Resources
In this section there are many resources that you may find useful including book reviews and other websites.
If you come across anything that you feel would be useful to include in this section please let us know, using the contact us link above.
Some new CDs coming out now in time for festive season.
For many people Christmas only starts when Carols From Kings is on tv. Get your festive celebrations underway earlier with a new CD featuring 50 carols and choral music.
Enjoy Christmas at Kings at anytime
Christmas Eve. The presents are wrapped, the turkey is ready, the guests will soon arrive and the celebrations are about to get underway. But for many people, Christmas doesn’t start until Carols From King’s has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 or BBC2.
The service is hugely popular, retelling the events of the first Christmas through the nine lessons and carols. Some of these carols are old favourites, but every year there are new, lesser known carols all sung by the highly talented King’s College Choir in Cambridge.
It was formed back in the 15th century, and is known across the world as one of the finest exponents of the church music tradition and for its sound of Christmas. The carol service is so popular that, as well as its broadcast in the UK, it is also relayed across the world via the World Service.
Now, the choir has recorded a special two CD set, Christmas At King’s, to help you prepare for Christmas. It features 50 different carols including favourites such as O Come, All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem and O Come, O Come Emmanuel.
There are also more unusual carols, some dating back hundreds of years and now rarely sung in mainstream carol services, including Adam Lay Ybounden, A Tender Shoot and Up! Good Christen Folk And Listen.
Some are also in Latin, including Quem Pastores Laudavere and In Dulci Jubilo, stretching the vocal talents of the choir, some of whom are as young as nine.
It truly is a beautiful sound – and a stunning collection -
The collection ends, as tradition dictates, with an organ voluntary – in this case, In Dulci Jubilo. And, as anyone who regularly tunes in to the Christmas Eve broadcasts will testify, there is only one carol that be used to open proceedings: Once In Royal David’s City.
Christmas At Kings is released on December 1 by EMI TV
Katherine Jenkins has released a new album
showcasing her church choir roots
Sacred Arias is top of the pops
Welsh operatic star Katherine Jenkins recently achieved her fifth classical number
one album-
The album, called Sacred Arias, even made it to the top five of the ordinary album charts, making it more popular than Oasis, Keane and Sugababes.
Katherine found inspiration for Sacred Arias from the music of her childhood in the
valleys of South Wales. The result is a moving and heartfelt collection of pieces
ranging from her favourite hymn -
“This is definitely me going back to the beginning,” says the 28-
“These are some of the most beautiful pieces of music I know, and to sing them is an enormously emotional experience for me.”
The classical charting makes a 100 per cent perfect score for her, as all five of her classical studio albums have now reached the top spot.
This is Katherine’s sixth album with Universal Classics and Jazz, the company who signed her as an unknown in 2004.
Katherine is accustomed to breaking records as she has previously been the only artist
to hold the top four classical positions simultaneously, and also the fastest-
Sacred Arias is a joyful affirmation of her origins.
“I’ve never done a themed album before,” she says. “I’ve always tended to collect requests and other songs, but these ones came very naturally and easily to me.”
For more information, log on to Katherine’s website, www.katherinejenkins.co.uk
Sacred Arias has been released by Universal Classics and Jazz and is available now.
You might remember the talented cathedral chorister Andrew Johnson taking part in Britains Got Talent earlier this year. Now hes released his first album. From Chorister to Talented Briton
Earlier this year, a talented 13-
The teenager, Andrew Johnston, was one of the many entrants in Britain’s Got Talent, moving judges and audience with his unforgettable rendition of Fauré’s Pie Jesu. His voice is so impressive that he made it to the grand final of the talent contest, watched by 14 million people.
Although he didn’t win the contest, he came third, took part in the 23-
His debut album, One Voice, has just been released and includes Fauré’s beautiful
Pie Jesu. Other tracks include Eric Clapton’s ballad Tears in Heaven, which was written
in 1992 as a tribute to his son who lost his life in a tragic accident. It also includes
Walking in the Air, the unmistakable classic from the 1982 film The Snowman – a song
previously covered by Aled Jones who has proved an inspiration to Andrew and his
pursuit of singing as a full-
Andrew has won the hearts of millions with his angelic voice and his steely determination through difficult times. Now with the release of his debut album, the sky is the limit for Andrew and his incredible talent. With its intensity and purity of voice, this album will take your breath away.
It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago, at the auditions for Britain’s Got Talent, Andrew held a microphone and sung on stage for the first time. Now his debut album, with its variety of choral music and other influences, will delight his fans.
