Read on to discover popular choral composer John Rutter's seven favourite Christmas carols...
Eric Milner-White The Bidding Prayer
Before the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols start in King’s College Chapel on Christmas Eve, the dean reads the Bidding Prayer which begins ‘Beloved in Christ, be it at this Christmas-tide our care and delight to prepare ourselves to hear again the message of the angels.’ Shakespeare would have been proud of it, but it was the work of Eric Milner-White, former army chaplain in the trenches of Flanders and dean of King’s in the years after World War I. For me, this prayer is the moment when Christmas truly begins.
Michael Praetorius Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen
There are carols I can return to again and again, and this one is high on my list, combining tenderness and strength in the space of its modest few bars. The old German melody is harmonised by the 17th-century Michael Praetorius, the words are 16th century, translated as ‘Lo, how a rose e’er blooming’ and they suit the music perfectly. I don’t know who had the terrible idea of replacing them with ‘A great and mighty wonder’. I cringe when I hear ‘Repeat the hymn again’, tautology reminiscent of Lina Lamont’s ‘our hard work ain’t been in vain for nothing’.
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Heinrich Suso In dulci jubilo
I have sung and conducted this carol countless times and have even written a musical fable about its origin, when dancing angels sang it one Christmas Eve to the 14th-century German monk Heinrich Suso, who wrote it down. It’s a medieval earworm, a gem. The lilting melody makes you want to dance, the words are a delightful mash-up of Latin and rustic German, and the melody works as a perfect canon. Sing it at your Christmas party; the neighbours will pay to come and listen.
Peter Cornelius The three kings
No, not the ones who ‘of Orient are’, but the same three in what was once a solo song with piano by the 19th-century composer Peter Cornelius. Alas, his music is forgotten except for The three kings which was rescued from oblivion by the organist of Worcester Cathedral, Sir Ivor Atkins, who in 1930 made the arrangement in which a baritone soloist sings the melody while the piano part – the chorale How brightly shines the morning star – is allotted to choir. The ending, where the soloist sings ‘offer my heart’, is my favourite Christmas cadence.
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Harold Darke In the Bleak Midwinter
In the Bleak Midwinter topped the last BBC Music Magazine poll for ‘musicians’ favourite carol’, and I chose it as one of my Desert Island Discs. Darke’s setting of Christina Rossetti’s text, for me, touches the heart in a way that Holst’s congregational setting cannot because the irregular metre of the poem fits his tune about as well as a 13-amp plug in a continental socket. I met Darke in his final years – though bewildered by the carol’s fame, he was deeply touched by its lasting appeal.
Bob Chilcott The Shepherd’s Carol
This is a carol that never fails to bring tears to my eyes, even though it isn’t sad. Bob Chilcott is an old friend, an ex-King’s chorister and a skilled, versatile composer. He wrote it in 2000 for his old choir, and it’s a perfect fusion of words and music, ideally crafted for the acoustic of King’s College Chapel. Sung almost shyly by the sopranos, it builds to a radiant climax for the full choir, then subsides into a gentle ending to the words ‘Our love, our hopes, ourselves we give to your son, Lady’. By then I’m a sobbing heap.
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Arr. David Willcocks O come, all ye faithful
O come, all ye faithful is not actually my favourite Christmas hymn – Of the Father’s Heart Begotten tops it – but it’s transformed by David Willcocks’s arrangement. That’s because of the glorious descant, boldly taken from the ‘Gloria’ bit of Ding dong! Merrily on high – which is just about as renowned as the tune. Then, in the last verse, comes THE CHORD! It’s just D minor with a B in the bass, when we reach ‘Word [of the Father]’ but its effect is magical. Reputedly several musician members of the congregation fainted at its first performance in 1960.
Who is John Rutter?
With his talent for creating memorable melodies, John Rutter is one of the most popular composers of English choral music. Born in London, he read music at Clare College, Cambridge, and later served as the college’s director of music before founding his own choir, the Cambridge Singers, with whom he made multiple recordings. This autumn, he celebrated his 80th birthday with the release of Reflections on Decca Classics, which includes the first ever recording of his Piano Concerto, composed in 1979. The Choir of Clare College, Cambridge also marks his birthday with a new album of choral works on Harmonia Mundi.
