for SATB (with divisions) unaccompanied This night to us a child is born is a harmonically rich carol setting a late medieval English text centred on the phrase verbum caro factum est, taken from the Gospel of John. The piece opens with a solo soprano line and gradually expands as the choral counterpoint develops, culminating in the final verse performed with divisions. The solo line returns at the end of the carol, this time sung by a tenor.
Annabel McLauchlan Rooney read music at Christ's College, Cambridge, holding a university instrumental award on the cello. She continued her studies in Cambridge with an MPhil and a PhD on eighteenth-century opera. Rooney started composing seriously in 2011, predominantly writing choral music, and now combines this with performance and instrumental teaching. Her music has been performed by renowned ensembles, including the Choirs of the Chapel Royal, and Exeter and Ely Cathedrals, and broadcast on Radio 3. In 2019, the Choir of Christ's College, Cambridge released an album of Rooney's sacred choral music, As a seed bursts forth.
