This is a list of carols performed at the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King's College Chapel, Cambridge. The Festival is an annual church service held on Christmas Eve (24 December) at King's College Chapel in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The Nine Lessons, which are the same every year, are read by representatives of the college and of the City of Cambridge from the 1611 Authorized King James Version of the Bible.
The service is broadcast live in the United Kingdom on BBC Radio 4, and abroad on the BBC's overseas programmes as well; it is estimated that each year there are millions of listeners worldwide who listen to it live on the BBC World Service. In the UK, a recorded broadcast is also made on Christmas Day on BBC Radio 3.[1] A television programme entitled Carols from King's which is pre-recorded in early or mid-December is shown on Christmas Eve in the UK on BBC Two and BBC Four.
In the table below, carols specially commissioned for the Choir of King's College Chapel are highlighted in green. To rearrange the table alphabetically or numerically by a particular column, click on the arrow symbol in the column heading.
| width=25% | Title | width=10% | Year of first performance | width=20% | Lyricist | width=20% | Composer | width=25% | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Lay Ybounden[2] | 1955 | 15th century | Ord, Boris | ||||||
| Adam Lay Ybounden[3] | 2023 | 15th century | Martin, Matthew | ||||||
| Alleluia! A New Work is Come on Hand | 1966 | 15th century | Wishart, Peter Charles Arthur | ||||||
| The Angel Gabriel | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2019 | From a Basque original | Moore, Philip | |||||
| The Angel Gabriel Descended to a Virgin[4] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2002 | 15th–17th century | Holloway, Robin | |||||
| The Angels (Should you hear them singing among stars) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1994 | Taylor, John V. | Harvey, Jonathan | |||||
| Angels from the Realms of Glory | 1978 | Montgomery, James | Old French tune, arranged by Philip Ledger | ||||||
| Angelus ad Virginem | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2022 | 13th century | Martin, Matthew | |||||
| Away in a Manger[5] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2005 | 19th century | Tavener, John | |||||
| The Birthday of thy King (Awake, glad heart, get up, and sing!) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1988 | Vaughan, Henry (adapted) | Sculthorpe, Peter | |||||
| Carol of St. Steven | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1989 | W. Sandys' Christmas Carols (adapted) | Goehr, Alexander | |||||
| A Child is Born in Bethlehem | 1966 | 14th century Benedictine processional, translated by G.R. Woodward and others | Scheidt, Samuel | ||||||
| Christo Paremus Cantica | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1993 | 15th century | Burrell, Diana | |||||
| The Cradle[6] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2023 | Anonymous, 17th century Austrian, translated by Robert Graves | Frances-Hoad, Cheryl | |||||
| The Fayrfax Carol | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1997 | Early Tudor | Adès, Thomas | |||||
| Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden (Rejoice, O Ye Peoples of the Earth) | [''Unknown''] | Anonymous | Mendelssohn, Felix | ||||||
| A Gathering | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1991 | Andrewes, Lancelot | Casken, John | |||||
| The Gleam[7] (Not yet shepherds the gilded kings) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2003 | Plaice, Stephen | Birtwistle, Harrison | |||||
| Glory, Alleluia to the Christ Child! (Out of the Orient Crystal Skies) | [''Unknown'', sung 2008] | 17th century | Bullard, Alan | ||||||
| God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen | 1919 | English traditional | English traditional, arranged by David V. Willcocks | ||||||
| God would be Born in Thee[8] (Lo, in the Silent Night a Child in God is Born) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2004 | Silesius, Angelus | Bingham, Judith | |||||
| Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | 1918 and every year since | Wesley, Charles, and Whitefield, George | Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Jakob Ludwig Felix
| ||||||
| A Hymn to the Mother of God | [''Unknown''] | Liturgy of Saint Basil | Tavener, John | ||||||
| I Saw Three Ships | [''Unknown''] | Traditional English | Traditional English, arranged by Simon Preston | ||||||
| I Sing of a Maiden | 1965 | 15th century | Berkeley, Lennox (also sung in a version by Patrick Hadley) | ||||||
| If Ye would Hear the Angels Sing[9] | [''Unknown'', sung 2008] | Greenwell, Dora | Tranchell, Peter | ||||||
| Illuminare Jerusalem[10] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1985 | Bannatyne manuscript in (adapted). | Weir, Judith | |||||
| In Dulci Jubilo (In Sweet Rejoicing) | 1918 | 14th-century German | de Pearsall, Robert Lucas
| ||||||
| In Dulci Jubilo (In Sweet Rejoicing) | 1988 | 14th-century German | Praetorius, Hieronymous | ||||||
| In the Bleak Midwinter | [''Unknown''] | Rossetti, Christina | Darke, Harold Edwin | ||||||
| In Wintertime (When Thou wast born in wintertime) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1983 | Askwith, Betty | Berkeley, Lennox | |||||
