A Festival of Lessons and Carols Christmas Eve 1958 David Willcocks DirectorKings College Choir and Director Willcocks perform this with great traditional flavor. Besides the great performance the sound is true audiophile quality, this is a great recording to show off your Hi-Fi it portrays the performance and spoken word in a natural acoustical setting superbly.
"I have not been in many places outside the US, but I have been in Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, England and listened to the choir sing a program of vespers. I have also bought as many of the CDs of this group's annual Festival of Lessons and Carols as I could lay hands on. But not until I heard this new HDTT digital transfer of an analogue tape made of the service in 1958 have I been back. From the first notes of "Once in Royal David's City," sung by the choir as it enters the church proper and processes down the main aisle, we are aware of (how else to put it?) this extraordinary chapel. And we never cease to be aware of it. Every note sung, every note played by Simon Preston on the chapel organ, every word spoken by the readers manifests the place. Notes and words rebound off the high stone walls and hang in the air. This is not analogue but it was once and it damn near is now. This is not the most imaginative Festival ever celebrated at Kings, perhaps because several of the numbers have been cut to fit the rest on one CD. The annual service usually includes at least one contemporary work written especially for the occasion. But no matter. Regardless of how many of the CDs you have, regardless of whether or not England's Episcopal version of Christianity and Christmas (or any other) is yours, do not fail to hear this recording. Amen." by Bob Neill Positive Feedback Online - Issue 40
Songs include:
God rest ye Merry Gentlemen
I Saw Three Ships
Away in the Manger
O come, all ye faithful
Hark the Herald Angels Sing
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