1 had a descant by Philip Ledger (who led KCC from 1974-1982) and #3, #4 and #5 descants by David Willcocks (1957-1973). For Adeste Fideleis, verse 6 uses the Willcocks descant while the refrain to verse 7 was reharmonized by Hyde.

A pleasant surprise was the descant by Thomas Armstrong to #2 (“O Little Town”), which seems quite traditional (if not retro) compared to the more flowery descants of the past two or three decades. This descant was previously sung by KCC (under Cleobury) in 2016 and captured on this KCC audio recording among several found on YouTube. 

Armstrong is a common name, but the liner from a 2015 Christmas CD from Queen’s College Oxford helpfully notes that the descant is by “Thomas Armstrong (1898 – 1994)”. Armstrong was the organist at Christ Church, Oxford from 1933-1955. According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

[I]n 1923 he … pursue[d] composition studies at the Royal College of Music with Vaughan Williams, Gustav Holst, and R. O. Morris. …As a composer, Armstrong belonged to the gentle English tradition of Parry, Vaughan Williams, Howells, and Finzi; …. His own compositions are unjustly neglected, many remaining unpublished. One aspect of his music, however, is more familiar than people realize, for some of the striking descants sung in Christmas carol services and concerts were written by him. He acknowledged Vaughan Williams to be the greatest influence of anybody on his life.

This Year’s Carols

Beyond the hymns, there were only a handful of choral pieces that (if (s)he were just listening without a program) the average listener would say “that is a carol.” Two are familiar carols: “The angel Gabriel” and “Come ye faithful Christians” (aka Hereford Carol).

Another is Cleobury’s 2012 arrangement of “King Jesus hath a garden.” It’s not one I’ve heard before, but it sounds like a traditional carol — perhaps because the tune has been sung by the Dutch for nearly 400 years. A third is Ledger’s “A spotless rose is blooming,” written by Ledger in 2002 for KCC using a German text translated by Catherine Winkworth. All seem consistent with Percy Dearmer’s 1931 explanation of the role of a carol of expressing the joy of the season:

The typical carol gives voice to the common emotions of healthy people in language that can be understood and music that can be shared by all. Because it is popular it is therefore genial as well as simple; it dances because it is so Christian, echoing St. Paul’s conception of the fruits of the Spirit in its challenge to be merry — ‘Love and joy come to you’. (Dearmer, 1931, p. v-vi)

Two pieces are more like what one scholar termed an “anthem carol” — although not strophic, they (mostly) have the feel of a traditional Christmas carol — both because of the texts and also because they are written by well-known sacred composers.

The first was the KCC debut of “And all the stars looked down,” premiered at the 2022 Christmas concert of the Lord’s Taverners: John Rutter adapted a Chesterton poem to new music written in Cleobury’s memory. The other was “O radiant dawn,” written by James MacMillan using the text for Dec. 21 from the Advent “O Antiphons” (also verse 5 of the Veni Emmanuel Advent hymn).

Other “Carols”

In one way or another, the other pieces don’t quite sound like carols. Perhaps the closest was this year’s carol commissioned by KCC — “He smiles within his cradle” by Cheryl Frances-Hoad — which uses dynamics and other familiar carol techniques, even if the harmony is not what most listeners would expect.

Two other ones were also close. One is “Benedicamus Domino,” a 1924 carol by Peter Warlock. Listening to it again, there were two reasons that I didn’t care for it. First, with the unfamiliar Latin words racing by, I had no idea what they were singing (the program includes an English translation). Second, the texture of the BBC broadcast seemed muddy — whether due to my home stereo, the chapel’s notorious acoustics or the BBC audio mixing, I can’t really say. With the same speakers, another YouTube recording captures joyous sentiment of the refrain translated “Hurrah, this is our year!”, with a Dec. 23 performance by Magdalene College, Oxford.

The other is the 2006 setting of “Adam lay ybounden” by Matthew Martin, former music director of Keble College, Oxford. As with the YouTube Covidtide performance by Pembroke College Cambridge, it has an atmospheric feel to it rather the rigid stanzas of the more familiar carol by (former KCC music director) Boris Ord. But to me, that feel means that the sound and texture pre-empt the teaching value of the text — and thus (IMHO) the Ord rendition is more suitable for a services of Lessons & Carols, where historically the carols has taught as much (or more) than the lessons.

