Christmas with the Royal Choral Society
Royal Albert Hall
Performers
Royal Choral Society
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Richard Cooke conductor
Richard Pearce organist
Mary Bevan soprano
Programme
National Anthem
arr. Willcocks: Masters in this Hall
Stewart: On this day
Schütz: Dank sagen wir alle
Bednall: Noe Noe
Praetorius: Joseph Lieber, Joseph Mein
Handel: He shall feed his flock/Come unto him (Soprano solo)
Holst: In the Bleak Midwinter
Mathias: A Babe is Born
Vaughan Williams (150th): Wassail
Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty Waltz
arr. Cooke: Shepherds shake off
Poston: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Panufnik: Spy Isuse Spy (Sleep, Jesus, Sleep) (soprano solo)
Dvorak : Song to the Moon (soprano solo)
Walford Davies: O Little Town of Bethlehem (soprano solo)
Nordqvist: Jul, Jul, Strålande Jul
arr. Cooke: Stille Nacht
Willcocks: Ding Dong Merrily on High
Audience carols: Once in Royal; O come O come Emmanuel; O come, all ye faithful; God rest you Merry, Gentlemen; Unto us is born a Son; Hark the Herald
The Royal Choral Society celebrated the choir's 150th Christmas in its 'spiritual home' in 2022.
We packed our 2022 festive programme with glorious carols old and new, including a few to mark our special anniversary. It’s not just the Royal Choral Society that marked its 150th this year; 2022 saw the 150th birthday of composer Vaughan Williams, as well as the 150th anniversary of the first publication of Christina Rossetti’s evocative poem ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ – we performed Holst’s exquisite setting of this ever-popular carol. This year our thoughts were with the people of Ukraine, and we programmed Roxanna Panufnik’s setting of a beautiful Ukrainian carol 'Spy Isuse Spy' (Sleep Jesus Sleep) into our programme. Our special guest, Soprano Louise Alder (standing in for a poorly Mary Bevan), performed solos from Messiah among others, and there were traditional carols for audience too.