From the Sleevenotes: Hail Thee, Festival Day!

Sleevenotes from the forthcoming album PFCD302, Hail Thee, Festival Day! Festive Sacred Choral Works with Brass, Organ and Harp by Andrew Downes

Hail Thee, Festival Day!

Festive Sacred Choral Works with Brass, Organ and Harp by Andrew Downes

The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge,
Shanna Hart organ,
Prime Brass,
Ely Cathedral Girl Choristers,
Oscar Beed harp
Sarah MacDonald conductor

Christmas Cantata Op. 4 (1974) (Selwyn, Prime Brass)
1) Fanfare: “Hail Thee, Festival Day!”
2) Carol: “Jesus was born in Bethlehem”
3) Lullaby
4) Office Hymn: “Ave, Maris Stella”
5) March: “Come, let us adore Him!”
6) Chorale: “Jesus Christ is born this night”
7) Finale: “Hail Thee, Festival Day!”

8) Veni Emmanuel Op. 18 (i) (1979) (Selwyn, Shanna Hart, Prime Brass)
9) Coventry Carol Op. 18 (ii) (1979) (Selwyn)

Ballads for Christmas Op. 49 (1992) (ECGC, Oscar Beed)
10) The Huron Carol
11) Pilgrims in Mexico
12) The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn
13) The Mother’s Song
14) Shepherds’ Carol
15) Christmas: 1924
16) The Holly Bough
17) New Year Bells

Runnymede Millennium Choral Evensong Service Op. 65 (1997) (Selwyn, Shanna Hart)
18) Magnificat
19) Nunc Dimittis

Anthems
20) O Praise the Lord Op. 51 (1993) (Selwyn, Shanna Hart)
21) O be Joyful in the Lord, all ye Lands Op. 102 (2012) (Selwyn, Shanna Hart)
22) The Mercies of Our Lord Op. 78b (2001) (Selwyn, Shanna Hart, Prime Brass)

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Christmas Cantata Op. 4 (1974)
Cantata in 7 short movements for SATB choir and originally chamber orchestra.
(This arrangement by Paula Downes for Brass Sextet)

Christmas Cantata was composed by Andrew Downes for and first performed by the Chamber Choir, Girls’ Choir and Chamber Orchestra of Thames Valley College, Twickenham, directed by Andrew himself, on December 18th 1974. After his time at Cambridge, Andrew went on to the Royal College of Music to study composition with Herbert Howells and singing with Gordon Clinton. He began teaching, to finance himself, and wrote this work for his pupils at Thames Valley Grammar School. (Although Andrew wrote a lot of music before and during Cambridge, he counted his opus numbers from his time with Herbert Howells). Audience and pupils alike loved it.

1. Fanfare: “Hail Thee, Festival Day!”
Words taken from the 14th century “York Processional” Plainsong hymn
Hail thee, festival day! Blest day that art hallowed for ever,
Day when the Church, Christ’s bride, is to the bridegroom espoused.
Hail Mary, Joseph, Child, who art the Son of the living God,
The God who sent Thee for to save all sinners on the earth.
Hail, Thou glorious King! Hail, Thou Son of righteousness! Hail Thee!

2. Carol: “Jesus was born in Bethlehem”
Words by Andrew Downes
Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Hosanna to God in the highest!
Three shepherds there came to worship Him. Hosanna to God in the highest!
God sent His Son to save us all. Hosanna to God in the highest!
The Angels sang praises to Christ in the stall. Hosanna to God in the highest!

3. Lullaby – Instrumental Interlude

4. Office Hymn: “Ave, Maris Stella”
Words from the 9th century Plainsong hymn.
Hail, star of the sea,
Blessed mother of God,
Ever a virgin,
Happy gate of heaven.
Loose the captive’s chains,
Bring light to the blind,
Drive away our ills,
Ask for all good things for us.