The remaining three, written in the last 40 years, feel out of place at a celebration of the birth of baby Jesus. They may be a triumph for modern music, but not something I would expect earn a lasting spot in the (vast) Christmas repertoire (but then I have a strong bias against modern tonality).

This Year’s Sung Service

For the record, here is the full list of this year’s choral and congregational music (with composition dates where available). Past and present KCC music directors are shown in italics.

1. (Hymn) Once in Royal David's city: C.F. Alexander; music by Henry Gauntlett, arranged by A.H. Mann, descant by Philip Ledger
2. Out of your sleep: 15th century; music by Robin Nelson (1999)
3. Adam lay ybounden: 15th century; music by Matthew Martin (2006)
4. Illuminare Jerusalem: 16th century; music by Judith Weir (1985). Commissioned by KCC.
5. O radiant dawn: Liber Usalis; music by James MacMillan (2007)
6. (Hymn) O Little Town of Bethlehem: Phillips Brooks; traditional English tune arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, descant by Thomas Armstrong
7. King Jesus hath a garden: 17th century Dutch (Heer Jesus beeft een Hofken) translated by G.R. Woodward; traditional Dutch tune adapted by Charles Wood, arranged by Stephen Cleobury
8. A spotless rose is blowing: 14th century German (trans. Catherine Winkworth); music by Philip Ledger (2002), originally composed for Stephen Cleobury and KCC.
9. The Angel Gabriel: Sabine Baring-Gould; Basque carol, arranged by David Willcocks
10. Come ye faithful Christians (Hereford Carol): traditional English; English folk tune, arranged by Christopher Robinson (2012)
11. Who is there that singeth so (Sir Christèmas): 15th century English; music by William Mathias (1971)
12. (Hymn) The First Nowell: traditional Cornish; traditional Cornish tune, arranged by David Willcocks (1961)
13. He smiles within his cradle (The Cradle): 17th century Austrian; music by Cheryl Frances-Hoad (2023). Commissioned by KCC.
14. And all the stars looked down: G.K. Chesterton; music by John Rutter (2022), composed in Cleobury’s memory
15. Benedicamus Domino: 15th century English; music by Peter Warlock (1924)
16. (Hymn) O come all ye faithful: J.F. Wade translated by Frederick Oakley et al; music by J.F. Wade, arranged by David Willcocks and Daniel Hyde
17. (Hymn) Hark! the herald-angels sing: Charles Wesley et al; music by Felix Mendelssohn, descant by David Willcocks

References

• Day, Timothy. I Saw Eternity the Other Night: King's College, Cambridge, and an English Singing Style. Penguin UK, 2018.
• Dearmer, Percy, “Preface”. In Percy Dearmer, Martin Shaw, and Ralph Vaughan Williams (eds.) The Oxford Book of Carols, Oxford University Press, 1931, pp. v-xxvi.
• Stoker, Richard. “Armstrong, Sir Thomas Henry Waitunlocked (1898–1994),” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography." (2004), https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/54713 

Cambridge Choral Christmas in Covidtide

As (almost) every year since 1918, the King‘s College Choir (@ChoirOfKingsCam) today sang its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. As with last year, it was led by Daniel Hyde, the seventh KCC Director of Music since the broadcasts began in 1928. Thanks to the current pandemic, it was broadcast via tape delay rather than live with a congregation.

Hyde stepped in last fall to lead the choir in the 2019 service. In 2020, with a full year to prepare (albeit during the season of Covidtide), Hyde clearly put his mark on the choir and the beloved Christmas Eve service. He added two carols that (according to the Sinden.org cross-reference) were not sung at the service in the past 40 years or so

• As I sat on a Sunny Bank, a folk carol variant of “I saw Three Ships” arranged by Elizabeth Poston (1905-1987)
• Still, Still, Still, arranged by Bob Chilcott (1955-)

As seems to be KCC custom, Hyde used his own descant, in this case for the Poston carol. Overall, my daughter and I heard four pieces with descants:

