Table of Contents

A babe is born I wys ; A child is born in Bethlehem ; Adam lay ybounden ; All my heart this night rejoices ; All this time ; The angels and the shepherds ; The cherry tree carol ; Come leave your sheep ; Come, thou Redeemer of the earth ; Deck the hall ; Ding dong! merrily on high ; Down in yon forest ; Gabriel's message ; Hail! Blessed Virgin Mary ; Hark! the herald angels sing ; He is born the divine Christ child ; Here we come a-wassailing ; The holly and the ivy ; How far is it to Bethlehem? ; I saw a maiden ; I sing of a maiden ; Il est ne le divin enfant ; The Infant King ; It came upon the midnight clear ; The Lord at first did Adam make ; Masters in this hall ; Matin responsory ; Myn lyking ; Nativity carol ; A New Year carol ; Noel nouvelet ; Nowell, sing nowell ; O come, all ye faithful ; O come, O come, Emmanuel ; Of the father's heart begotten ; Once in royal David's city ; Out of your sleep ; Past three a clock ; Patapan ; Personent hodie ; Quelle est cette odeur agreable? ; Quem pastores laudavere ; Quittez, pasteurs ; Resonemus laudibus ; Sans day carol ; The shepherds' cradle song ; Shepherds left their flocks a-straying ; Shepherd's pipe carol ; Silent night ; Sir Christemas ; There is no rose ; Tomorrow shall be my dancing day ; The truth from above ; The twelve days of Christmas ; While shepherds watched their flocks ; Zion hears the watchmen's voices

About the Author

Born in 1919, David Willcocks began his musical career as a chorister at Westminster Abbey, later winning scholarships to Clifton College and King's College, Cambridge. Following war service, he was elected Fellow of King's College, and later became Organist of Salisbury and Worcester Cathedrals, conducting the Three Choirs Festival whilst at Worcester. Willcocks returned to King's College, Cambridge as Director of Music from 1957-1974, with the first collection of his arrangements in the Carols for Choirs series publishing in 1961. He was Director of Music at the Royal College of Music from 1974-1984, and was knighted in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Honours List in 1977. Willcocks also conducted The Bach Choir for 38 years, retiring in 1998. Sir David died in September 2015. John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world. John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador. John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.