5. March: “Come, let us adore Him!”
Words by Andrew Downes

Come, let us adore Him, Christ, the new-born Saviour.
Let the world behold Him, worship, laud and honour!
May the people crowd before Him, shouting praises all around Him!
Come, let us adore Him, Christ, the new-born Saviour.

Sing, ye choirs of Angels, sing in exultation!
Celebrate His Glory, sing in every nation!
May the people bless His name, may the world resound His name!
Come let us adore Him, Christ, the new-born King!

6. Chorale: “Jesus Christ is born this night”
Words by Andrew Downes

Jesus Christ is born this night. Alleluia!
Up above the star shines bright. Alleluia!
Angels stand around the cradle, watching over Him.
Jesus Christ is born this night. Alleluia!

Heav’nly choirs for Jesus sing. Alleluia!
Praising God such joy to bring. Alleluia!
Shepherds by the manger, watching Mary, Joseph, Child.
Jesus Christ is born this night. Alleluia!

7. Finale: “Hail Thee, Festival Day!”
As above

Veni Emmanuel and Coventry Carol Op. 18 (i) and (ii) (1979)
Arrangements for SATB choir with Brass Sextet and organ, and unaccompanied SATB choir

In 1979 Andrew felt honoured to be asked by Roy Massey, organist and choirmaster at Hereford Cathedral, to arrange these 2 carols for the choir, and in the case of Veni Emmanuel, (O come, O come Emmanuel), also for organ and brass, for a Christmas concert in Hereford Cathedral on December 15th 1979. Robert Green was playing the organ, and Andrew’s father, Frank Downes, was directing the Birmingham School of Music Brass Ensemble. Andrew created some beautiful medieval sounding harmonies for the Coventry Carol and a stunning arrangement for Veni Emmanuel.

Andrew wrote in his Coventry Carol score: “N.B. The melody is taken from the rough facsimile of a 1591 manuscript published by Thomas Sharp in his Dissertation on the Pageants at Coventry (1825), which is the only surviving source of the carol. It is likely however, that the carol was in existence much earlier than this, and performed as part of the ‘Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors’ during the 15th Century. I have chosen, therefore, to harmonise the carol in a style which more befits this earlier period than does the 1591 version.”

Further performances of these works have been given by Birmingham Festival Choral Society, The Meridian Singers, The Clent Hills Singers and Hagley Community Orchestra.

Veni Emmanuel 12th century Latin Advent hymn.
English translation by John Mason Neale, 1851

O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel,
That into exile drear is gone,
far from the face of God’s dear Son.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou branch of Jesse!
draw the quarry from the lion’s claw,
from the dread caverns of the grave,
from nether hell thy people save.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come thou Dayspring bright!
Pour on our souls thy healing light.
Dispel the long night’s lingering gloom.
and pierce the shadows of the tomb.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, thou Lord of David’s key!
The royal door fling wide and free.
Safeguard for us the heaven-ward road,
and bar the way to Death’s abode.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, Adonai,
who in Thy glorious majesty,
from that high mountain clothed with awe,
gavest Thy folk the elder law.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.

Coventry Carol
Words by unknown author

Lully, lulla, Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Thou little tiny Child,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

O sisters too, how may we do,
For to preserve this day?
This poor Youngling for Whom we do sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Herod, the king, in his raging,
Charged he hath this day
His men of might, in his own sight,
All young children to slay.

That woe is me, poor Child for Thee!
And ever morn and day,
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.

Ballads for Christmas Op. 49 (1992)
8 Christmas poems from around the world set to music for high voices and harp/piano.

In 1992, Andrew was asked by Valerie Pither, music teacher at Hillcrest School (formerly Bartley Green School), to compose a work for her superb choir, to sing alongside Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols in a Christmas concert in Birmingham Cathedral. Andrew was thrilled to receive this commission, and chose to set different poetry from around the globe and from different historical ages. The poems which he chose reflected his new compositional philosophy, inspired by music from all over the planet. The music explores folk styles of a variety of different peoples, and thus we are made aware of Christmas through the ages and throughout the world. The carols begin with Huron hunter braves discovering the new born babe and seeing the kings giving gifts to the Infant King. Then there is a flashback tracing through the main story of the Nativity.

