It’s Almost Christmas

In the late 1970s Minnesota Public Radio began relaying the BBC Christmas Eve broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College Chapel in Cambridge. I have loved this beautiful service since the first time I heard it almost 30 years ago.

This year’s Christmas Eve service will be broadcast from Cambridge, England at 3PM GMT but listeners here in Minnesota will have to tune in at 9AM to hear the live broadcast on MPR’s classical stations. It is a wonderful way to begin Christmas Eve. The traditional music and scripture readings focus on the real meaning of Christmas and bring a bit of quiet meditation into a our somewhat frazzled lives. The program will be rebroadcast on MPR at 5PM Christmas Day. The BBC World Service and public radio stations around the world will broadcast the service a number of times, so check your local or online schedules.

A little bit about the service will help you understand why it is so popular and beloved by people around the world.

A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols is an Anglican service that commemorates and celebrates the birth of Jesus. The liturgy is aptly titled because throughout the service there will be nine readings from the Bible mixed with hymns and carols. Although there are similar services elsewhere, the King’s College one is the best known primarily because the world-class choir and the fact that it is broadcast by the BBC.

In 1918 Dean of the College, Eric Milner-White, brought the innovative worship service of readings and song to Cambridge. In 1928 the BBC began to broadcast it via shortwave to the rest of the world. The service itself is intended for the city and university community of Cambridge.

Each year since 1983 a special carol has been commissioned for the service.

“This year the commission has gone to the British composer Dominic Muldowney. Muldowney has written extensively for film and television, including scores for 1984 (1984), Sharpe’s Eagle (1993) and King Lear (1997). He has also written concert pieces, including a piano concerto and a saxophone concerto, and he has worked with pop musicians such as Sting and David Bowie. For this year’s carol Muldowney has used an early text by Berthold Brecht about the Virgin Mary.”

Source: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

If you are unable to listen to the service on radio, you can get a recording of an earlier service from your local library or music shop. Once you hear the service you may want to make it a part of future Christmas celebrations.

From Amazon: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols