for SATB and organ or orchestra
This gentle yet uplifting carol was commissioned for the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, and was first performed during the 2012 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. Rutter's gift for melody is in evidence throughout the work, with a sense of hushed awe leading to moments of glorious optimism. The text, written by the composer, is inspired by the fifteenth-century Corpus Christi Carol.
John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem,Magnificat,Mass of the Children,The Gift of Life, and Visionsare performed around the world. John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series,and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs.In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador.John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music in 2007 was awarded a CBE for services to music.In September 2023, he received the Ivors Academy Fellowship, and in 2024 he was knighted in the Kings Birthday Honours.
