Christmas Night - John Rutter (arr.), The Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia

'Christmas Night'
From the album 'Christmas Night'

Arranger John Rutter
Conductor John Rutter
Choir The Cambridge Singers
Orchestra City of London Sinfonia

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Christmas Night
Arbeau’s Orchésographie of 1588 is a French treatise on dancing containing a number of attractive tunes, one of which (the Branle del’official) has become universally popular as the carol 'Ding dong! merrily on high'. The melody of Christmas Night (the Branle de Poitou in Arbeau's treatise) has also been used in Peter Warlock's 'Capriol Suite' for string orchestra. The words were specially written for this melody.

LYRICS:
Softly through the winter’s darkness shines a light,
Clear and still in Bethlehem on Christmas Night
Round the stable where a virgin mother mild
Watches over Jesus Christ the holy child.

Shepherds kneel in adoration by his bed;
Seraphim in glory hover round his head.
Wise men, guided by the leading of a star,
Bring him gifts of precious treasure from afar.

Choirs of angels sing to greet his wondrous birth:
Christ our Lord in human form comes down to earth.
‘Glory to God in highest heav’n’ their joyful strain.
‘Peace on earth, goodwill to men’ the glad refrain.

Lullaby! the child lies sleeping: sing lullaby!
Safe in Mary’s tender keeping: sing lullaby!
Guardian angels keep their watch till break of day;
Lullaby! sweet Jesus sleeps among the hay.

Alleluia! let the earth rejoice today!
Christ is born to take our sins and guilt away.
Praise the Lord who sent him down from heav’n above;
Holy infant, born of God the Father’s love.

Christmas Night
The theme of the album - Christmas Night - is the birth of Christ, reflected in the words and music of twenty-two carols spanning more than six centuries. Some of these carols have long been widely known and loved; others have become so thanks to the annual Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge. But all of them focus on the central event of the Christmas story – the birth at Bethlehem – and on the characters in that story: the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and the mother with her child.

John Rutter, English composer and conductor, is associated with choral music throughout the world. His recordings with the Cambridge Singers (the professional chamber choir he set up in 1983) have reached a wide global audience, many of them featuring his own music in definitive versions. Among John’s best-known choral works are Gloria, Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, and Visions, together with many church anthems, choral songs and Christmas carols.

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