Traditional Celebration at Carol Service
Thursday, 12 December 2019
The Junior Boys’ Carol Service in the Boys’ Division Great Hall was a delightful evening of readings, carols and choral performances to celebrate the spirit of Christmas.
The evening began, as always, with the singing of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’. The first verse solo was sung by Henry Hughes with the Upper School Choir joining in for the second verse and the audience adding their voices to finish the carol.
The Lower School Choir were the next to perform: they sang two pieces, ‘Away in a Manger’ and ‘Carol of the Children’. This was followed by ‘See Him Lying on a Bed of Straw’, sung with the audience, and ‘Donkey Carol’ from the Upper School Choir. ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ included a performance of the third verse from the Lower School Choir and the Chamber Choir sang ‘Puer Nobis’.
The whole school came together to sing ‘Twentieth Century Carol’ and a multi-lingual version of ‘Silent Night’ featuring Chinese, French and German, with the audience invited to join in with the later verses in English. The Upper School Choir performed ‘Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day’ before another whole school song: ‘The Holly and the Ivy’.
A selection of readings both Biblical and secular, including an excerpt from The Grinch, were scattered throughout the evening to provide pauses for thought and reflection on the meaning of Christmas.
Finally, the Chamber Choir sang ‘Panis Angelicus’ before Carol Service came to a close with ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ and a prayer led by Mrs Faulkner, Head of the Junior Boys’ School. A retiring collection was held to support the charity Save the Children.
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