Programmes

Choral Christmas

Programme to include...

  • Thornett, Festive Overture  (8mins)
  • Battiwalla (arr. Adolphe Adam), O Holy Night  (5mins)
  • Todd (arr. Jack Lovell-Huckle), We Three Kings  (4mins)
  • Roxanna Panufnik, Aurora: Star of the Sea  (2mins)
  • Bob Chilcott, Mid-Winter  (4mins)
  • Williams, Home Alone: Somewhere in My Memory  (3mins)
  • Mykola Leontovych, Carol of the Bells  (2mins)
  • Mendelssohn (arr. Ledger), Hark The Herald  (4mins)
  • Leroy Anderson, Sleigh Ride  (3mins)
  • Feliciano (arr. Paul Langford, orch. Jude Radley), Feliz Navidad  (3mins)
  • David Willcocks (arr. Pierpont), Jingle Bells  (4mins)
  • Kirby Shaw (arr. Alwyn), Beboppin Santa Claus  (3mins)
  • Cosy Lee (arr. Alwyn), I'm a Little Christmas Cracker  (2mins)
  • Trad. (arr. Jacques), Good King Wenceslas  (4mins)
  • Prokofiev, Lieutenant Kijé Suite: IV. Troika  (3mins)
  • Trad. (arr. Nicolson, Rutter), Ding Dong Merrily on High  (3mins)
  • Trad. (arr. Wilcocks, Wedge, Ledger), O Come All Ye Faithful  (5mins)

Performers

Introduction

It’s been 10 years since I started singing in the CBSO choirs, starting out in the Children’s Chorus before making my way up to the Youth Chorus and now the adult Chorus. I’ve had the privilege to sing some amazing pieces, from Holst’s Planets to Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius and even Carmina Burana at the Royal Albert Hall! But whilst I’ve managed to perform a huge array of exciting music, the Christmas concerts remain as one of the most nostalgic and anticipated events for me each year.

It feels like a very full circle moment to be singing as one of the ‘adults’ this December, when it seems like only yesterday that I was in year 5 at school performing in my first proper concert, looking behind me at the CBSO Chorus in their sea of black outfits and feeling absolutely terrified. Since then, I’ve made many friends and grown up alongside this choir, from being a chatty 9-year-old to a still very chatty (sorry Julian) 19-year-old, who has been lucky enough to take part in nearly every Christmas Concert since.

I’ve been amidst the carols and epic pieces one minute, with music echoing around Symphony Hall, and then launched into festive cheer the next as the orchestra perform their famous Sleigh Ride in Christmas hats. I have seen so many different Christmas pieces performed over the years (and can still remember half the words to Somewhere in My Memory from a decade ago, which is finally being sung again!), and this year I think we’ve got some absolute classics to show you.

I really hope you enjoy listening to the concert as much as I enjoy singing in it.

Maya Hey
CBSO Chorus

Programme Texts

Hark the Herald

Hark! The herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With th’angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Refrain:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Christ, by highest Heav’n adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord;
Late in time, behold Him come,
Offspring of a virgin’s womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
Hail th’incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Refrain

Hail the heav’n born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
Risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Refrain

-

Good King Wenceslas

All voices:
Good King Wenceslas looked out, on the Feast of Stephen, When the snow lay round about, deep and crisp and even. Brightly shone the moon that night, though the frost was cruel, When a poor man came in sight, gath’ring winter fuel.

Lower voices:
“Hither, page, and stand by me, if thou knowest, telling, Yonder peasant, who is he? Where and what his dwelling?”
Upper voices:
“Sire, he lives a good league hence, underneath the mountain, Right against the forest fence, by Saint Agnes’ fountain.”

Lower voices:
“Bring me flesh and bring me wine, bring me pine logs hither, Thou and I will see him dine, when we bear them thither.”
All voices:
Page and monarch, forth they went, forth they went together, Through the cold wind’s wild lament, and the bitter weather.

Upper Voices:
“Sire, the night is darker now, and the wind blows stronger, Fails my heart, I know not how; I can go no longer.”
Lower voices:
“Mark my footsteps, my good page, tread thou in them boldly, Thou shalt find the winter’s rage, freeze thy blood less coldly.”

All voices:
In his master’s steps he trod, where the snow lay dinted; Heat was in the very sod, which the Saint had printed. Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing, Yet who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.

-

O Come, All Ye Faithful

O come, all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant!
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem;
Come and behold Him
Born the King of Angels

Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord!

God of God, Light of Light,
Lo! He abhors not the Virgin's womb;
Very God,
Begotten, not created

Refrain

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
Glory to God
In the highest

Refrain

Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born on Christmas morning,
Jesu, to thee be glory given;
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing

Inspire children to explore the world of live music!

This February, we want to welcome more than 14,000 young people into the concert hall and a further 10,000 online. Many of these young people will be experiencing live orchestral music for the very first time. Our Schools’ Concerts are here to make these moments special!

Delivering these tailored concerts costs over £160,000. Income from ticket sales and generous support from Services For Education covers just over half of this, but we are left with around £90,000 to fundraise through trust and foundations and philanthropic individuals like you.

We hope every child in the West Midlands leaves school with a passion for music. By supporting our 2026 Schools’ Concerts Appeal, you help build crucial connections between the CBSO and schools across the region.

With generous support from anonymous donors, we have £20,000 of match-funding available! If you can, please help us continue to deliver inspirational music to young people across the West Midlands by donating online today, doubling your donation and impact!

Donate to Schools' Concerts Appeal

Featured image © Andrew Fox