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The Lessons and Carols service as we present it here at St. Christopher’s is more or less based on The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols as celebrated on Christmas Eve at the chapel of King’s College, Cambridge. The form of the service with its alternating scripture and carols was originated by the Bishop of Truro, in Cornwall in southwestern England, and was first presented in the wooden shed, which then served as Truro Cathedral on Christmas Eve, 1880. The most famous form of the service was first presented at King’s College, Cambridge in 1918. The first broadcast was in 1928, and with the one exception of 1930, has been broadcast live by the BBC ever since to audiences around the world in times of peace and war.
The strength and appeal of the Festival of Lessons and Carols derives from the repetition of a familiar tale in the poetic language of the scriptures, interwoven with Advent and Christmas carols and hymns. The service uses nine readings which trace the prophesy of Christ’s coming from the fall of man into sin through Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. The traditional and formal Anglican style of this service is not meant to be elitist or exclusive, as we may perceive it from our vantage point at the beginning of a new century. Rather, it is a glimpse of an earlier age, a slower time. A great deal of traditional Advent and Christmas music is some of the oldest music that we have in our Christian repertoire. And so our story was repeated across peoples and through generations and has been retold in the characteristic music and language of Christian traditions around the world. Consequently, we are blessed with a wealth of carols from every age, which evoke the spirit and flavor of their time and the place in which they were written. The vivid poetry and time-honored melodies convey a sense of the past and remind us that our perceptions and peculiarities will occupy only a very short span in the whole of Christian history.
The music for the service at Kings College honors their almost full century of holding the celebration and hews to several unbreakable traditions. One of those traditions holds that the first verse of the opening hymn is sung by a boy soprano who has no idea that he’s been chosen to sing. He gets the nod only moments before he sings for millions of listeners across the world on the BBC. We don’t do that. Not the surprise singer, not the radio broadcast, sometimes not even Once in Royal David’s City, which is always the opening hymn at Kings College. At St. Christopher’s the only real tradition is the form of the service (and the reception!) and our singers and instrumentalists work throughout the fall to prepare a magical afternoon of song and story that is a feast for all the senses and a beautiful beginning to your own celebration of Christmas.
2021 Lessons and Carols Video Links:
YouTube - https://youtu.be/wGhfTHpwQzU
Facebook - https://fb.watch/9-J8zq4bmn/
The strength and appeal of the Festival of Lessons and Carols derives from the repetition of a familiar tale in the poetic language of the scriptures, interwoven with Advent and Christmas carols and hymns. The service uses nine readings which trace the prophesy of Christ’s coming from the fall of man into sin through Christ’s birth in Bethlehem. The traditional and formal Anglican style of this service is not meant to be elitist or exclusive, as we may perceive it from our vantage point at the beginning of a new century. Rather, it is a glimpse of an earlier age, a slower time. A great deal of traditional Advent and Christmas music is some of the oldest music that we have in our Christian repertoire. And so our story was repeated across peoples and through generations and has been retold in the characteristic music and language of Christian traditions around the world. Consequently, we are blessed with a wealth of carols from every age, which evoke the spirit and flavor of their time and the place in which they were written. The vivid poetry and time-honored melodies convey a sense of the past and remind us that our perceptions and peculiarities will occupy only a very short span in the whole of Christian history.
The music for the service at Kings College honors their almost full century of holding the celebration and hews to several unbreakable traditions. One of those traditions holds that the first verse of the opening hymn is sung by a boy soprano who has no idea that he’s been chosen to sing. He gets the nod only moments before he sings for millions of listeners across the world on the BBC. We don’t do that. Not the surprise singer, not the radio broadcast, sometimes not even Once in Royal David’s City, which is always the opening hymn at Kings College. At St. Christopher’s the only real tradition is the form of the service (and the reception!) and our singers and instrumentalists work throughout the fall to prepare a magical afternoon of song and story that is a feast for all the senses and a beautiful beginning to your own celebration of Christmas.
2021 Lessons and Carols Video Links:
YouTube - https://youtu.be/wGhfTHpwQzU
Facebook - https://fb.watch/9-J8zq4bmn/