Afterwards we are asked to examine our conscience, and the final carol advocates good resolutions for the new year.

The commission for these Ballads for Christmas came from the Midland Chamber Players, who shortly after this made Andrew their Leading Patron. The Ballads were first performed on 17th December 1992 in Birmingham Cathedral by Hillcrest School Chamber Choir, directed by Valerie Pither, with Robert Johnston, harpist from the CBSO. The Birmingham Post reviewed the performance:

‘Ballads for Christmas is a highly effective work which, coupled with its directness and economy, should secure it a firm place in the Christmas youth choir repertory.’

Subsequent performances have included repeat performances by Hillcrest Choir; the Rilstone Singers in Christchurch Priory; Halesowen Girls’ Choir in churches across the Midlands; the Chapel Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London; the Millennium Scholars in Hampstead, London and Cambridge Massachussetts; and the Cantabrigians in Christ’s College Chapel, Cambridge.

Shepherds’ Carol has been performed as a standalone piece by South Hampstead High School for Girls, and was recorded by the Chapel Choir of Royal Holloway, University of London, for their CD entitled ‘Whom do you seek, Shepherds?’ in 1995.

1) The Huron Carol – Traditional French Canadian, 1642, translated by J. Edgar Middleton, 1926

‘Twas in the moon of winter-time,
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
Jesus your King is born.

Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapped his beauty round:
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel-song rang loud and high.
Jesus your King is born.

The earliest moon of winter-time is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory on
The helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver-pelt.
Jesus your King is born.

O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before this radiant Boy,
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
Jesus your King is born.

2) Pilgrims in Mexico – Traditional Mexican

“Who knocks at my door, so late in the night?”
“We are pilgrims, without shelter, and we want only a place to rest.”
“Go somewhere else and disturb me not again.”
“But the night is very cold. We have come from afar, and we are very tired.”
“But who are you? I know you not.”
“I am Joseph of Nazareth, a carpenter, and with me is Mary, my wife, who will be the mother of the Son of God.”
“Then come into my humble home, and welcome!
And may the Lord give shelter to my soul when I leave this world!”

3) The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn – Samuel Coleridge, 1817

Sleep, sweet babe! my cares beguiling:
Mother sits beside thee smiling;
Sleep, my darling, tenderly!
If thou sleep not, mother mourneth,
Singing as her wheel she turneth:
Come soft slumber, balmily!

4) The Mother’s Song – Inuit, translated by Peter Freuchen, 1961

It is so still in the house.
There is a calm in the house;
The snowstorm wails out there,
And the dogs are rolled up with snouts under the tail.
My little boy is sleeping on the ledge,
On his back he lies, breathing through his open mouth.
His little stomach is bulging round –
Is it strange if I start to cry with joy?

5) Shepherds’ Carol – William Morris (1834-1896)

Going o’er the hills, through the milk-white snow,
Heard I ewes bleat while the wind did blow:
Nowell! Nowell! Nowell! Nowell sing we clear!
Holpen are all folk on earth. Born God’s Son so dear.

Shepherds many an one sat among the sheep,
No man spake more word than they had been asleep:
Nowell! etc.

“Shepherds should of right leap and dance and sing,
Thus to see you sit, is a right strange thing”:
Nowell! etc.

Quoth these fellows then,
“To Bethlem town we go,
To see a mighty Lord lie in a manger low”:
Nowell! etc.

Then to Bethlem town we went two and two,
And in a sorry place heard the oxen low:
Nowell! etc.

Therein did we see a sweet and godly may
And a fair old man, upon the straw she lay:
Nowell! etc.

And a little child on her arm had she,
“Wot ye who this is?” said the hinds to me:
Nowell! etc.

This is Christ the Lord, Masters, be ye glad!
Christmas is come in, and no folk should be sad:
Nowell! etc.