1. Once in Royal David’s City, with the familiar Stephen Cleobury descant
2. While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night, in an arrangement (and thus presumably descant) credited to KCC professor (and vice provost) Nicholas Marston (c. 1960-)
3. O Come all ye Faithful, with the KCC signature double-descant in the final two verses. The program implies they are by Christopher Robinson (1936-) and David Hill (1957-). These were the descants teased (from the separate TV broadcast) in a 38 second clip on the official Twitter account
4. Hark the Herald Angels Sing, with the familiar Philip Ledger descant

At least three carols appeared to be new arrangements: “O Come all ye Faithful”, “Away in a Manger” and “The Holly and the Ivy”. Hyde also brought back three arrangements that (Sinden.org implies) were last sung during Ledger’s tour at the helm (1974-1981): “Of the Father’s Heart Begotten,” “A Maiden Most Gentle,” and “The Shepherd’s Cradle Song”.

Of course, the choir sang familiar pieces as well:

• Three date to the original service: Once in Royal, O Come, and Hark the Herald Angels. 
• Others were sung last year, notably Vaughan Williams’ “This is the Truth” and Sussex Carol (“On Christmas Night all Christians Sing”)
• Others were sung for the 2018 centennial: 
• “Adam lay Ybounden,” arranged by former KCC leader Boris Ord (1929-39, 1946-56)
• “In the Bleak Midwinter,” the Rosetti poem with melody and harmony by former leader Harold Darke (1940-45)
• “In dulci jubilo,” translated and arranged by Robert de Pearsall

The recording is available online, or repeated on BBC 3 at 1300 GMT Christmas Day (0800 EST, 0500 PST). For once, the choir can listen with their family.

King’s College Cambridge: Lessons & Carols 2019

For the 102nd consecutive Christmas Eve, the choir of King’s College Cambridge sang its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. As every year since 1928 (but one), this service was broadcast worldwide by the BBC; thanks to the Internet, it is also available for replay for the next 30 days.

This year’s Lessons and Carols service was the first led by Daniel Hyde. As an undergraduate, Hyde was an organ scholar at King’s, and then served in a variety of choral posts before becoming Director of Music at King’s in October 2019.

It also marked the first service since the Nov. 22 death of Stephen Cleobury, who suffered a skull fracture when he was knocked over by a bicyclist in March 2018 but died of cancer. Cleobury led last year’s 100th anniversary service, and with 37 years at the helm was the choir’s longest serving leader since Arthur Henry Mann, who launched the modern King’s choir as its music director from 1876 to 1929.

Finally, it is the first King’s service I’ve heard since finishing Timothy Day’s masterful history of King’s: I Saw Eternity the Other Night: King's College Cambridge, and an English Singing Style. Although it makes only passing reference to its signature annual radio broadcast, it provides a well-researched and detailed explanation of the context for how the choir became so influential (even before its first 1926 evensong radio broadcast).

This Year’s Service

In this year’s program, the lessons were as in previous years, except that (as in 2018, 2017 and 1997-2007) the college censored Genesis 3:16 (“Your desire shall be for your husband”) from the opening lesson. At David Sinden’s website, the sung music has been added to his database of all services since 1997 (along with last month’s Advent service at St. John’s Cambridge).

The program included only seven pieces used last year† — including the three obligatory hymns: Once in Royal David’s City, O Come All Ye Faithful, and Hark the Herald Angels. Only four of the pieces had the same arrangement.††  For the first time since 2013, the service drops “In the bleak midwinter,” which in the last four years was to the tune by Harold Darke (acting King’s music director during WWII); in 2008, English choirmasters voted it the best Christmas carol “of all time.”

The service included descants by the three most recent choir directors: Stephen Cleobury, Philip Ledger and David Willcocks, but (unlike last year) only one(?) Cleobury descant rather than three (restoring the better-known Ledger descant for the final hymn); however, it has two other Cleobury arrangements not used in his final Christmas Eve service.

 It also included a newly-commissioned anthem, as it had every year since 1983 when Cleobury instituted the practice. This year, it was an anthem by Philip Moore to the text of “The angel Gabriel.”