| Infant Holy, Infant Lowly | [''Unknown'', sung 2008] | Polish traditional, translated by Edith M.G. Reed | Polish traditional, arranged by Stephen J. Cleobury | ||||||
| King Herod and the Cock (There was a star in David's land) | 1977 | [''Unknown''] | Walton, William | ||||||
| The Lamb[11] (Little lamb, who made thee?) | 1982 | Blake, William | Tavener, John | Although the carol was first performed at the Festival in 1982, its première performance was given by the Winchester Cathedral Choir a few days before. | |||||
| Misere' Nobis[12] (Jesu of a Maiden Thou wast Born) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2006 | Medieval English carol (adapted) | Turnage, Mark-Anthony | |||||
| The Night when She First Gave Birth (Mary) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2008 | Brecht, Bertolt, translated by Michael Hamburger | Muldowney, Dominic | |||||
| Noël (Now comes the dawn)[13] (Stardust and vaporous light) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2007 | Gilder, Richard Watson | Dean, Brett | |||||
| Nowel, Nowel, Holly Dark | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1986 | de la Mare, Walter | Bennett, Richard Rodney | |||||
| Nowell Sing We Now All and Some | 1984 | Medieval | Medieval, edited by John Stevens | ||||||
| O Come, All Ye Faithful[14] | 1918 and every year since | 18th-century Latin, translated by Frederick Oakeley | Wade, John Francis | Traditionally the arrangement by David Willcocks is used. | |||||
| O Mercy Divine[15] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2018 | Wesley, Charles[16] | Weir, Judith | Written to mark the centennial service in 2018. | ||||
| On Christmas Day to My Heart[17] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1999 | Paman, Clement | Bennett, Richard Rodney | |||||
| Once in Royal David's City[18] | 1918 and every year since | Alexander, Mrs. Cecil Frances | Gauntlett, Henry J.; arr. A. H. Mann, David Willcocks, Stephen Cleobury, et al. | Since 1919 this carol has always been the processional carol, with verse 1 sung unaccompanied by a boy soloist. | |||||
| One Star, at Last (Fix on one star) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1984 | Brown, George Mackay | Davies, Peter Maxwell | |||||
| The Oxen (Christmas Eve and twelve of the clock) | 1982 | Hardy, Thomas | Radcliffe, Philip | Radcliffe was a longtime Fellow in Music of King's College. | |||||
| Pilgrim Jesus (Iesus! Christus | In the manger of my body) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1996 | Crossley-Holland, Kevin | Paulus, Stephen | ||||
| Remember, O Thou Man | [''Unknown'', sung 2008] | 16th century | Ravenscroft, Thomas | ||||||
| Seinte Marie Moder Milde | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1995 | 13th-century manuscript in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge | MacMillan, James | |||||
| A Spotless Rose is Blowing | 2002 | 14th-century German, translated by Catherine Winkworth | Ledger, Philip | ||||||
| A Spotless Rose is Blowing | 1929 | 15th-century German, translated by C. Winkworth | Howells, Herbert | ||||||
| Spring in Winter | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2001 | Smart, C., from Hymn &c: The Nativity of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ | Woolrich, John | |||||
| Starry Night o'er Bethlehem | 2004 | Willcocks, Anne | Willcocks, David | ||||||
| Sweet Baby, Sleep! What Ails My Dear? (Wither's Rocking Hymn) | 1933 | Wither, George | Vaughan Williams, Ralph | ||||||
| Swetë Jesu | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1992 | 13th century | Maw, Nicholas | |||||
| There is No Rose | [''Unknown''] | 15th-century English | Joubert, John | ||||||
| There is No Rose[19] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2021 | 15th-century English | McDowall, Cecilia | |||||
| The Three Kings | 1932 | Cornelius, Carl August Peter and Nicolai, P.; translated by H.N. Bate | Cornelius, Carl August Peter; arranged by Ivor Atkins | ||||||
| The Three Kings[20] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 2000 | Sayers, Dorothy L., from The Three Kings (1916) | Dove, Jonathan | |||||
| Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day | [''Unknown''] | Traditional English | Gardner, John | ||||||
| Unto Us is Born a Son | [''Unknown'', sung 2008] | 15th-century Latin, translated by G.R. Woodward | Piae Cantiones (Devout Songs), arranged by David V. Willcocks | ||||||
| Up Good Christen Folk[21] | 1918 | Woodward, George Ratcliffe | Piae Cantiones (Devout Songs), arranged by G.R. Woodward | In the first service in 1918, this was the invitatory carol followed by "Once in Royal David's City" | |||||
| Verbum Caro Factum Est (The Word was Made Flesh) | [''Unknown''] | John 1:14 | Hassler, Leo | ||||||
| Wassail Carol (Wassail sing we in worship of Christ's Nativity) | 1967 | [''Unknown''] | Mathias, William | ||||||
| What Sweeter Music Can We Bring | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1987 | Herrick, Robert | Rutter, John | |||||
| Winter Solstice Carol[22] | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1998 | Swayne, Giles (English words); Magnificat antiphon for Christmas Day (Latin words) | Swayne, Giles | |||||
| Богородиџе Дево радуйся, Благодатная Марие, Господь с Тобою (Bogoroditse Dyevo – Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, Full of Grace, the Lord is with Thee) | align=center bgcolor=#4CBB17 | 1990 | Orthodox Liturgy (in Russian) | Pärt, Arvo |