6) Christmas: 1924 – Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

“Peace upon earth!” was said. We sing it,
And pay a million priests to bring it.
After two thousand years of mass
We’ve got as far as poison-gas.

7) The Holly Bough – Charles Mackay (1814-1889)

Ye who have scorn’d each other,
Or injured friend or brother,
In this fast-fading year;
Ye who, by word or deed,
Have made a kind heart bleed,
Come gather here.

Let sinn’d-against and sinning
Forget their strife’s beginning,
And join in friendship now;
Be links no longer broken;
Be sweet forgiveness spoken
Under the holly bough.

Ye who have loved each other,
Sister and friend and brother,
In this fast fading year;
Mother and sire and child,
Young man and maiden mild,
Come gather here;

And let your hearts grow fonder,
As memory shall ponder
Each past unbroken vow.
Old love and younger wooing
Are sweet in the renewing
Under the holly bough.

8) New Year Bells – Alfred Tennyson, 1850

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light:
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more:
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be.

Runnymede Millennium Choral Evensong Service Op. 65 (1997)
Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis for SATB and Organ

Andrew’s exquisite Runnymede Service was commissioned by the Runnymede Church Choirs Association with substantial help from St Mary’s Trust, Thorpe, for the Association’s 50th anniversary in 2000. The full service was first performed at Evensong for the Festival of St Cecilia in the Chapel of Royal Holloway, University of London, by the Chapel Choir, conducted by Lionel Pike, on 29th November 2000. Cynthia Downes had sung in the choir under Lionel Pike as an undergraduate, so it was very special for her. The choir subsequently performed the canticles in Exeter Cathedral, St Jude’s Church, Egham, and in Royal Holloway Chapel. They went on to record the whole service in 2001 for a CD entitled The Lord is my Shepherd in the wonderful acoustics of Arundel Cathedral in 2001.

In November 2009 the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, directed by Sarah MacDonald, performed the Canticles in their Evensong Service. Selwyn Chapel Choir gave further performances of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in November 2010, February 2013, February 2014, October 2014, April 2016, May 2017 and February 2025, all directed by Sarah MacDonald, and a performance directed by Christopher Robinson in Selwyn College Chapel (November 2011). Selwyn Chapel Choir visited Lincoln Cathedral in October 2010 and Ely Cathedral in 2023 and performed the Canticles in both Cathedrals under Sarah MacDonald.

On January 2nd 2023, Andrew tragically died. The day before his funeral, Sarah MacDonald directed Selwyn College Chapel Choir in performances of the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis in his memory.

On Wednesday 16th July 2025, the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge, directed by Sarah MacDonald, performed the Canticles as part of their Evensong service broadcast live from the Chapel of Selwyn College on BBC Radio 3. The recording of the service was broadcast again on Radio 3 on the following Sunday.

The Canticles have also been sung by the Choir of the American Cathedral in Paris, with Andrew Dewar, organ, directed by George Nicholls, and in Bristol Cathedral by The New Birmingham Scholars, directed by Christopher Allsop.

Magnificat
Luke 1:46-55

My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For he hath regarded the lowliness of his hand-maiden.
For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me, and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him throughout all generations.
He hath shewed strength with his arm, He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, as He promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed, for ever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Nunc Dimittis
Luke 2:29-32

Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word.
For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O Praise The Lord Op. 51 (1993)
Setting of Psalm 150 for SATB choir and organ.

Andrew was immensely excited to be commissioned to compose this Anthem, for performance by the Choir of Birmingham Cathedral, directed by Marcus Huxley, to celebrate the Restoration of the Cathedral in 1993. I suggested he write a setting of the well-known Psalm 150, O Praise The Lord, and he created another stunning work. The commission came from the Provost of St Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham, the Very Reverend Peter Berry, with financial assistance from the Bank of Ireland, whose Birmingham Branch was situated in St Philip’s House.