From the program — and from listening to the descants — the sung music credits are:

• [Hymn] ††Once in royal David’s city: words, C. F. Alexander; melody, H. J. Gauntlett, harmonized A. H. Mann; descant Stephen Cleobury
• On Christmas night all Christians sing: Sussex Carol; arr. R. Vaughan Williams
• This is the truth sent from above: Herefordshire Carol; arr. R. Vaughan Williams & C. Robinson
• Angels from the realms of glory: words, J. Montgomery; music, French trad., arr. R. Jacques
• Ding! dong! merrily on high: words, G.R. Woodward; music, 16th century French, arr. David Willcocks (from 100 Carols for Choirs)
• [Hymn] It came upon the midnight clear: words, Edmund H. Sears; music: Arthur Sullivan (as in New English Hymnal) with descant by John Scott
• Unto you is born this day: words, P. Brooks; music: Walford Davies
• There is no rose of such virtue; words, anon. c. 1420; music, Elizabeth Maconchy
• ††Little Lamb, who made thee: words, William Blake; music: John Tavener
• The angel Gabriel: words, Basque; music, Philip Moore
• ††Seven Joys of Mary: arr. Cleobury
• †Silent Night: words: Joseph Mohr; music: Franz Gruber, arr. Cleobury
• How do you capture the wind on the water: words and music, John Rutter
• [Hymn] †While shepherds watched: words, N. Tate; music from Thomas Este’s Psalter
• Away in a manger: words, anon.; music, W.J. Kirkpatrick, arr. Cleobury
• Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child: Coventry Carol; music: Kenneth Leighton
• Who is there that singeth so, Nowell: words, anon.; music, William Mathias
• [Hymn] ††O come all ye faithful: Adeste fideles, transl. Frederick Oakley; music, J.F. Wade, descant David Willcocks
• [Hymn] †Hark the Herald Angels: words, Charles Wesley “et al“; music, Mendelssohn, descant Philip Ledger

Applicability to Parish Choirs

In the English tradition (even more than in the U.S.), there is a dramatic difference between the cathedral and parish choirs. The KCC service is highly influential, spawning lessons & carols services on five continents. But what application does this program have for ordinary parish churches?

First, although all the non-congregation pieces are listed as “carols”, many don’t really correspond to the medieval (or at least pre-Victorian) English carol genre but instead are choral anthems. The new Moore anthem would be an excellent choice for a small parish — particularly one where the organ and organist can manage the instrumental interludes.

However, many of the other choices are so complex (if not ornate) that they would not work for most choirs (or, for that matter, most audiences). Subjectively, it seems like this year’s by Hyde has moved further in this direction than under Cleobury — and certainly that under King’s unquestioned dominance from 1925-1975 under Boris Ord and David Willcocks. (OTOH, it may not be a fair comparison if we what consider incremental by Willcocks in 1960 or 1970 was highly avant garde at the time).

For the American audience, Sullivan’s tune Noel for For “It came upon the midnight clear” (although in some U.S. hymnals) would not be familiar to Americans raised on the more familiar Carol.

Still, lessons & carols services worldwide have copied the King’s pattern since 1919 of opening “Once in royal David’s city” with a soprano soloist, and many delay congregation singing until verse 3 (as King’s did today). The request by Hyde that men’s voices not sing the first 2/3 of each refrain of “O come, all ye faithful” also seems easy to adopt.

While Cleobury’s “Seven joys” was sung as a choral carol, some of the verses could be sung by the congregation. Similarly, Cleobury’s “Away in a manger” or “Silent night” would work for a small church choir, as would Willcocks’ “Ding dong” from 100 Carols for Choirs. (The latter remains an invaluable Christmas resource for church choirs large and small).

Overall, the annual King’s service remains an inspiration both for church musicians, and also ordinary congregation members who are unable to experience such excellence locally.

New CD of 2018 KCC Lessons & Carols service

The choir of King’s College Cambridge has released a CD of their complete service (with lessons) from last year’s Christmas Eve service, the 100th anniversary of the first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s.

The CD, entitled (appropriately), “A Festival Of Nine Lessons & Carols: The Centenary Service,” was released on the captive King’s College label. It is available on CD from Amazon US or Amazon UK, as a SACD hybrid disk with both regular and surround sound. The digital download is available only on iTunes. Both include a PDF program booklet, which includes a small-format version of the seat bulletin as well as some general background information.

