The Choir of St John's College, Cambridge

Of the music selection at this special carol service, three are well-known carols: Silent Night in its simple and beautiful arrangement by David Willcocks, Philip Marshall's tinkly version of I saw three ships come sailing in and ding dong. These supplement the four Epiphanytide congregational carols, perhaps the best known being 'Brightest and best of the sons of the morning'. The texts of these Epiphany hymns are particularly beautiful: "Mornings of joy give for evenings of tearfulness" is a line of Monsell's 'O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness' which is a favourite of many.

The Choir sing Tavener's 'Christmas Proclamation' or God is with us from the Antechapel, especially effective when the organ enters near the end of the piece. All of the music in the service is written by British composers, from Thomas Tallis to a number of 20th Century composers: Britten, Leighton, Mathias, Holst. A contemporary composer also makes an appearance. James Macmillan wrote a piece for the Choir last year (see our commissions page) but has provided another new piece for this service in which it received its first outing. He wrote A Child is born in Bethlehem in 1978 for choir (ATB) and solo oboe, not to be performed for 34 years.