Ceremony of Carols - Benjamin Britten 

This masterpiece by Benjamin Britten has always been so special to me. For me it is the essence of a quiet and peaceful Christmas Eve. My annual Christmas eve ritual was to listen to this while sitting in my favorite chair, the room lit by candlelight and fireplace. With my faithful dog by my side and a fine glass of Cognac I could sit and relax and concentrate on the beauty of this music and the real meaning of Christmas. Well, I am much older now and the dog and days of Cognac are long gone. But this music... this music shall be in my heart forever. Thank you, Mr. Britten, for this Christmas gift to the world.

Most people are not aware of how hard it is to pull this piece through. And yet, they perform it as if it were a piece of cake. They manage to que get all three voices to be heard clearly, without overshadowing each other. So enjoyable and moving!! Excelent work!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼❤

Dear Dierdra, remember an alto is a soprano that can read music.

I miss choral singing. My mother always took the cake. She shined in choir. I wish she could sing again. She's an alto, so she thought she was drab, but we all loved to have her in choir. She wasn't drab- she gave her all. I liked that. She was humble.

My high school choir director, Jess Rose, taught us to sing this work, and it shaped my very future. I've made a life of music, and now rediscovering this wonderful work brings me such holiday joy. I was the accompanist on keyboards when we performed, but it's so very much better with the harp. Thank you to these musicians for such a lovely performance!

Sublime performance of this piece. It's not sung nearly as much as it was a generation ago. That's a shame: "Ceremony of Carols" is a real. first-rank masterpiece.

This is a wonderful performance of the 'Ceremony...', performed by mature voices using the final 1955 revision but here by females only. The work began its evolution alongside four other works of genius when Britten and tenor Peter Pears were returning to England from the USA in 1941/2 at the height of the Battle of the Atlantic against U-boat attacks on convoys. It was hazardous and lengthy as the pair changed small merchant boats on northern routes which ran the further risk of icebergs but because the Royal Navy was in full attack mode they obliged small boats and ships used for Canadian, Greenland and Iceland supplies and trade to go abnormally far north, sometimes stuck motionless in surface pack ice. Benjamin Britten was actually a seasoned sailor and able to help with tasks onboard and Pears entertained crews with songs in many languages. He was also a strong person and able to do menial tasks on several types of vessel. Because the 'Ceremony...' was a skewed version of a harp concerto for which Britten had received a commission he was unsure if the harpist would be happy and intended to communicate with her when able to ring from Scotland before finishing the challenging solo and two carols requiring unusual use of harmonics between harp and boy soloists. The harpist was so intrigued by the concept of voices and harp in a work including physical movement (performance) that she was very happy and is said to have suggested the inclusion of a spring carol to hint at coming out of winter gloom. The performers here take the work a shade more slowly in the acoustic they have than in Britten's recording in liberated Denmark but it pays off because the intense harmonic writing (somewhat daring) has air to be appreciated. Moreover, the composer's instructions for leaving resonant strings un-damped in several places can be lost in speedy performances. The harpist here limits the overall loudness of the solo section to concentrate on overall sonics. In some versions too much contrast in glissandi can obscure the strange hamonics Britten sought. The discipline of the procession and recession is astonishing and soloist are restrained in vibrato -- in keeping with a winter piece. I do not think I have heard a better rendition than this.

Wonderful!! That choir are absolutely fantastic, even the conductor and the harpist, but this choir it's speechless!!

I'll never forget when I got to sing this in college. I became friends with the harpist for a while. I think her name was Pat Jenkins. If you're out there, I still remember you!

My favourite, absolutely beautiful. I remember singing this this as a second alto each year for the nativity at school

Benjamin Britten was a gift to the world

Merveilleuse interprétation de cette œuvre chorale de Britten accompagnée par une harpiste de très grande qualité et dont on aimerait bien connaitre l'identité .

Omg This Little Babe! They pulled off that echo beautifully!

Lovely performance. 10/10 for all, 11/10 for the harpist.

Great performance... I love 6:27, this girl is an angel.

Thank you Benjamin.

Beautiful performance by a young chorus singing for a miserably sparse audience of old people. Where will it end?

Hermosa y difícil obra 😊, saludos desde Chile 🇨🇱🎶🎻🎶🎻🎶🎹💚

now, THAT'S a perfect performance!!!

C'est tellement merveilleux, tellement angélique, qu'on ne trouve pas de mots assez forts pour exprimer notre bonheur en écoutant cette oeuvre. Les voix sont... angéliques, tout bonnement.

As a former semi-professional harpist form the 60s and 70s, I certainly remember this piece as part of the bread and butter for harpists, especially around Christmas. This is a wonderful performance of this piece. However, I must admit that I prefer a well trained boy choir to women's voices. This group does any excellent job of singing in a pure style, without vibrato, but is not as satisfying to me as a boy choir. Again, I love this performance and am only expressing my musical preference.

I wish You Tube would let us know where the concert took place and the name of the group who sang!

So beautiful! I cried a lot! Thank you, maestro; thank you, ladies. Beautiful harp, too! God bless us, everyone!

Excellent rendition.

Simply angelic.

We did these carols when I was in high school (1957 to 1961)! Except we did them with all male voices! I really liked "This Little Babe" and "Balulalow" in this performance. Also "I sing of a maiden"! I listen to these every year.

Perfect!!!

Stunning, ladies. Gosh, I love this work.

Superb! I'm looking hard for the performance of this piece by Cantoría Alberto Grau, from Venezuela (about 20, 25 years ago). If anyone knows where to find it, I beg you to share!

i sung this with my choir,and it was so much fun

Absolutely glorious. I have sung this before with an occasional choir of very accomplished women's voices but we've never sounded quite like this! What a joy to listen to.

Bravissime

I remember doing snippets of this in choir in Jr. high. Unfortunately not the whole thing.

Stand up!!! That was excellent!!!

bravo, all of you.

Beautiful.

Anyone know the name of church?

Thanks!!

Magical! Just gorgeous voices singing challenging harmonies. I had the chance to learn and perform this music with our local chorale before the pandemic! Britton's festival has become a favorite and was the last performance I was able to participate. Thank you for sharing this sublime performance! Merry Christmas always and forever! ❤🕊️

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Brings back fond 1970's memories when a friend and I played the harp for many years in Christ Church, Cincinnati. Thank you for this fine performance.

Did this from Christmas 93-95 with my high school’s choral group. Precious memories

8:13

I did this in college 15 years ago. Loved it. Great job ladies.

10:00 I sing

3:40 11:00

8:23

11:00

Excellent singing, but a male director controlling a female choir really bothers me. Why are men always crowding out women from leadership positions?

How very unexciting. Without disparaging the voices or the excellent harpist, this is exactly the kind of sound that does not suit C of C. It was written for kids, preferably a trained, boy choir. You don't ask a little boy to sing Casta Diva. So don't get sopranos singing this.