CD 1 - CHOIR OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 52.59
- The First Nowell (arr. Stainer; v6 arr. Ledger) 4.56
- Away in a manger (Kirkpatrick arr. Ledger) 2.06
- Up! good Christian folk and listen* (Piae cantiones arr. Woodward) 1.15
- O little town of Bethlehem (arr. Vaughan Williams; descant Armstrong; v3 arr. Ledger) 3.28
- I sing of a maiden (Hadley) 2.28
- A Spotless Rose (Howells) 3.08
- Once in Royal David’s City (Gauntlett harm. Mann; descant Willcocks) 5.10
- Personent hodie (14th-cent. German arr. Holst) 2.38
- Myn Lyking (Terry) 3.16
- O come, O come, Emmanuel (15th-cent. French arr. Willcocks) 3.30
- The Holly and the Ivy (arr. Walford Davies) 3.09
- Silent Night (Gruber arr. Willcocks) 3.04
- While shepherds watched (Este’s Psalter 1592; descant Willcocks) 2.50
- It came upon the midnight clear (arr. Sullivan; descant Willcocks) 3.30
- The Lord at first did Adam make (trad. arr. Willcocks) 3.15
- Hark! the herald angels sing (Mendelssohn; descant Willcocks) 4.09
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Gareth Morrell baritone (6)
Stephen Varcoe baritone (12)
Francis Grier organ (1, 4 & 5)
Ian Hare organ (7–11 & 16)
John Wells organ (13–15)
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (15)
Sir Philip Ledger (1–6)
Sir David Willcocks (7–16)
CD 2 - CLARE COLLEGE SINGERS, CAMBRIDGE 50.06
- Shepherd’s Pipe Carol (Rutter) 2.55
- Infant holy, infant lowly (Polish trad. arr. Rutter) 3.15
- Angel Tidings (Moravian trad. arr. Rutter) 1.44
- Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (French trad. arr. Rutter) 3.25
- I saw three ships (English trad. arr. Rutter) 2.03
- Nativity Carol (Rutter) 4.10
- Quem pastores laudavere (14th-cent. German arr. Rutter) 2.24
- Rocking (Czech trad. arr. Rutter) 3.54
- Here we come a-wassailing (English trad. arr. Rutter) 4.09
- The Coming of our King (Polish trad. arr. Rutter) 2.40
- The Infant King (Basque trad. arr. Rutter) 3.08
- Shepherds’ Noël (Catalan trad. coll. Canteloube arr. Rutter) 3.07
- Noël nouvelet (French trad. arr. Rutter) 3.31
- Gabriel’s Message (Basque trad. arr. Rutter) 3.49
- Sans Day Carol (English trad. arr. Rutter) 3.19
- Past three o’clock (English trad. arr. Rutter) 2.28
Clare College Singers, Cambridge
Clare College Orchestra
Roger Garland violin (8)
Simon Vaughan baritone (2, 12 & 14)
Jeremy Blandford organ
John Rutter
CD 3 - TAVERNER CONSORT, CHOIR AND PLAYERS 50.01
- Methinks I see an heav’nly host (Billings) 2.19
Taverner Choir
- Los que fueren de buen gusto (Francisco de Vidales) 4.13
Taverner Consort (Emily Van Evera & Rachel Platt sopranosCatherine King mezzo-soprano) & Taverner Players
- A virgin unspotted (Billings) 3.14
Taverner Choir Performing editions (1–3) by Clifford Bartlett
- The Babe of Bethlehem (Walker) 2.40
Taverner Choir
- Thys endere nyghth (trad.) 4.44
Andrew Parrott tenor
Taverner Consort (Charles Daniels, Nigel Robertson tenors · Simon Grant bass)
- Riu, riu, chiu (Mateo Flecha the elder) 3.24
Richard Wistreich bass
Taverner Consort
(Jonathan Kenny alto Angus Smith & Nicolas Robertson tenors Chris Purves bass)
- Christum wir sollen loben schon (trad. arr. Osiander) 3.05
Taverner Choir
- Gaudete! (anon.,16th century) 1.42
Stephen Charlesworth baritone
Taverner Choir · sackbuts
- Verbum caro: In hac anni circulo (anon. medieval) 2.20
Taverner Choir (female voices)
- Alleluya: A nywe werk is come on honde (anon., 15th century) 5.51
Taverner Choir
- The Old Year now away is fled (trad.) 1.51
Evelyn Tubb soprano · Jakob Lindberg bandora Items 4–11 from the New Oxford Book of Carols, edited by Hugh Keyte and Andrew Parrott (Oxford University Press, 1992)
- Hodie nobis celorum rex (a 4) (Tallis) 3.23
Taverner Consort (Mark Padmore & Nicolas Robertson tenorsStephen Charlesworth & Donald Greig basses) Taverner Choir
- Audite, principes (a 16) (Giovanni Gabrieli) 6.15
Taverner Consort (Angus Davidson countertenorJohn Dudley & Nicolas Robertson tenors) Taverner Choir & Players
- In dulci jubilo (a 16) Pars II (Praetorius) 3.45
Taverner Consort (Tessa Bonner sopranoRogers Covey-Crump & Charles Daniels tenors David Thomas & Eichard Wistreich basses)
Taverner Choir & Players
Taverner Consort, Choir and Players
Andrew Parrott
CD 4 - STAR PERFORMERS 65.36
- The Little Drummer Boy (Davis, Onorati, Simeone, arr. John McCarthy) 2.40
- El niño querido (Spanish trad. arr. Richards) 2.46
- The Gift (Simple Gifts) (trad. Shaker, arr. Chilcott) 2.08
The King’s Singers
(Jeremy Jackman & Alastair Hume countertenors
