The peak of the tradition in the 20th century has to be Britten\u2019s Ceremony of Carols, composed in the depths of war in 1942. After the war, the rich stream of carols abated somewhat, though there are some fine carols from the Fifties and Sixties such as Anthony Milner\u2019s Out of Your Sleep Arise and William Mathias\u2019s Sir Christ\u00e8mas. The real surprise, though, has been the upsurge of carol writing in the past 30 years. This is partly due to the efforts of some far-sighted choirmasters who\u2019ve actually commissioned new carols, such as Andrew Nethsingha at St John\u2019s College Choir Cambridge, and the late and much missed Stephen Cleobury of King\u2019s College Choir.<\/p>\n
Cleobury commissioned a new carol for the famous Nine Lessons and Carols every year from 1983 onwards, and persuaded some unlikely people to contribute, including the young Thomas Ad\u00e8s. The plaintive, haunted sideslipping harmonies of Ad\u00e8s\u2019s Fayrfax Carol is absolutely typical of him, proving that composers don\u2019t have to repress their natural musicality to write something appropriately festive or (in this case) rapt and mystical.<\/p>\n
Even more striking is Judith Weir\u2019s Illuminare Jerusalem, also commissioned by King\u2019s College Choir. She sets a medieval Scottish poem exhorting Jerusalem to be \u201cilluminated\u201d by the wondrous events happening within its walls, in a way that captures the magic of the scene while obeying the ancient verse form.<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Great piece by Ivan Hewitt on the British composers adding to one of our richest musical canons, the Christmas carol https:\/\/t.co\/mF1DMPRbZT<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 David Oldroyd-Bolt (@david_oldbolt) December 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n