An English Christmas (2025 Remaster) Choir of Merton College, Oxford & Benjamin Nicholas

• Bob Chilcott (b. 1955): A great and mighty wonder (2025 Remaster):
• 1 Chilcott: A great and mighty wonder (2025 Remaster) 03:14
• John Rutter (b. 1945): Shepherd’s Pipe Carol (2025 Remaster):
• 2 Rutter: Shepherd’s Pipe Carol (2025 Remaster) 02:49
• All bells in paradise (2025 Remaster):
• 3 Rutter: All bells in paradise (2025 Remaster) 04:59
• James MacMillan (b. 1959): Advent Antiphon (2025 Remaster):
• 4 MacMillan: Advent Antiphon (2025 Remaster) 05:40
• Judith Weir (b. 1954): Drop down, ye heavens, from above (2025 Remaster):
• 5 Weir: Drop down, ye heavens, from above (2025 Remaster) 01:47
• John Gardner (1926 - 2007): Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (2025 Remaster):
• 6 Gardner: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (2025 Remaster) 02:17
• Thomas Hewitt Jones (b. 1984): What child is this? (2025 Remaster):
• 7 Jones: What child is this? (2025 Remaster) 04:15
• Cecilia McDowall (b. 1951): O Oriens (2025 Remaster):
• 8 McDowall: O Oriens (2025 Remaster) 04:25
• Harold Darke (1888 - 1976): In the bleak mid-winter (2025 Remaster):
• 9 Darke: In the bleak mid-winter (2025 Remaster) 04:26
• Bob Chilcott: Jesus Christ the apple tree (2025 Remaster):
• 10 Chilcott: Jesus Christ the apple tree (2025 Remaster) 02:36
• Traditional: In dulci jubilo (Arr. for Choir by Robert Lucas de Pearsall) [2025 Remaster]:
• 11 Traditional: In dulci jubilo (Arr. for Choir by Robert Lucas de Pearsall) [2025 Remaster] 03:12
• John Rutter: Was I the lamb (2025 Remaster):
• 12 Rutter: Was I the lamb (2025 Remaster) 03:10
• Roxanna Panufnik (b. 1968): Sleep, Jesus, sleep (2025 Remaster):
• 13 Panufnik: Sleep, Jesus, sleep (2025 Remaster) 03:50
• Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934): In the Bleak Mid-winter (2025 Remaster):
• 14 Holst: In the Bleak Mid-winter (2025 Remaster) 04:58
• Herbert Howells (1892 - 1983): O Mortal Man (2025 Remaster):
• 15 Howells: O Mortal Man (2025 Remaster) 02:46
• Edmund Sears (1810 - 1876): It came upon the midnight clear (Arr. for Choir and Orchestra by Arthur Sullivan) [2025 Remaster]:
• 16 Sears: It came upon the midnight clear (Arr. for Choir and Orchestra by Arthur Sullivan) [2025 Remaster] 02:50
• Traditional: This is the truth sent from above (Arr. for Choir by Ralph Vaughan Williams) [2025 Remaster]:
• 17 Traditional: This is the truth sent from above (Arr. for Choir by Ralph Vaughan Williams) [2025 Remaster] 02:52
• Silent night (Arr. for Choir by John Rutter) [2025 Remaster]:
• 18 Traditional: Silent night (Arr. for Choir by John Rutter) [2025 Remaster] 03:18
• Kerensa Briggs (b. 1991): A Tender Shoot (2025 Remaster):
• 19 Briggs: A Tender Shoot (2025 Remaster) 02:14
• Gabriel Jackson (b. 1962): Toccata (2025 Remaster):
• 20 Jackson: Toccata (2025 Remaster) 01:18
• Total Runtime 01:06:56

Info for An English Christmas (2025 Remaster)

From the radiant simplicity of Bob Chilcott and John Rutter to the mystical intensity of Judith Weir and James MacMillan, the Choir of Merton College’s An English Christmas gathers a century of festive choral inspiration into one luminous album. Benjamin Nicholas conducts forces including the Oxford Philharmonic and Contemporary Sinfonia in music that glows with lyric warmth and orchestral colour. Alongside carols by Holst, Howells and Vaughan Williams are new works by Kerensa Briggs, Roxanna Panufnik and Cecilia McDowall — a celebration of both tradition and renewal, and of the uniquely English choral sound that has become Merton’s hallmark.

Christopher Watson, tenor
Eleanor Hicks, soprano
Oliver Kelham, tenor
Áine Smith, soprano
Choir of Merton College Oxford
Oxford Contemporary Sinfonia
Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra
Benjamin Nicholas, conductor

Digitally remastered

Benjamin Nicholas
is Reed Rubin Organist & Director of Music at Merton College, Oxford and Principal Conductor of The Oxford Bach Choir. As a conductor, he has appeared with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players, The BBC Singers and The Holst Singers in works such as Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony, Holst’s Savitri and Duruflé’s Requiem.

During Benjamin’s time at Merton, the annual Passiontide at Merton festival has been established, the Dobson Organ has been installed, and the College Girls’ Choir has been founded. He was elected a Bodley Fellow of Merton in 2018.

Benjamin Nicholas has been involved in the commissioning of a great many works, and conducted the premieres of Charlotte Bray’s Bach Re-imagined in Southwark Cathedral with the City of London Sinfonia, Howard Goodall’s Veni Sancte Spiritusin Westminster Abbey and numerous choral works by Kerry Andrew, Birtwistle, Chilcott, Dove, Jackson, Martin, Muhly, Tabakova, Weir and Wilby in Tewkesbury and Oxford.

Benjamin was a chorister at Norwich Cathedral before holding organ scholarships at Chichester Cathedral, Lincoln College, Oxford and St Paul’s Cathedral. After a period as Director of Music of St Luke’s Church, Chelsea, he was Director of Tewkesbury Abbey Schola Cantorum and Director of Choral Music at Dean Close School. From 2011-2016 he served the Edington Music Festival, firstly as conductor of the Schola and then as Festival Director.

The Choir of Merton College
consists of 30 undergraduate and graduate students at Oxford University reading for degrees in a variety of subjects. The choir's primary duty is singing at regular services in the famous 13th-century Chapel.

Since the establishment of Merton’s Choral Foundation in 2008, the choir has gained an international reputation for offering the best of choral music through tours, recordings and broadcasts. In 2020, the choir won the award for best choral album at the BBC Music Magazine Awards for its recording of Gabriel Jackson’s The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. The choir’s discography on the Delphian Label has seen numerous five star reviews and many recordings have been named ‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone magazine.

The choir has appeared at The Three Choirs Festival and the Cheltenham Music Festival, and recent London appearances include the concert series at St John’s Smith Square, Cadogan Hall and The Temple Church. The choir is regularly heard in concert with orchestra, and recent collaborations have seen the choir perform with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Elgar’s The Apostles), Instruments of Time and Truth (Bach’s St Matthew Passion) and Oxford Baroque (Bach’s Mass in B minor). The choir’s annual festival, Passiontide at Merton, has an established place in Oxford’s musical calendar, and has led to exciting collaborations with such groups as The Cardinall’s Musick and The Marian Consort.

Merton College Choir regularly tours overseas, and has recently visited the USA, Hong Kong and Singapore, France, Italy and Sweden. In 2017, the choir sang the first Anglican Service in St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The choir’s commitment to contemporary music has seen numerous composers write for the choir. In recent years the choir has premiered works by Kerry Andrew, Birtwistle, Chilcott, Dove, Ešenvalds, Kendall, MacMillan, McDowall, Rutter, Tabakova and Weir. In July 2021, the choir gave the world premiere of a new work by Daniel Kidane.

This album contains no booklet.