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A celebration of Christmas from the candlelit Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The music includes Henry Walford Davies’s setting of O Little Town of Bethlehem and Edvard Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella.

A celebration of Christmas from the stunning candlelit Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. This year marks the seventieth anniversary of the first carol service being broadcast. Led by the Dean, the Revd Dr Stephen Cherry, the programme begins in the time-honoured way as a solo chorister sings the first verse of Once in Royal David's City, just as it did in 1954.

Music includes Henry Walford Davies’s setting of O Little Town of Bethlehem, Edvard Grieg’s Ave Maris Stella, and Nativity Carol by John Rutter. The story of the Nativity is read by members of King’s College in the words of the King James Bible and in poems by Christina Rossetti, Edwin Muir, and G K Chesterton. Congregational carols include O Come All Ye Faithful, It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.

Release date:

1 hour, 13 minutes

On TV

Christmas Eve 2024 18:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Director Marcus Viner
Production Manager Jessica Bolton
Executive Producer Catherine Stirk

Broadcasts

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

Atmospheric coverage of the annual festival from King's College, Cambridge