Carol concert of the Week

The Ebor Singers, A Ceremony of Carols, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday

IN the darkened, candlelit church of the National Centre of Early Music, in Walmgate, York, The Ebor Singers present their annual performance of Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols on Sunday.

The choir’s seasonal concert has become a York tradition, with Britten’s Christmas work being sung alongside a variety of other pieces, often spanning several hundred years of repertoire.

"In so many ways Britten’s piece has defined the ‘sound’ of Christmas," says musical director Paul Gameson. "The preference of medieval religious poems and pseudo-medieval harmonies, the use of female voices and harp: this is a striking combination that immediately conjures up the spirit of Christmas,"

Alongside Britten's carols, the choir will be performing works by Bob Chilcott, Philip Moore, Kerry Andrew, Jonathan Rathbone and Morten Lauridsen. "Almost all our additional music in this weekend's programme is by contemporary composers, who each respond to the Christmas message in a unique way," says Paul.

"We also commemorate The Great War of 1914-1918 with carols written by the aged Parry, who died in 1918, and Herbert Howells, who was too ill to fight in the war. This echoes the Britten work, which too was born out of conflict, written in 1942 on a Swedish cargo vessel bound for the UK from the US, dodging U-boats all the way"

For Britten's carols, the choir is joined by harpist Rachel Jerome, who has accompanied them at the annual performance for the past three years.

Tickets for December 16's 7.30pm concert are on sale at £15, concessions £12, students £5, at eborsingers.org and on the door.