The download captures the last year’s complete service, as does the CD (with two exceptions†):

1. Once in royal Davids City (Congregation Hymn)
2. The Bidding Prayer, Lords Prayer and Benediction
3. Up! good Christen folk
4. First Lesson
5. Adam lay ybounden
6. Jesus Christ the apple tree
7. Second Lesson
8. In dulci jubilo
9. I Saw Three Ships†
10. Third Lesson
11. Nowell sing we
12. Unto us is born a Son (Congregation Hymn)
13. Fourth Lesson
14. A Spotless Rose
15. The Lamb
16. Fifth Lesson
17. Joys Seven
18. Bogorditse Dyevo
19. Sixth Lesson
20. What sweeter music
21. Stille Nacht
22. Seventh Lesson
23. In the bleak midwinter
24. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Congregation Hymn)†
25. Eighth Lesson
26. O mercy divine
27. Sir Christmas
28. Ninth Lesson
29. O come, all ye faithful (Congregation Hymn)
30. Collect and Blessing
31. Hark! the herald angels sing (Congregation Hymn)
32. In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (postlude)

† Included on iTunes but not CD; CD owners can use a special code to download the files in either WAV or MP3 format

100 years of Lessons & Carols

Today is the 100th anniversary of the first Lessons and Carols service at King’s College Cambridge first done in 1918. It also marks the 90th live broadcast by the BBC Home Service (now BBC 4) that was done every year (except 1929) since 1928. It also marked the 37th and final service conducted by music director Stephen Cleobury. (The recording is available until Jan. 23 on the BBC website).

In preparation for this morning, I was reading from a book by William P. Edwards about the service, published in 2004.

History of King’s College Cambridge

Construction of King’s College Cambridge was begun in 1446 by Henry VI (son of Henry V), who reigned until 1471 (when he was murdered by his distant cousin, Edward IV). 

Henry VI took a unique interest in the chapel; according to the college,

Henry drew up detailed instructions for Eton and King's, and at both places his first concern was the chapel. He went to great lengths to ensure that King's College Chapel would be without equal in size and beauty. No other college had a chapel built on such a scale: in fact, the building was modelled on the plan of a cathedral choir, the architect being Henry VI's master mason, Reginald Ely.

The college was not finished until the Tudor kings, Henry VII (grandson of Henry V) and Henry VIII, who oversaw its completion.

The choir was created by scholarship for “poor and needy” boys, with the male singers being local lay clerks. As with all things choral in England, the program deteriorated in the late 18th and early 19th century, until it was re-invigorated with the choral revival sparked by the Oxford Movement.

History of the Service

The 1918 service was adapted from the service begun in 1880 by Edward Benson, Bishop of Truro, late Abp. of Canterbury from 1883 to 1896. It was begun by Rev. Eric Milner-White, whose service as chaplain of KCC was interrupted by service in the British Army from 1914-1918, when he served on the Western Front of World War I.

The 1918 service — published by the Cambridge archives — includes Milner-White’s bidding prayer, inspired by the loss of 199 King’s men who died in the Great War; the prayer, followed by the congregation saying the Lord’s Prayer (“Our father, which art in heaven”), remains to this day. The original service also ended with Hark the Herald Angels Sing, sung by the congregation.

However, the opening hymn — Once in Royal David’s City — did not begin until 1919; the opening first by the pubescent boy soprano is the signature of the service, widely emulated the world over. As last week’s New York Times article helpfully notes, the boy soloist is named by the choir director just before the service begins.

Today three congregation hymns are fixed: Royal David (1 verse by soloist, 1 verse by choir, rest by congregation) and the two closing hymns: O Come, All Ye Faithful and Hark the Herald. The database on the Sinden website shows that in recent years, several hymns are regularly repeated:

• Between the 3rd (Isaiah 9) and 4th (Isaiah 11) Lesson: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; O Little Town of Bethlehem; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Unto Us Is Born a Son
• Between the 7th (Luke 2) and 8th (Matthew 2) Lesson:  God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks

Only six men have led the choir during the 101 years of broadcasts:

• 1918–1928: Arthur Henry Mann
• 1929–1939,1946-1956: Boris Ord
• 1940–1945: Harold Darke
• 1957–1973: Sir David Willcocks
• 1974–1981: Sir Philip Ledger
• 1982–2018: Stephen Cleobury

This Year’s Service

In this year’s program, the lessons were as in previous years, except (as in 2017 and 1997-2007) the college censored Genesis 3:16 (“Your desire shall be for your husband”) from the opening lesson.

