The Choir of Kings College London & Joseph Fort - Advent Carols from King’s College London (2019)

Every December, over a thousand people attend the Advent carol service in the Chapel of King’s College London, which is repeated over three nights to meet demand.

This album offers a snapshot of one such service, with its characteristic mix of plainchant, seasonal hymns and polyphony old and new. The Great O Antiphons (sung according to medieval Sarum practice) provide the backbone, pointing inexorably towards the Christmas birth.

A brace of premiere recordings centres on composers with personal connections to King’s College, and is complemented by current Professor of Composition George Benjamin’s rarely heard setting of a prophetic text after Isaiah. It intensifies the mood of heightened expectation proper to this very special season, and reminds us that something truly extraordinary is about to happen.

Tracklist
01 Drop Down, Ye Heavens, from Above (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
02 Canite tuba in Sion (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
03 O Sapientia (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
04 Sancte et sapienter
05 O Adonai (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
06 Ad te Domine levavi (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
07 O Radix Jesse (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
08 O Radix Jesse
09 O Clavis David (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
10 Tollite portas (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
11 Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
12 O Oriens (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
13 Advent Moon (Version for Mixed Chorus & Organ)
14 O Rex Gentium (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
15 Twas in the Year That King Uzziah Died
16 O Emmanuel (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
17 Laetentur caeli (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
18 O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (Arr. for Mixed Chorus & Organ)
19 O Virgo virginum (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)
20 Magnificat (Gloucester Service)
21 O frondens virga (Arr. for Mixed Chorus)