The first performance took place in a special service, attended by the Bishop of Durham, on 17th September 1993. The Birmingham Festival Choral Society, under the direction of Anthony Bradbury, performed the work in Malvern Priory in a concert entitled ‘A British Celebration’ on 25th June 2005.

O praise the Lord.

O praise God in his holy place,
praise him in the vault of heav’n, the vault of his power;
praise him for his mighty works,
praise him for his immeasurable greatness.
Praise him with fanfares on the trumpet,
praise him upon the lute and harp;
praise him with tambourines and dancing,
praise him with flute and strings;
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with triumphant cymbals;
let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!

O praise the Lord.

O Be Joyful In the Lord, all ye Lands Op. 102 (2012)
Setting of the ‘Jubilate’, Psalm 100, for soprano solo, SATB choir and organ.

This work also came about via one of Andrew’s former students, Graham Williams, who was the Musical Director of the Callington Singers of Cornwall. Graham asked Andrew to compose a work to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the Choir. The first performance took place at Menheniot Parish Church on 26th October 2013, with our daughter Paula as soloist, and Simon Brett organist, conducted by Graham Williams. Graham went on to conduct further performances with the Callington Singers in Exeter Cathedral, Truro Cathedral, and at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, as well as joint performances with choirs in France and Germany.

O be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands:
Serve the Lord with gladness,
and come before His presence with a song.

Be ye sure that the Lord, He is God:
it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves;
we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.

O go your way into His gates with thanksgiving,
and into His courts with praise:
be thankful unto Him, and speak good of His Name.

For the Lord is gracious, His mercy is everlasting:
and His truth endureth from generation to generation.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son:
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.

The Mercies Of Our Lord Op. 78b (2001)
Anthem for SATB choir, 2 trumpets (optional) and organ. Setting of poem by Moira Weir.

This work was specially commissioned by Princethorpe College for a special Mass to celebrate the Centenary of the College Chapel, designed by Paul Pugin. The first performance took place in the Centenary Mass on 8th May 2001, sung by the Chapel Choir, with trumpeters and organist from the college, directed by Sue Francis. Sue’s son had studied composition at Birmingham Conservatoire with Andrew, and Sue was very taken with Andrew’s music. She had asked him initially to compose a mass setting, but eventually suggested he set a special poem by Moira Weir.

In the muscles of the mountains,
As the streams are forced through earth,
May we find regeneration in the cycles of new birth.
May the swelling seas remind us,
Faith is endlessly restored,
As we lay our many burdens at the feet of our dear Lord.

In the silence of the spirit
And the dark night of the soul,
When the heart can find no comfort
As the winds of night blow cold,
May the brimming skies remind us of renewal in our tears
As the soft warm light of morning brings redemption from our fears.

In the wretched arms of suffering,
In the lost, the weak, the frail
May we learn deep compassion
Of a love that cannot fail.
May we hear the tender cadence of the song redemption sings
In the sweet, the still, sad music hear the promise our Lord brings.

In the wisdom of the ages
Echoing in song and prayer,
Touch our souls with benediction
Through the graces that we share.
In those lovely swelling rhythms
Bless us with the word restored
And confirm our true conviction
In the mercies of our Lord.