The program promised pieces by all six music directors. From the program, the (sung) music credits are:

• [Hymn] Once in royal: words, C. F. Alexander; melody, H. J. Gauntlett, harmonized Gauntlett and A. H. Mann; descant Stephen Cleobury
• Up good Christen folk: Melody: Piae Cantiones, 1582; words and harmony: G.R. Woodward
• The tree of life my soul hath seen: words: anon, music: Elizabeth Poston
• Adam lay ybounden: words: anon, 15th century; music: Boris Ord
• In dulci jubilo: translated and arranged by Robert de Pearsall
• I saw three ships: arranged by Simon Preston
• In Bethl’em in that fair city: mediaeval, edited by Cleobury
• [Hymn]  Unto us is born a Son: 15th C. Latin transl. G. R. Woodward. Music: Piae Cantiones, arr. David Willcocks
• A spotless rose is blowing: trans. Catherine Winkworth; music: Herbert Howells
• Little Lamb, who made thee: words, William Blake; music: John Tavener
• Seven Joys of Mary: arr. Cleobury
• Bogoróditse Dyevo (Rejoice, O virgin Mary): words, Orthodox liturgy; music: Arvo Pärt§
• What sweeter music can we bring: words: Robbert Herrick; music: John Rutter§
• Stille Nacht: words: Joseph Mohr; music: Franz Gruber, arr. Philip Ledger
• In the bleak midwinter: words Christina Rossetti; music: Harold Darke
• [Hymn] While shepherds watched: words, N. Tate; music, after C. Tye, descant Cleobury
• O mercy divine: words, Charles Wesley; music: Judith Weir§
• Nowell (who is there that singeth so): words, anon; music: William Mathias
• [Hymn] O come all ye faithful: Adeste fideles, transl. Frederick Oakley; descant David Willcocks
• [Hymn] Hark the herald: words, Charles Wesley “et al“; descant uncredited, but the only descant for this tune published by Encore is by Cleobury [as later acknowledged by his retweet]

§ carol commissioned for KCC’s annual service in 1990, 1987, 2018 respectively

Going Forward

Cleobury (who turns 70 a week from today) is retiring next Sept 30. KCC advertised for a new director and in May named Daniel Hyde, a former KCC organ scholar and currently organist and choir director at St Thomas Fifth Avenue, a wealthy Episcopal Church in Manhattan.

What is the future of the service and the choir? In light of claims that the choir is an obstacle to full gender equality, the Guardian [the official paper of the British Left] ominously predicts:

At some point, though, the BBC will come under pressure to rule on the issue, and whether they will be willing to hold the line is a moot point. Traditional practice and gender equality make for discordant partners.

The editorial statement ignores Cleobury’s remarks that gender integration would end the male singing program, a point echoed by Anna Lapwood, music director and conductor of a girl’s choir at Pembroke College, Cambridge.  Both refer to an experiment that showed in a mixed group, after two years all but two of the boys had dropped out — so an integrated choir means, in effect, a girl’s choir. Instead, Lapwood argues that Cambridge needs a full time girls choir so that the best young girls get the same training and experience as the best young boys.

As Cleobury says in the Guardian:

“Boys – certainly in the presence of girls – feel that singing isn’t a cool thing to do,” he says. “But they are the tenors and basses of tomorrow. Neglect them and you won’t have your symphony chorus, so you won’t have your Beethoven Nine or your Missa Solemnis or your Dream of Gerontius being performed.”

It is wonderful that this tradition has survived as long as it has. Hopefully the current dean of King’s College will do his part to make sure that the choir — and the annual service — continue for another century.

Update: In November 2019, a complete recording of this service was released for download or CD purchase

Unparalleled Lessons & Carols resource

In doing background research for the Lessons & Carols service at my daughter’s church, I found a unique resource: a website with a database of various Lessons & Carols services:

spreadsheets - carol service, FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Sinden.org's Carol Service Spreadsheets

• A Service for Advent with Carols from St. John's College, Cambridge, England
• A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, England

Compiled by by Episcopal Church organist David Sinden, the website includes links to Google spreadsheets with

• Advent services from 2004-2018 (including last Sunday’s broadcast) from St. John’s College
• Christmas Eve BBC radio services from 1997-2018 (and various services from 1918-1991) from King’s College (not to be confused with the TV broadcast)