Robert Chilcott tenor
Bruce Russell & Simon Carrington baritones
Stephen Connolly bass)
City of London Sinfonia / Richard Hickox
- Maria Wiegenlied (Reger) 2.24
- Go tell it on the mountain (American trad. arr. Ekdahl) 3.29
- Joy to the World (19th-cent. English arr. Rutter) 1.53
Barbara Hendricks soprano
Eric Ericson Chamber Choir · Children’s Choir
Stockholm Chamber Orchestra
Eric Ericson
- Tochter Zion, freue dich (Handel arr. Bickenbach) 3.05
- Zu Bethlehem geboren (17-cent. German arr. Bickenbach) 1.52
Hermann Prey baritone
Tölzer Knabenchor (8)
Christfried Bickenbach organ
Graunke Symphony Orchestra (8)
Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden (8)
- Mary’s Boy Child (Hairston) 4.38
- Ukraine Bell Carol (Shchedryk) (Ukranian trad. arr. Brett) 3.22
Wiener Sängerknaben (director Gerald Wirth) John Parricelli guitar Andy Pask bass (10) · Paul Clarvis percussion (10) Orchestra / Geoffrey Alexander
- Il est né le divin enfant (French trad. arr. Tunick) 2.35
- Minuit, Chrétiens (Adam arr. Tunick) 3.38
Roberto Alagna tenor
The Abbey Road Ensemble
- Marche des Rois (Provençal trad. harm. Delsinne) 2.46
- Noël des îles (Moune de Rivel, vocal trans. Aubanel) 4.41
- Chanson joyeuse de Noël (trad. harm. Gevaert) 5.49
Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois
Abbé René Delsinne & A. Barbarat
- Weihnachten (Humperdinck) 3.09
- Vom Himmel hoch (trad. arr. Mackerras) 3.12
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf soprano
Ambrosian Singers (17)
Philharmonia Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras
- In the Bleak Midwinter (Darke, arr. Tunick) 3.45
- O Tannenbaum (German trad. arr. Osser) 2.24
- The Twelve Days of Christmas (English trad. arr. Tunick) 4.17
Kiri Te Kanawa soprano (18 & 20)
Roberto Alagna tenor
Thomas Hampson baritone (19 & 20)
London Voices (20)
CD 5 - HUDDERSFIELD CHORAL SOCIETY
BACH CHOIR · HALLÉ CHOIR 48.51
- God rest you merry, gentlemen (trad. arr. Stainer) 2.12
- Good King Wenceslas (Piae cantiones arr. Stainer)
- We Three Kings of Orient Are (Hopkins) 3.05
- Angels from the realm of Glory (French trad. arr. Wood) 3.07
- As with gladness men of old (Kocher adpt. Monk) 2.29
Huddersfield Choral Society
David Bell organ
Owain Arwel Hughes
- Coventry Carol (16th-cent. English, arr. Martin Shaw)† 2.18
- We’ve been a while a-wandering (trad. arr. Vaughan Williams) 2.33
- Masters in this hall (French trad. arr. Willcocks) 4.01
- See amid the winter’s snow (Goss arr. Willcocks) 3.44
- Sussex Carol (trad. arr. Willcocks) 1.41
- Ding dong! merrily on high (16th-cent. French harm. Wood)† 1.54
- O little one sweet (17th-cent. German harm. J.S. Bach)† 2.51
- Wassail Song (trad. arr. Vaughan Williams)† 2.52
- Carol with Lullaby (Tate) 3.22
†unaccompanied
Bach Choir
Jacques Orchestra / Sir David Willcocks
- Cowboy Carol (Broadhurst arr. Sargent) 3.19
- The Shepherds’ Farewell (The Childhood of Christ) (Berlioz) 4.42
- We Wish You a Merry Christmas (West Country trad. arr. Warrell orch. Ryan) 1.35
Hallé Choir
Hallé Orchestra / Maurice Handford
CD 6 - CHOIR OF KING’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE 52.31
- 1 Nowell! Nowell! Nowell! (Maconchy) 1.51
- And all in the morning (trad. arr. Vaughan Williams) 2.18
- I saw a maiden (Basque trad. arr. with refrain Pettman) 3.06
- A child is born in Bethlehem (Scheidt, ed. Willcocks) 2.31
- Where riches is everlasting (Warlock) 2.49
- How far is it to Bethlehem? (trad. arr. Willcocks) 2.14
- Of the Father’s heart begotten (Piae cantiones arr. Willcocks) 5.07
- Resonemus laudibus (14th-cent. German, arr. Willcocks) 1.57
- The Shepherds’ Cradle Song (Bohemian trad. arr. Macpherson) 3.40
- Quittez, pasteurs (French trad. arr. Ledger) 3.40
- Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child (Leighton) 2.54
- Remember, O thou man (Ravenscroft) 3.19
- Hodie Christus natus est (Sweelinck) 3.48
- Hosanna to the Son of David (Gibbons) 3.11
- Angelus ad virginem (Philip the Chancellor arr. Poston) 2.36
- My Dancing Day (trad. arr. Poston) 2.04
- O come, all ye faithful (Wade arr. Willcocks) 4.46
Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Robert Chilcott tenor (10)
Timothy Byram-Wigfield treble (11)
Douglas Whittaker flute (15 & 16)
Christopher van Kempen cello (16)
Andrew Davis organ (5, 15 & 16)
Ian Hare organ (7, 8 & 17) · Francis Grier organ (10)
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble (17)
Sir David Willcocks (1–9 & 13–17)
Sir Philip Ledger (10–12)