Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

For many listeners Christmas really begins with the world-famous annual carol service from King's College, Cambridge which always features some of the best-loved of all carols while also managing to include something new or unexpected, not unlike the Last Night of the Proms. This collection of 15 favourite festive hymns certainly aims to give the people what they want in sticking to the tried and trusted carols that will make up the majority of all traditional carol services across the English-speaking world, from "Once In Royal David's City" to "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". And here lies a problem: if you have one or two collections of traditional Christmas music there is a probability that you will already have some or even most of the contents of this collection. That said, anything sung by the Choir of King's College stays sung so this can stand as a reference edition of what the material is meant to sound like. Another caveat is that this is a compilation from four earlier releases recorded between 1969 and 1978 so if you already have any King's College Christmas releases you will want to check before buying this one. Also, despite remastering at Abbey Road, the original recordings were analogue and so the audio quality, while being perfectly adequate, is not always quite as crisp as it would be were it to be a digital recording. Given that the original material covers four different configurations of the choir under Sir David Willcocks and Philip Ledger the vocal quality and overall sound is always first rate. The only singer to receive a credit is the baritone Stephen Varcoe on "Silent Night" and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble make a welcome appearance on "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing". What's not to like?

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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