Christmas with Vasari

Concert Details

What Sudden Blaze of Song

Christmas is upon us once again and the ever-popular Christmas with Vasari concert stands central to the season’s celebration for many of us. It is always such a joy to arrive at the beautiful St Paul’s church in Covent Garden, our Christmas home, to join friends and family in festive song.

The title of this year’s concert – “What sudden blaze of song” – is borrowed from the wonderfully atmospheric poem by John Keble, his The Christian Year, set by our very own Vasari tenor, Julian Washington – a beautiful carol written in 1991. Other new carols include Brian Moles’s joyous “A Babe is born” and the brilliant setting of “Tomorrow shall be my dancing day” by James Burton, written for St John’s College, Cambridge. All three carols “blaze” in their own way!

Old favourites include Sweelinck’s “Hodie Christus natus est”, Peter Cornelius’s beautiful version for baritone solo and choir of “The Three Kings”, David Willcocks’s “Ding dong merrily on high” and Malcolm Sargent’s “Hawaiian Lullaby”. And of course, no Vasari Christmas concert could be without some Rutter, and this year we return to his wonderful “Dormi Jesu”.

Lennox Berkeley’s “I sing of a maiden”, John Joubert’s “There is no rose” and one of the choir’s Patrons Gabriel Jackon’s heavenly “The Christ-Child” all lend simplicity and beauty to the programme.

As ever, there will be familiar audience carols to sing, this year to include “See amid the winter’s snow” and the majestic “Of the Father’s heart begotten”.

As we move through the concert, the mood lightens, as is our wont, and we finish with Ward Swingle’s gorgeous arrangement of Mel Tormé’s “Christmas Song” and Owain Park’s setting of “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”.