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New work commissioned for Service of Lessons and Carols

New work commissioned for Christmas Eve Service of Lessons and Carols

Sheffield Cathedral is delighted to have been able to commission Ben Parry to write a new carol for the Cathedral Choir. Christ’s Nativity, with a text by Henry Vaughan, will be given its first performance on Christmas Eve in Sheffield Cathedral at the popular Service of Lessons and Carols (19.00hrs).

Ben says of the piece: “I wanted to write something uplifting and joyful, but also musically descriptive – voices and organ reflecting the emotional contrasts in the lyrics. I have set two verses of a 5-verse poem by the 17th century Welsh metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan (much influenced by another great religious poet, George Herbert), which expresses the excitement of the birth of Christ in terms of nature (heart, sun, bird, stars, woods) and human exhilaration. Thus the voices express the emotions of the text – joy, imagination, remorse and, ultimately, worship of the new-born King, while the accompaniment is, in turn, fanfare-like, sparkling (including bird-song!), expansive and rhythmically highly-charged.”

Ben Parry has made over forty CD recordings and his music is published by Peters Edition and Faber Music. He works regularly with young musicians as a director of the Eton Choral Courses and as Director of Junior Academy at the Royal Academy of Music. Ben is co-Director of the professional choir London Voices, and worked with Sir Paul McCartney on his classic choral work, Ecce Cor Meum, as well as conducting and singing on the soundtracks of a number of major Hollywood films. He is presently writing an original musical with author and lyricist Garth Bardsley. He is also Music Director of the Britten-Pears Chamber Choir for Aldeburgh Music. As a singer he has worked with Taverner Consort, Gabrieli Consort and Tenebrae and was a singer and music director with The Swingle Singers. As a conductor he has worked with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Ensemble, Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, Vancouver Youth Symphony, Haddo House Opera, Cumbria Youth Orchestra, London Philharmonic Choir and Philharmonia Voices.

Sheffield Cathedral expects to welcome hundreds of worshippers over the Christmas period, including this Service of Lessons and Carols (19.00), the Midnight Eucharist on Christmas Eve (23.30), and the Cathedral Eucharist on Christmas Day (10.30). Full service details can be found here.