A Festival Of Lessons And Carols As Sung In King's College Chapel Upon Christmas Eve MCMLVIII; Directed By David Willcocks
The King's College Choir Of Cambridge, David Willcocks
- Label
- Argo (2)
- Catalog number
- ZRG 5190
- Format
- LP · Album · Repress · Stereo
- Country
- UK
- Genre
- Non-Music
What’s on it
A Festival Of Lessons And Carols As Sung In King's College Chapel Upon Christmas Eve MCMLVIII; Directed By David Willcocks has 20 tracks.
- A1Processional Hymn: Once In Royal David's City
- A2The Bidding Prayer
- A3Invitatory (From The Christmas Oratorio)
- A4First Lesson - Genesis III
- A5Carol - Adam Lay Ybounden
- A6Second Lesson - Isaiah IX
- A7Carol - I Saw Three Ships
- A8Third Lesson - St. Luke I
- A9Carol - Gabriel's Message
- A10Carol - God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
- B1Carol - Sussex Carol
- B2Fourth Lesson - St. Matthew I
- B3Carol - In Dulci Jubilo
- B4Fifth Lesson - St. Luke II
- B5Carol - Away In A Manger
- B6Hymn - While Shepherds Watched
- B7Sixth Lesson - St. Matthew II
- B8Hymn - O Come, All Ye Faithful
- B9Seventh Lesson - St. John I
- B10Hymn - Hark The Herald Angels Sing
Where to find one
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Where it came from
Released in 1959, this recording captures the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols held at King's College Chapel in Cambridge on Christmas Eve, 1958. It stands as a landmark release for the Argo label, marking the debut recording of the service under the direction of David Willcocks, who had assumed the role of Director of Music only the year before. The service itself, established in 1918, had already become a global cultural institution, and this record was intended to bring the specific, ethereal acoustics of the chapel and the choir’s signature English choral tradition to an international audience.
The recording is celebrated for its technical achievement in capturing the spatial resonance of the chapel, a hallmark of Argo’s early stereo engineering. Willcocks’ approach to the choral arrangement emphasized precision, clarity of diction, and a restrained, meditative beauty that deviated from the more overt sentimentality of the era. Upon its release, the album received significant critical acclaim, cementing the King's College Choir's reputation as the definitive standard for liturgical choral performance and ensuring the record would be reissued periodically for decades to follow.
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About A Festival Of Lessons And Carols As Sung In King's College Chapel Upon Christmas Eve MCMLVIII; Directed By David Willcocks
A Festival Of Lessons And Carols As Sung In King's College Chapel Upon Christmas Eve MCMLVIII; Directed By David Willcocks is a record in the Vinyl Records catalog on collecto.rs. The King's College Choir Of Cambridge, David Willcocks. Catalog data is sourced from Discogs. No public records collectors track this one yet — adding yours would make you the first on collecto.rs.
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