Back to: The Twelve Days of Christmas Carols
One of the Christmas traditions celebrated by many persons in the English-speaking world is to tune in on Christmas Eve, either on radio or television, to the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, originating from King’s College, Cambridge. This tradition began in 1918, was first broadcast in 1928, and is now heard by millions around the world.
In 1919, Arthur Henry Mann, organist at King’s College (1876-1929), introduced an arrangement of “Once in Royal David’s City” as the processional hymn for the service. Erik Routley writes that the remarkable harmonization of the version played at King’s” turns the homely children’s hymn into a processional of immense spaciousness.”
In his version, the first stanza is sung unaccompanied by a boy chorister chosen at the event. The choir and then the congregation join in with the organ on succeeding stanzas. This has been the tradition ever since. It is a great honor to be the boy chosen (on the spot!) to sing the opening solo—a voice heard literally around the world. This is one of two hymns (the other is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”) that is kept constant year after year with the service.