''Christmas Night'' (subtitled ''Carols of the Nativity'') is a Christmas-themed album by The

Cambridge Singers The Cambridge Singers is an English mixed voice chamber choir formed in 1981 by their director John Rutter with the primary purpose of making recordings under their own label Collegium Records. The group initially comprised former singers from ...

conducted by

John Rutter John Milford Rutter (born 24 September 1945) is an English composer, conductor, editor, arranger, and record producer, mainly of choral music. Biography Born on 24 September 1945 in London, the son of an industrial chemist and his wife, Rutte ...

. Most songs are sung

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

, on others the choir is accompanied by The

City of London Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS performs regularly across the city of London in venues from East London clubs to traditional Central London concert halls. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera ...

. It was first released in 1987 on Rutter’s label

Collegium Records Collegium Records is an English classical music record label founded in 1984 by British composer and conductor John Rutter, primarily to record his work with the Cambridge Singers.Gramophone - Volume 69 Page 11 1992 "The success of Rutter's own ...

, and remastered and re-released (with a new cover artwork) by John Rutter in 2020.

The album

The CD version of ''Christmas Night'' contains 22 Christmas carols spanning more than six centuries. Most of these have become well known thanks to the Christmas Eve Festival of

Nine Lessons and Carols Nine Lessons and Carols, also known as the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or near Christmas Eve. The story of the fall of humanity, the ...

at King's College in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. Some arrangements for the carols on the album were written by conductors or arrangers who have worked at King's College over the years. Most carols on the album were written centuries ago, although several are relatively young. For instance, "Candlelight Carol" was written in 1984 by Rutter. Others are a mix of old and new: "There is a Flower" was written by fifteenth century monk John Audely, with new music by Rutter.

Critical response

Rick Anderson of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

calls the album "a surprisingly varied program of songs from British, Italian, American, German, and Basque sources". He says that the pieces penned by the composer, John Rutter, are "ripe and fulsome and gushing in that idiosyncratically British neo-romantic way". Compared to other Christmas albums released by the Cambridge Singers he says this album is "more or less interchangeable" but they all are "...pure, unadulterated, tear-in-the-eye Christmas Eve devotional spirit...".

Track listing

Track listing, with the original composer (if known) between brackets. # "

In Dulci Jubilo "In dulci jubilo" (Latin for "In sweet rejoicing") is a traditional Christmas carol. In its original setting, the carol is a macaronic text of German and Latin dating from the Middle Ages. Subsequent translations into English, such as J. M. N ...

" (German traditional) # "

Adam Lay Ybounden "Adam lay ybounden", originally titled Adam lay i-bowndyn, is a 15th-century English Christian text of unknown authorship. It relates the Biblical events of Genesis, Chapter 3 on the Fall of Man. Originally a song text, no contemporary musical se ...

" (

Boris Ord Boris Ord (born Bernhard Ord), (9 July 1897 – 30 December 1961) was a British organist and Director of music, choirmaster of Choir of King's College, Cambridge, King's College, Cambridge (1929-1957). During World War II he served in the Royal ...

) # "Christmas Night" (French trad.) # "Once, as I Remember" (Italian trad.) # "

A Spotless Rose "" (literally "A rose has sprung up") is a Christmas carol and Hymns to Mary, Marian hymn of German origin. It is most commonly translated into English as "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming" and is also called "A Spotless Rose" and "Behold a Rose of J ...

" (

Herbert Howells Herbert Norman Howells (17 October 1892 – 23 February 1983) was an English composer, organist, and teacher, most famous for his large output of Anglican church music. Life Background and early education Howells was born in Lydney, Gloucest ...

) # "

In the Bleak Midwinter "In the Bleak Midwinter" is a poem by the English poet Christina Rossetti, commonly performed as a Christmas carol. The poem was published, under the title "A Christmas Carol", in the January 1872 issue of ''Scribner's Monthly,'' and was first c ...

" (

Harold Darke Harold Edwin Darke (29 October 1888 – 28 November 1976) was an English composer and organist. He is particularly known for his choral compositions, which are an established part of the respertoire of Anglican church music. Darke had a fifty-y ...

) # "There is a Flower" (John Rutter) # "The Cherry Tree Carol" (English trad.) # " I Wonder As I Wander" (Appalachian carol) # " Candlelight Carol" (John Rutter) # "

O Tannenbaum "" (; "O fir tree", English: O Christmas Tree) is a German Christmas song. Based on a traditional folk song which was unrelated to Christmas, it became associated with the traditional Christmas tree. History The modern lyrics were written in 1824 ...

" (German trad.) # "

Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing-day" is an English carol usually attributed as "traditional"; its first written appearance is in William B. Sandys' ''Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern'' of 1833. However, it is almost certainly of a much earlier da ...

" (English trad.) # "A Virgin Most Pure" (English trad.) # " I Sing of a Maiden" (

Patrick Hadley Patrick Arthur Sheldon Hadley (5 March 1899 – 17 December 1973) was a British composer. Biography Patrick Sheldon Hadley was born on 5 March 1899 in Cambridge. His father, William Sheldon Hadley, was at that time a fellow of Pembroke Co ...

) # "Lute-Book Lullaby" (William Ballet) # "The Three Kings" (

Peter Cornelius Carl August Peter Cornelius (24 December 1824 – 26 October 1874) was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. Life He was born in Mainz to Carl Joseph Gerhard (1793–1843) and Friederike (1789–1867) Cornelius, actors i ...

) # " Myn Lyking" ( R.R. Terry) # "O Little One Sweet" (

Samuel Scheidt Samuel Scheidt (baptised 3 November 1587 – 24 March 1654) was a German composer, organist and teacher of the early Baroque era. Life and career Scheidt was born in Halle, and after early studies there, he went to Amsterdam to study with ...

) # "All My Heart This Night Rejoices" (G. Ebeling) # " I Saw a Maiden" (Basque trad.) # "

Away In A Manger "Away in a Manger" is a Christmas carol first published in the late nineteenth century and used widely throughout the English-speaking world. In Britain, it is one of the most popular carols; a 1996 Gallup Poll ranked it joint second. Although i ...

" ( W.J. Kirkpatrick) # "Nativity Carol" (John Rutter)

Personnel

- conductor, arranger, composer *

- performers *

- orchestra *Jillian White - record producer *Campbell Hughes - engineer *David Jacob - digital editing *Nick Findell - cover design

References

{{Reflist

External links

Collegium Records
1987 Christmas albums Christmas albums by British artists A cappella Christmas albums