© 2000 (text) Moira Weir

BIOGRAPHIES

COMPOSER ANDREW DOWNES was born in Handsworth, Birmingham, in 1950, into a well-known Midlands family of musicians. He won a choral scholarship to St John’s College, Cambridge, where he specialised in composition, and in 1974 went on to study at the Royal College of Music with Herbert Howells, who wrote of him as ‘one of the most effective composers coming to me these days. I have very considerable hopes for him’. His emergence as a leading international composer was combined with a strong academic profile as an innovative and inspired educator: he created and was Head of the School of Composition and Creative Studies at the Birmingham School of Music (now Royal Birmingham Conservatoire) for 30 years, and following his retirement, devoted himself solely to composition. His output included an opera, six symphonies, numerous concerti and chamber works, song cycles, piano music and a large body of choral and sacred music. Downes’s music has been performed in many leading concert halls, cathedrals and festivals worldwide, and has been broadcast on BBC Radios 2, 3 and 4, BBC TV, Czech Radio, France Musique, Italian TV, Austrian Radio, Dutch Radio and Central Peking Radio. Over 30 CDs of his music have been issued on a range of labels, plus a DVD of his opera Far from the Madding Crowd. His numerous commissions included The Marshes of Glynn, for the Royal Opening of Birmingham’s Adrian Boult Hall in 1986; the Overture In the Cotswolds for the opening concert of the Three Choirs Festival; song cycles for Sarah Walker and John Mitchinson, both premièred on BBC Radio 3; anthems for the BBC Radio 4 Daily Service; and the overture Towards a New Age, premièred by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Birmingham. Downes’s Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra was commissioned for and premièred by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in the Dvorak Hall, Prague, in 2002, and recorded by Czech Radio the following year. His Sonata for Violin, Horn and Piano was premièred by the Brahms Trio Prague at the Suk Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, in 2008, and subsequently released internationally on the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Artesmon label. Downes’s Piano and Horn Concertos were premièred at Birmingham UK Town Hall in 2009 and 2012 respectively. Downes’s lyrical gift, with the inflections of the human voice ever discernible, places him squarely in the Late Romantic English tradition and renders him a worthy successor to Howells. So too does his contrapuntal ingenuity and textural athleticism, with the church music of the great Tudor masters frequently recalled. But the indigenous musics of other cultures, and jazz and rock music, are also treasured influences and reflect the depth of responsibility Downes felt as an educator to instruct and enthuse in a broad range of traditions, and not purely in western art music. The Violin Sonatas, for instance, are influenced by Indian ragas and incorporate striking rhythmic displacements and syncopations to brilliant effect. Downes died on 2 January 2023, leaving a legacy of over 120 works. A prolific composer, he wrote every day until the last week of his life.
Biography by Duncan Honeybourne

THE CHAPEL CHOIR OF SELWYN COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE has led worship in the College Chapel since its foundation in the last decade of the nineteenth century. For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, the all-male choir of undergraduates was directed by the Organ Scholars, and sang daily Choral Evensong. For occasional larger works, the men borrowed sopranos and altos from Newnham College, the women’s College across the road from Selwyn. The mixed choir, formed in 1976 with the admission of women to Selwyn, now consists of up to twenty-eight singers, Choral Scholars (called Choral Exhibitioners) and volunteers, and the choir’s link with Newnham continues to the present day. Most of the choir members are undergraduates or graduates at Selwyn or Newnham, with a few volunteers from other colleges, and they read a variety of subjects including Music, English, Natural Sciences, and Engineering. During term, the choir sings three services per week in the College Chapel, as well as concerts and services throughout the UK, recently in venues including Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s Cathedral, and St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh. Their repertoire ranges from the 10th to the 21st century. They regularly broadcast services for BBC Radios 3 and 4, and every year undertake an international tour. In their long-standing association with the John Armitage Memorial Trust, Selwyn Choir has premiered major new works by some of the UK’s foremost composers, including Jonathan Dove, John McCabe, Gabriel Jackson, Paul Patterson, Judith Bingham, Thea Musgrave, Paul Mealor, and Adam Gorb. The choir has made over 35 commercial recordings under Sarah MacDonald’s direction. They have made something of a niche for themselves recording an important series of single-living-composer discs with Regent Records, and have released several, including discs of works by Paul Spicer, Paul Edwards, Gary Higginson, Alan Bullard, and Phillip Cooke, John Hosking, Mark Gotham, Benjamin Ponniah, Iain Quinn, Paul Ayres, Richard Peat, and Joanna Gill.

