Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Stephen Cleobury - A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols: The Centenary Service (2019)

Following the success of last year’s 100 Years of Nine Lessons & Carols, for 2019 King’s College release a deluxe product showcasing the landmark 100th service - the last to be conducted by the outgoing Director of Music, Sir Stephen Cleobury.

The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry
As we prepared to celebrate the centenary of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in King’s College Chapel in December 2018, I found my thoughts drifting back to the very first such service in 1918. War had recently ended and people were still living with its consequences. There were not yet any war memorials around the country, nor was there a Cenotaph in Whitehall. War was not being remembered so much as still experienced. The First Eastern General Hospital in Cambridge, on the site now occupied by the University Library, was still busy dealing with the wounded, and institutions like King’s College were counting the cost and perhaps coming to a deeper of appreciation of the actual scale of loss than would have been possible while battles were still raging.

Eric Milner-White, Chaplain of King’s before the war, padre in the trenches during it, and now Dean, would have been grieving the loss of many old friends. He may also have been brooding on the two huge pastoral frustrations he suffered while offering Christian ministry to the troops. First, the prohibition on praying for the dead, and second, the assumption that the Book of Common Prayer provided an adequate liturgy for every conceivable occasion. An aesthete and pastor rather than a theologian or bishop-in-waiting, Milner-White took the opportunity of the comparative freedom of King’s to deal with these frustrations. He introduced on All Souls Day (2 November) a requiem mass for the fallen, and, on Christmas Eve, ‘A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols’. The format had been pioneered by the Bishop of Truro since 1880 and was exported from there to many other places. Indeed in 1884 A R Mowbray & Co published an order of service for twopence. It was entitled ‘Nine Lessons with Carols’ and subtitled ‘Festal Service for Christmas Eve’. It was published again in 1911; clearly it was popular long before it was at King’s…

Tracklist
1. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale, George Hill & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Once in royal David's City (Desc. Stephen Cleobury ) (04:21)
2. The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry & The Congregation – Bidding Prayer, Lord's Prayer and Blessing (03:16)
3. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Up! good Christen folk (01:20)
4. A. Chorister – Reading: First Lesson (Genesis 3.8-15, 17-19) (02:44)
5. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Adam Lay Ybounden (01:11)
6. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (02:39)
7. A Choral Scholar – Reading: Second Lesson (Genesis 22.15-18) (01:02)
8. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – In dulci jubilo (Arr. Robert de Pearsall) (03:04)
9. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale, George Hill & Sir Stephen Cleobury – I saw three ships (Arr. Simon Preston) (02:15)
10. A Representative of Eton College – Reading: Third Lesson (Isaiah 9.2, 6-7) (01:08)
11. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Nowell sing we (Ed. Stephen Cleobury) (03:07)
12. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury & Henry Websdale – Unto us is born a Son (Arr. David Willcocks) (02:21)
13. A Fellow – Reading: Fourth Lesson (Isaiah 11.1-4a, 6-9) (01:59)
14. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Charlie Baigent & Sir Stephen Cleobury – A Spotless Rose (02:44)
15. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – The Lamb (03:07)
16. Master over the Choristers – Reading: Fifth Lesson (Luke 1.26-35, 38) (02:30)
17. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale, Sir Stephen Cleobury & Jack Bowley – Joys Seven (Arr. Stephen Cleobury) (03:14)
18. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Bogoróditse Dyevo (01:15)
19. A Representative of the City of Cambridge – Reading: Sixth Lesson (Luke 2.1-7) (01:01)
20. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale & Sir Stephen Cleobury – What Sweeter Music (04:09)
21. Choir of King's College, Cambridge & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Stille Nacht (Arr. Philip Ledger) (02:28)
22. Sir Stephen Cleobury – Reading: Seventh Lesson (Luke 2.8-16) (01:40)
23. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale, James Micklethwaite & Sir Stephen Cleobury – In the Bleak Mid-Winter (04:08)
24. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale & Sir Stephen Cleobury – While shepherds watched their flocks by night (Desc. Stephen Cleobury) (02:53)
25. Vice-Provost – Reading: Eighth Lesson (Matthew 2.1-12) (02:45)
26. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Guy Johnston & Sir Stephen Cleobury – O mercy divine [Premiere] (03:56)
27. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury & Henry Websdale – Sir Christémas (01:44)
28. Provost – Reading: Ninth Lesson (John 1.1-14) (02:09)
29. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale & Sir Stephen Cleobury – O come, all ye faithful (Desc. David Willcocks) (04:23)
30. The Revd Dr Stephen Cherry & The Congregation – Collect and Blessing (01:05)
31. Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Henry Websdale & Sir Stephen Cleobury – Hark! The herald angels sing (Desc. Stephen Cleobury) (03:24)
32. Henry Websdale – In dulci jubilo, BWV 729 (02:37)