Choristers' Ceremony of Carols

Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols will be brought to life by the Cathedral’s choristers, conducted by Adrian Partington, Director of Music, and will be acompanied by Daniel de Fry on the harp – the piece is one of the most magical works for children’s voices ever conceived and provides the perfect beginning to the Christmas Season.

Benjamin Britten wrote what many people think is his most beautiful work on a voyage from the U.S. to England in 1942. The work, which lasts about twenty five minutes, begins in pitch darkness.

From somewhere distant in the darkness, the sound of children singing Mediaeval plainsong can be heard. Soon the Choristers appear singing in a candlelit procession. Once in their places, they sing a series of carols with Mediaeval texts: the carols are bright, innocent and tuneful, although not without moments of seriousness. The combination of children’s voices and harp in the Cathedral’s matchless acoustic is of great beauty. After the final “Deo Gracias”, the choristers process with their candles back into the darkness, singing the ancient plainsong melody “Hodie Christus natus est”.

The Director of Music writes that “the silence at the end of the work is one of the most poignant musical experiences; it is as if the listener has been in a dream.”

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