A Ceremony of Carols

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A Ceremony of Carols (op. 28) is a piece by Benjamin Britten scored for treble chorus, solo voices, and harp. It consists of eleven movements, the texts of which came from "The English Galaxy of Shorter Poems", by Gerald Bullett; the text is in Middle English.

A number of the texts were subsequently used by other composers, notably "Adam lay ybounden" or "Deo Gracias" by Boris Ord. The piece was written in 1942 while Britten was at sea, going from the United States to England. It was written at the same time as his Hymn to St. Cecilia and is stylistically very similar. Originally conceived as a series of unrelated songs, it was later unified into one piece with the framing processional and recessional.

[edit] Movements

1. "Procession"
2. "Wolcum Yole!"
3. "There is no Rose"
4a. "That yonge child"
4b. "Balulalow"
5. "As dew in Aprille"
6. "This little Babe"
7. "Interlude" (harp solo)
8. "In Freezing Winter Night"
9. "Spring Carol"
10. "Deo Gracias"
11. "Recession"