SOPRANO	TENOR
Kit Attwater*	Alex Brow
Elsa Chung	Frankie Deehan
Caroline Fisher	Tristan Harding
Samantha Gaspe	George Nicholson
Jessica Macfarlane†	Massimo Mitchell
Louise O’Hanlon#	Will Rowse
Iris Threlfall	Richard Wolfson
Ava Tiller	BASS
Isobel Wood	Oscar Beed
ALTO	Jonathan Chan
Martha Adderley	Magnus Chapman
Harriet Allen-Ellis	William Forrest
Amy Bolster	Ryan Hayes
Zara Bhayani	Chin Aik Oh
Sarah Garcia	Jao-Yong Tsai
Victoria McMullen	Charlie Watts
Louisa Paterson
Ellie Tang

* soloist in O Be Joyful In the Lord, all ye Lands
† soloist in The Mercies of Our Lord
# soloist in Coventry Carol

SARAH MACDONALD, CONDUCTOR, is a Canadian-born conductor, organist, pianist, and composer, living in the UK, and she holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Director of Ely Cathedral’s Girl Choristers. She has been at Selwyn since 1999, and was the first woman to hold such a post in an Oxbridge Chapel. Sarah came to the UK from Canada in 1992 as Organ Scholar of Robinson College, Cambridge after studying piano, organ, and conducting at The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto with Leon Fleisher, Marek Jablonski, and John Tuttle. At Cambridge she read for a degree in Music, and studied the organ with David Sanger. Sarah has played numerous recitals and conducted choirs throughout the UK, North America, the Middle East, New Zealand, and much of mainland Europe. She has made over 35 recordings, variously in the guises of pianist, organist, conductor, and producer, and currently works most frequently with Regent Records. Her first solo disc, a recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations on the Steinway-D in Ely Cathedral was released in 2024. Sarah is a Fellow and examiner for the Royal College of Organists, and an examiner and teacher for the University of Cambridge’s Faculty of Music. She is a regular director for Rodolfus Foundation choral courses, and her liturgical music (over 60 published titles) is performed regularly around the world. She is series editor of the ‘The Sarah MacDonald Choral Series’ with Selah Publishing in Pittsburgh. Sarah also writes a popular monthly column for the American Guild of Organists’ magazine The American Organist, called ‘UK Report’. A compiled volume of 12 years’ worth of her essays was published in 2022. Sarah is a Patron of the Society of Women Organists and an Honorary Patron of the Herbert Howells Society. She was recently appointed University Organist at Cambridge, and is the first woman to hold that prestigious ceremonial role, which dates back to 1670. From July 2024-2026, she held the office of President of the Royal College of Organists. In her spare time Sarah is a keen amateur photographer.

SHANNA HART, ORGANIST, is Director of Music at St Botolph without Aldgate, London and Assistant Organist at Selwyn College, Cambridge. As an undergraduate, she was an organ scholar at Selwyn, reading Music and History and Philosophy of Science, and has since also held posts at Robinson, St John’s (for SJV), and Homerton colleges. She regularly gives recitals, including recently for Blackburn Cathedral, St German’s, Cardiff and Eye Parish Church, and was a semi-finalist in the IAO-RCO Organ Playing Competition 2022. She also often plays for services in London and Cambridge, including regularly for the East London Evensong Choir, which she combines with teaching; supervising Fugue, Counterpoint and Practical Skills for Cambridge University, as well as teaching piano, organ and flute privately. Shanna also works full-time at the Royal Society of Chemistry, supporting their digital publishing systems. In her spare time, she enjoys astro- and wildlife photography and birdwatching.

PRIME BRASS
Trumpets: Darren Ashman, Gavin Bowyer
French horn: Nicola New
Trombones: Neil George, Gary Davison
Tuba: Paul Farr
Snare drum: David Ellis

