Carols by Candlelight - Christmas in War and Peace

The Elysian Singers of London, under the musical direction of Sam Laughton commemorate the centenary of the First World War in an evening of choral music by candlelight. The programme features a powerful work by Judith Bingham based on the famous 1914 Christmas Truce, during which German and British soldiers met in No-Man's-Land, exchanged gifts and swapped songs. This piece forms the starting-point for an exploration of Christmas through years of both conflict and peace in the twentieth century: music of despair, and music of hope. Mince pies and mulled wine will be served.

Programme:

Once in Royal David’s City by Henry John Gauntlett (arr. Mann, Willcocks)
The Holy Boy by John Ireland
The Christmas Truce by Judith Bingham

INTERVAL

Three Carol-Anthems by Herbert Howells
Un soir de neige by Francis Poulenc
The Advent of the Kingdom by Christopher Rathbone
O Magnum Mysterium by Carl Rutti
The Weeping Babe by Michael Tippett
Hark! The Herald-Angels Sing by Felix Mendelssohn (arr. Willcocks)