The Scripture lessons for SJC are more specific than for KCC. However, the hymns, anthems and the voluntary (postludes) appear to be complete for both. For example, the SJC Advent service always includes these four congregational carols:

1. O come, O come, Emmanuel
2. Come, thou long-expected Jesus
3. On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
4. Lo! he comes clouds descending

Similarly, in the past 20 years, KCC has always performed

• Once in Royal David’s City
• (nine lessons and various musical pieces)
• O Come All ye Faithful
• Hark! the herald-angels sing

The databases don’t seem to list the tune. Perhaps some of that is redundant: globally, “Lo! he comes” has at least three commonly used tunes,  but I’m guessing the English choirs always use Helmsley (as does their bible, the New English Hymnal). We also know that unlike this side of the Atlantic, the English never use St. Louis when they sing “O Little town of Bethlehem.”

For KCC, it does distinguish how the choir has alternated between the Ord, Ledger, Warlock and (recently) Howard versions of “Adam lay ybounden.” Overall, it provides an extremely valuable resource for anyone planning an Anglican Lessons & Carols service.

Kings College Cambridge: 100th Annual Lessons & Carols

On Christmas Eve, King’s College Cambridge will conduct its Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols service. First started in 1918, this will mark the 100th service.

The service starts at 3pm GMT, 10am EST, 7am PST, and will be broadcast live by BBC 4, over FM in the U.K. and over the Internet. By my calculation, it will be the 90th broadcast on the BBC.

The program includes a detailed history of the service. It helpfully notes that since 1919, each service has begun with “Once in royal David’s city.”

The readings from the Authorized Version will overlap with those used over the past 20 years, but with slight variations. For example, as in 1997-2007, the first reading is Genesis 3:8-19 with the omission of Genesis 3:16, which was included last year:

And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Consistent with the best practice that KCC itself established, the congregation will have its own chance to join in the singing. This year, the congregation hymns are:

1. Once in royal David’s city (verses 3-6)
2. O little town of Bethlehem (Vaughan Williams’ Forest Green, not the American St. Louis)
3. God rest you merry, gentlemen
4. O come, all ye faithful
5. Hark! the herald angels sing

Except for “God rest” replacing “While watched their flocks”, the hymns are the same as last year.

The descants are slightly different; I am beginning to realize that while big church music directors keep familiar tunes to satisfy their (paying) congregation members, they feel no constraint to keep familiar descants (which only impact 25% of their choir). KCC music director Stephen Cleobury made the following choices

1. Same as last user: used his own descant
2. Substituted his own descant, to replace Thomas Armstrong’s from the printed New English Hymnal
3. No descant
4. Kept the arrangement and descant by David Willcocks (choir director 1957-1973), as published in Willcocks & Rutter (1987: 226-227)
5. Substituted his own descant (also used in 2013 and 2014) instead of the descant by Philip Ledger (choir director 1974-1982) used in 2016 and 2012 — or the Willcocks descant (also from Willcocks & Rutter) used in 2015, 2011, 2010 and 2009

Our family is looking forward to beginning our Sunday with King’s College and their beautiful service, before we drive to our own Advent 4 service (and later on, I drive back to sing Midnight Mass).

References

David Willcocks & John RUtter, eds., 100 Carols for Choirs, Oxford University Press, 1987.

The right way to do Lessons & Carols

Today is the last day of Advent — and the last day to hear Lessons & Carols. Today is the 99th annual Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, hosted by King’s College Cambridge every Christmas Eve since 1918 — and broadcast this year (and 88 previous years) on the BBC radio.

My wife reminds me that I sang Lessons & Carols as a choirboy at the proto-cathedral. (She remembers it better because she went in years before and after when I was chorister). I’ve sung or read at several churches since. In 2016, I attended two services, as well as listening to the 90 minute Cambridge broadcast this morning (US time).

King’s College Cambridge 2016

The modern L&C service was inaugurated by KCC, and some of their traditions — always starting with a boy soprano solo for Once in Royal David’s City) have been widely emulated.

