Everyone has their own Christmas ritual. For one musician friend, Christmas begins at 3pm on 24 December, when she pours herself a glass of champagne, turns on BBC Radio 4 and settles down to listen to the Choir of King's College, Cambridge singing A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
King's director of music Daniel Hyde is not remotely offended by this secular approach to his choir's religious celebration. In fact, during Covid he had a chance to do exactly the same thing (minus the champagne!) 'It was December 2020 and we were all shut down, but we had recorded a couple of rehearsals earlier in the month so we were able to produce a carol service without being in the chapel. I did rather enjoy sitting on the sofa at home and I would encourage anyone who's not here in Cambridge to do it too.' People write in to say that they are listening on the top of a mountain on a tinny little radio, or in the middle of the desert in the baking heat. That's the secret of its success - you don't have to be here. It's the idea that this is going on, and people can visualise where it is and the atmosphere of the place. The longest-established annual broadcast in history, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is now 95 years old. Additionally, Carols from King's, a televised Christmas service recorded in early December and also broadcast on Christmas Eve, celebrates its 70th anniversary in 2024.
We're sitting in Hyde's score-filled study, with its view of the Backs (Cambridge meadows and riverside), talking about today's recording session with the Britten Sinfonia. Hyde is conducting the orchestra and choir in seven carols by John Rutter (known to choirs all over the world as the 'father' of the Christmas carol), as well as Rutter's 20-minute piece Visions, to be released around Easter 2024.
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Denne historien er fra Christmas 2023-utgaven av BBC Music Magazine.
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A way with words
Great operas are inextricably linked with their composer but, asks Jessica Duchen, how often do we acknowledge the important role of the librettist?
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Conductor Domingo Hindoyan nominates the best musical depictions of anger and frustration
A glittering beacon
Until its destruction in the fire of 1936, the Crystal Palace was one of the world's most exciting music venues, and its legacy still lives on today, writes Tom Service.
Christoph Willibald Gluck
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Time to vote for the best recordings of the last 12 months
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From running efficient rehearsals to learning to speak to orchestras with clarity and empathy, an array of exciting courses for conductors has bloomed in recent years, finds Clare Stevens
Kindred spirits
As their second opera takes to the stage, composer Gregory Spears and librettist Tracy K Smith talk to Charlotte Smith about their special partnership
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In the early months of 1857, Verdi had Shakespeare on his mind, and specifically King Lear.
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Jeremy Pound lifts the covers off those notorious notesmiths who found the thrill of playing away simply too hard to resist
André Rieu Violinist, Conductor
King of the Waltz, Dutch musical impresario André Rieu has taken the world by storm with his Johann Strauss Orchestra.