Cambridge-based brass ensemble Prime Brass was formed in 1989 by trumpeter Paul Garner as a quintet, and since 2002 the ensemble has developed into a conductor-less dectet, the formation in which it currently gives most of its concerts. This ten-piece line-up of four trumpets, four trombones, horn and tuba was made famous by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and continued by their successors London Brass. The ensemble also expands for a few concerts each year to perform repertoire for symphonic forces or larger, playing regularly in Ely Cathedral and King’s College Chapel, often in programmes which include the organ. In addition to recitals of its own and with organ, Prime Brass frequently performs with voices, and has worked with many of the leading choirs in Cambridge. The ensemble has been on tour to Paris with Cambridge University’s CUMS Chorus, and has also accompanied the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus on tours to Prague (Rudolfinum) and Amsterdam (Concertgebouw). Prime Brass is well known for its performances at the lighter end of the musical spectrum, and the ensemble has achieved notable success in family concerts with titles such as ‘Prime Brass at the Circus’, ‘Prime Brass in Space’, and ‘Around the World with Prime Brass’. The ensemble has recorded five CDs, the latest being ‘Spirit of the Age’. Prime Brass also supports Junior Prime Brass, an (PAGE 21) ensemble of talented local teenage brass players.

ELY CATHEDRAL GIRLS CHOIR (ECGC) There has been a Cathedral Choir at Ely for over 1000 years, and the tradition of daily choral music remains at the heart of the Cathedral’s work and witness. Today the Cathedral Choir consists of boy and girl choristers and adult professional singers, who sing at the majority of the daily services. As well as its work in Ely, the Cathedral Choir regularly undertakes international tours, professional CD and video recordings, BBC radio and television broadcasts, and high-profile concerts.

Although the Cathedral Choir has had boy choristers for many centuries, girls were only added to the foundation in 2006. They began as a separate girls’ choir consisting of choristers in the senior division of the King’s School, Ely. They sang primarily on their own, joining with the lay clerks once or twice a month. They also made a number of recordings of works for upper voices, and toured various European destinations and the UK, singing in Notre Dame de Paris, Westminster Abbey, and St Paul’s Cathedral. Over the 20 years since girls were introduced, their duties and responsibilities have increased, and a gradual move to full parity with the boy choristers was announced in 2021. There is now provision for 24 girls and 24 boys, in school years 3 to 8 (ages 8 to 13). All choristers are educated in the Prep division of King’s Ely, and receive a generous fee remission as well as free individual lessons in singing and music theory. Between them, the two sets of choristers sing an equal number of the eight choral services each week, generally singing separately, although they join together about once a month for important feasts including Christmas and Easter.

As well as the current Prep School choristers, this recording features the remaining girls in the senior school, as well as a handful of alumnae, two of whom were members of the girls’ choir in the final years of its original manifestation. Track 12 is performed by current ECGC members only. Tracks 15 and 16 are performed by current senior school ECGC and Alumnae only.

** 1st treble soloist in Shepherds’ Carol
* soloist in Shepherds’ Carol
†† 1st treble soloist in New Year Bells
† soloist in New Year Bells

OSCAR BEED, HARPIST, read Music at the University of Cambridge. He has been studying the harp with Charlotte Seale since the age of six.

In 2023, Oscar was presented the Barbican Chimes Music Award by the director of Junior Guildhall School of Music & Drama. He gave a series of concerto performances in his final year of school, at Drapers’ Hall, Charlton House, and Milton Court Concert Hall. Oscar holds prizes at various music festivals, including the Rosemary Brown Cup and Kent Premier Award for Music. He also enjoys orchestral playing and by fourteen had held principal positions with Junior Guildhall Symphony Orchestra and the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. More recently, he was Principal Harpist of Cambridge University Orchestra. Alongside his principal study, Oscar sang in the of Choir Selwyn College, Cambridge and, in 2025, was awarded first prize in the Homerton College Composing Competition.

Credits

Recorded in Ely Cathedral, 30 Sep-1 October 2025, 13 March 2026
Producer – George Richford
Engineer – Myles Eastwood
Programme Notes – Cynthia Downes
Front Cover Photo of Ely Cathedral – Sarah MacDonald

The Mother’s Song is from Peter Freuchen’s THE BOOK OF THE ESKIMOS. Recorded with the permission of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. as agents for Navarana Freuchen ©1961 by Peter Freuchen, renewed 1989 by Dagmar Gale.