Until I compared the programs from the late 1990s to today, I had not realized that KCC had kept the same nine lessons for at least 20 years:

1. Genesis 3:8-19*
2. Genesis 22:15-18
3. Isaiah 9:2-7 (dropping verses 3-5)
4. Isaiah 11:1-9 (dropping verse 5 and parts of 3,4) 
5. Luke 1:26-38 (dropping verses 36-37 about Mary’s cousin Elizabeth)
6. Luke 2:1-7 (dropping verse 2, the reference to Quirinius)
7. Luke 2:8-16
8. Matthew 2:1-12
9. John 1:1-14

* From 1997-2007, they skipped over Genesis 3:16 (“Your desire shall be for your husband”)

This year, the service had 15 choir carols and anthems, and five hymns (including the last 3 verses of Once in Royal David’s City) where the congregation can sing along. The other four hymns were:

• O Little Town of Bethlehem, with Vaughan Williams’ tune Forest Green from The English Hymnal (21.1 in Hymnal 1940) and the Armstrong descant from New English Hymnal
• While Shepherds Watched Their Flock, with everyone’s familiar 16th century tune Winchester Old
• O Come, All Ye Faithful, the harmony familiar to Americans (from H40 and H82) that was taken from TEH, but with the David Willcocks arrangement and descant
• Hark! the Herald Angels Sing, the familiar Mendelssohn tune, descant by Philip Ledger

For both Once in Royal David’s City and While Shepherds, the descants are by Stephen Cleobury, the music director of KCC for the past 34 years. (In 1988, he also published a retrospective on the 70th anniversary of the annual service).

Lessons for Other Parishes

Earlier this month, I attended L&C services with my family at a small CoE-affiliated parish in Spain and at a Catholic college closer to home. The structure of the former was closer to KCC, with nine lessons (including Genesis 3, Isaiah 9, Isaiah 11 and John 1). The Catholics only had six lessons (skipping Genesis and John’s gospel) but production values more similar to KCC.

Below are some notes on how I would organize an Advent L&C service if I were music director at an American Anglican parish:

1. Neither concert nor worship service. You should recognize that the form is not like anything else the church does during the year. It’s not a concert, with more scripture than the congregation will hear at any other service. At the same time, it does not follow set Anglican liturgy — the lessons, the hymns/anthems/carols, and perhaps an opening or closing prayer.
2. Major outreach/evangelism opportunity. This is one of the biggest opportunities of the year to bring visitors to church. (At the CoE service we attended, it was the largest turnout the new rector had ever seen). If the goal of the Church is to spread the Gospel, then there’s no better time during the year to do so. This means not just addressing it not only to active members, but irregular members, other C&E Christians, lapsed Christians and non-Christians.
3. Be friendly to visitors. If there are visitors, they won’t know your secret code or rituals — if you want them to feel welcome, things should be logical and understandable. The #1 rule is you need a program (which was not true at the CoE service) — to tell people where they are, what’s coming up, and also who’s singing what. (If money or the environment is the issue, a half sheet of paper is enough).
4. Your choir is not King’s College Cambridge. I’m singing in the best choir that I’ve been in since I’m 12, perhaps one of the best (organ-based) adult choirs of a Continuing Anglican church in California. (Let’s face it, in the ECUSA divorce they got custody of the cathedrals, organs and best music programs). But our choir is not King Choir Cambridge, and that’s true of 99.5% of the Anglican choirs in north America. Choir members, directors, organists etc. should remember is pride is a cardinal sin and humility a cardinal virtue: in this era of iTunes, Spotify and BBC, almost everyone has heard better performances. So be realistic in what you can do and then do your best, and don’t forget the most important rule…
5. People have come to sing carols. There is no time of the year when your congregation more wants to sing – unlike Easter, even non-Christians are going to know many of the carols. You need to give them a chance to sing — which for most churches means letting them sing at least a part of more than half the carols. The college did it well, but the CoE parish wouldn’t let us sing “O Little Town” while asking us to learn an unfamiliar carol.
6. Fill them with the joy of Christmas. We are preparing for one of the two universal feasts of the Christian year, and the one where the countervailing cultural pressures are the strongest. The lessons appeal to their heads — Jesus is the reason for the season — but singing carols should put joy in their hearts.
7. The goal is to bring them back. This is a major (and relatively straightforward) service to present and a chance to put your best foot forward. Regular members should look forward to it every year, while new (or prospective) members should want to come back again.

Merry Christmas everyone.

References

Cleobury, Stephen. (1988). “Nine Lessons and Carols at King's: 70 Years on.” The Musical Times 129 (1750): 687-689. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/966672