This booklet contains the words of fifty well-known carols and hymns which can be sung by congregation or audience. Most of these are for Christmas, with the addition of some Advent, Epiphany, and Easter items. Virtually all appear in 100 Carols for Choirs or earlier 'Carols for Choirs' volumes, though in some cases the choral arrangements in those books are not intended for congregational or audience participation. The texts accord with those in most hymnals and in the 'Carols for Choirs' series, though punctuation, capitalization, and spelling have been standardized according to present-day usage.
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 Visions are 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, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.
