Listen now to 'A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols'

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YourClassical MPR’s live broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College, Cambridge, with host Michael Barone, has ended. But you can relive this glorious event through on-demand audio, which is available now using the player above. Don’t forget to download the Order of Service for this year’s program and enter our giveaway!

Since 1918, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols has offered listeners an opportunity to share in a live, worldwide Christmas Eve broadcast of a service of biblical readings, carols and related seasonal classical music. This special event is presented by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s foremost choirs of men and boys, and performed in an acoustically and architecturally renowned venue, the college’s 500-year-old chapel.

This year's national broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is made possible by generous support from the Hognander Family Foundation.

Program

Here is the Order of Service for this year’s program, including this PDF booklet.

PDF: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols 2024 - Order of Service

Order of Service

• Processional: “Once in Royal David's City”

• Bidding Prayer (read by the dean)

• Sussex Carol (arr. Ralph Vaughan Williams)

• First lesson: Genesis 3, vv. 8-19 (read by a chorister)

• “Adam Lay Ybounden” (Matthew Martin)

• Second lesson: Genesis 22, vv. 15-19 (read by a college student)

• “Nowell, Nowell, Nowell” (Elizabeth Maconchy)

• Third lesson: Isaiah 9, vv. 2, 6-7 (read by a member of college staff)

• “A Great and Mighty Wonder” (arr. James Whitbourn)

• “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”

• Fourth lesson: Isaiah 11, vv. 1-9 (read by the master over the choristers)

• “The Lamb” (John Tavener)

• “Gabriel’s Message” (arr. David Willcocks)

• Fifth lesson: Luke 1, vv. 26-38 (read by a fellow)

• “Ave Regina Caelorum” (Orlandus Lassus)

• “Nativity Carol” (John Rutter)

• Sixth lesson: Luke 2, vv. 1-7 (read by the mayor of Cambridge)

• “Hereford Carol” (arr. Christopher Robinson)

• “While Shepherds Watched”

• Seventh lesson: Luke 2, vv. 8-20 (read by the director of music)

• “Three Points of Light” (Grayston Ives) - 2024 commission *

• “I Saw Three Ships” (Simon Preston)

• Eighth lesson: Matthew 2, vv. 1-12 (read by the vice-provost)

• “Lullay, Dear Jesus” (arr. Arnold Bax)

• “Benedicamus Domino” (Peter Warlock)

• Ninth lesson: John 1, vv. 1-14 (read by the provost)

• “O Come, All Ye Faithful” (arr. Willcocks/Daniel Hyde)

• Blessing

• “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” (Felix Mendelssohn, arr. Willcocks)

Organ voluntaries

• In Dulci Jubilo (Johann Sebastian Bach)

• Finale from Symphony No. 6 (Louis Vierne)

Credits

• Rev. Stephen Cherry, dean

• Daniel Hyde, director of music

• Rev. Mary Kells, chaplain

• Harrison Cole, assisting organist

* A new work has been commissioned for the Christmas Eve service every year since 1983, and this year Grayston Ives has set a poem by Peter Cairns, a choral scholar at King's in the 1960s — “Three Points of Light.” The composer says: “The Star in the East is well known as an integral part of the Christmas story. But the poem extends that idea of light: the shepherd's fire and the glow from the inn. It conjures a compelling picture of the birth of Jesus, viewed from an unusual angle. The music aims to reflect the atmosphere of that scene: the cold, the stillness, the drama and the joy.”

Giveaway

We're celebrating our annual Christmas Eve broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by giving away copies of the King's College Choir's celebratory album 100 Years of Nine Lessons & Carols. This two-part collection pays tribute to a century’s worth of the iconic service with a mix of new performances and historical recordings not heard since the original BBC broadcasts.

This set is available as a physical CD or as a digital download. Please be sure to indicate on the form which format you prefer in case you win — and please share your comments about this year’s broadcast. Winners will be chosen at random and will be contacted by email. All entries are due by 11:59 p.m. central Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024.

You must be 13 or older to submit any information to American Public Media/Minnesota Public Radio. The personally identifying information you provide will not be sold, shared or used for purposes other than to communicate with you about things like our programs, products and services. See Terms of Use and Privacy. This giveaway is subject to the Official Giveaway Rules.