On Christmas Night

To mark the 21st anniversary of the reintroduction of the role of Royal Harpist, HRH The Prince of Wales joins Ian Skelly to introduce a special performance of Benjamin Britten’s popular collection of carols for harp and voices, A Ceremony of Carols. The sopranos and altos of the BBC Singers are joined by Catrin Finch, who in 2000 was the first holder of the title Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales – a role that had not previously been filled since the reign of Queen Victoria.

Benjamin Britten: A Ceremony of Carols
Benjamin Britten: A New Year Carol
Sopranos and Altos of the BBC Singers
Catrin Finch – harp
Grace Rossiter - conductor

In the second half of the programme, the BBC Singers celebrate the 60th anniversary of the publication of 'Carols for Choirs', the iconic anthology of Christmas carols published by Oxford University Press that has gone on to sell over a million copies worldwide. The BBC Singers also look ahead to the publication of 'Carols for Choirs 6' in 2023 with carols from the new volume by Brittney Boykin and Reena Esmail.

Polish carol, arr. David Willcocks: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
English traditional, arr. Elizabeth Poston: The Boar’s Head Carol
Hungarian traditional, arr. Zoltán Kodály: A Christmas Carol
English traditional, arr. David Willcocks: Blessed be that maid Mary
Arnold Cooke: O men from the fields
Hector Berlioz: The Shepherd's farewell
Brittney Boykin: Coventry Carol
Reena Esmail: The unexpected early hour
John Francis Wade, arr. David Willcocks: O come, all ye faithful

BBC Singers
Embassy Brass
Francesca Massey and Ashley Grote - organists
Bob Chilcott and Sir Stephen Cleobury - conductors