from Christmas Sequence op. 95-This carol was commissioned in 2002 by King’s College Cambridge for their famous service of Nine Lessons and Carols. It tells the start of the familiar Christmas story: Gabriel's Annunciation; praise to the Virgin before she too sings 'my soul doth magnify the Lord'; the shepherds a-watching their flocks by night; the angelic chorus in the sky; the fusion of celestial and earthy around the crib holding the baby who is also 'Lord of Time & Space'. The text is from a variety of sources: anonymous carols of the 15th 16th & 17th centuries Edmund Bolton (1611 'Sweet music sweeter far...') the Gloria from the Mass and a couple of lines fromwell-loved Anglican hymns. Selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Encore’ project this carol will offer some challenge to intermediate choirs but will add some originality to a carol service or Christmas concert.
