Choir of Merton College, Oxford, Benjamin Nicholas - Britten: A Boy Was Born / A Ceremony of Carols (2026) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 1, Procession
02. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 2, Wolcum Yole!
03. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 3, There is no rose
04. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 4, That yongë child
05. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 5, Balulalow
06. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 6, As dew in Aprille
07. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 7, This little babe
08. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 8, Interlude
09. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 9, In freezing winter night
10. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 10, Spring Carol
11. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 11, Deo gracias
12. A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28: No. 12, Recession
13. A Hymn to the Virgin
14. A Shepherd’s Carol
15. A boy was born, Op. 3: I. Theme, A boy was born
16. A boy was born, Op. 3: II. Variation I, Lullay, Jesu
17. A boy was born, Op. 3: III. Variation II, Herod
18. A boy was born, Op. 3: IV. Variation III, Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour
19. A boy was born, Op. 3: V. Variation IV, The Three Kings
20. A boy was born, Op. 3: VI. Variation V, In the bleak mid-winter
21. A boy was born, Op. 3: VII. Variation VI, Finale: Noël!
22. Prelude & Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria: I. Prelude
23. Prelude & Fugue on a Theme of Vittoria: II. Fugue
24. Festival Te Deum, Op. 32

Benjamin Nicholas and the Choir of Merton College, Oxford mark the fiftieth anniversary of Benjamin Britten’s death with a programme built round his celebrated Christmas masterpieces, A boy was born (in which they are joined by the college’s girls’ choir) and A Ceremony of Carols, and trace his remarkable development from the precocious schoolboy composer of A Hymn to the Virginto one of the defining musical voices of twentieth-century Britain. Their performances illuminate Britten’s extraordinary gift for writing for young singers alongside his instinctive understanding of the English choral tradition, bringing out the qualities of a composer whose technical brilliance is matched by emotional immediacy in music that is enduringly rewarding for performers and listeners alike.