King's College Cambridge Once in Royal David's City

[noodleschocolate12gh]

He's GOT to be British because usually in British churches it's usually just boys that sing this stuff there are alumni boys in the back

[curiousGeorgeandp]

IS he British?

[curiousGeorgeandp]

he loooks soo nervous**no** he looks like he's going to pop. If I had to sing a solo in my kid's chior(Im in a kids chior) I'd be dead

[JPerry4125]

i wonder what happens when he hits puberty

[lotus49a]

My son is about to sing this solo in our (Anglo-Catholic) church in about an hour.

I'm rather nervous but he is excited about it. I hope he sings as well as the boy in this video.

Thanks for posting.

[SimplyDavid42]

@lotus49a good luck to him ! It's a wonderful carol.

[lotus49a]

@SimplyDavid42

Thank you, it went very well on the day.  It was all a bit nerve wracking for me as he had to stand completely on his own on the chancel steps facing the whole church but he sang beautifully and was congratulated by a lot of people so I was very chuffed.

[zidoa]

Who the hell would dislike this?!

[interest1908]

Such a pity with the bad soundquality!

[lucychinn149]

Thank you so much for posting this!!! I wanted to hear this carol today! It's so lovely.

[whitelordlordy]

i sang in this

[isaaccontractor]

what a wonderful ANGLICAN carol

[vipe1987]

i sang this at school, for 8 years -_- Just fun to see that i wasnt the only mad one who had to participate

[news672]

@vipe1987 Did you get to sing the solo at school?

[vipe1987]

@news672 No somebody else did it. I wouldn't have the courage to try that alone. I was part of the choir. :)

[w0103411]

@vipe1987 Do you mean "mad" in the sense of "crazy" or in the sense of "angry"?

[vipe1987]

@w0103411 crazy figuratively speaking :) But singing makes you relaxed whether you want it or not :) So it has something beneficial to it. Because I made the decision my self to come back and look this song up , apparantly this music calms me down . Something I could use now away from school ^^

[mahvachcheidani]

splendid though somehow doubt is there but such beauty by itself convinces or i'm mad.

[jabu285]

what a spine tingling first verse that was! well done the young lad

[MrSbunk]

who the hell has added the waa-waa effect?!

[MrSbunk]

@3NUNS Just because I have good taste of music, it gives you no right to swear at me! Loser!

[mahvachcheidani]

no matter one be christian or no this wonderful splendor cannot but touch deep in heart and this is called faith

[nightgrooveruk]

THANK YOU MERRY CHRISTMAS :) NAMASTE :)

[HenTheKing]

Savage!

[astroidstandards09]

They sing this on the move... so no wonder it is not perfect.... But I love it

[MandyJMaddison]

I am a person who enjoys contrasts! I enjoy the difference between this soloist's forthright and earnest approach, a little faster than desirable, because he is nervous, but exquisite none the less, and the very careful, delicate and equally exquisite approach of the boy who is recorded in the 2004 clip. The boy who is going to sing the solo is not given prior warning until they are about to go in., so they all have to have it practised up, in case they are chosen.

[sooouuuuper]

one of my favourite christmas carols but u never hear it what a beautiful voice

ty for posting this

[jw3901]

I miss kings, it was an awesome school to be at

[isthisthewaywego2]

@jw3901

It's not a school, its a college in Cambridge... I would have thought that if you'd have gone there you'd have known???

[LearnLanguages1]

@isthisthewaywego2 there is also a school called Kings in Cambridge

There are a few in England - i know there's also one in canterbury

[jw3901]

@isthisthewaywego2 Yeah, there is King's College Cambridge, where the older choirboys come from, and King's College School Cambridge, where I went to prep school, and where the younger choirboys come from...

I do know...

[supportedhousinggrad]

very tinny.

[thumbs70]

"And he raises children on- to the place where they belong."

[mixedupmuddledup]

beautiful as always...but doesnt the soloist remind u of a possible mini boris johnson..

[smokeywisk]

Very nice but the sound is pretty bad. Sounds like wow & flutter for those that can remember all the problems with audio tape

[RandomguyX5]

16 people missed the like button

[keblemilkbitch]

@RandomguyX5: 16 true Oxonians out there.  Myself included.

[parvezdewan]

Absolutely divine. As if there is an angel inside the voice of each of those children. We at Wolfson respected King's for its world-beating choir

[parvezdewan]

Absolutely divine. As if there is an angel inside the voice of each of those children. We at Wolfson respected King's for its world-beating choir

[AnnaCecilleMoorman]

I'd heard Cambridge was soggy. Lovely song, though. - Oxfan

[tcvicesquad]

That child looks like he's been possessed by satan himself. Awesome performance though!

[timothyj1966]

@tcvicesquad this service is wired "live" from England to the world each Christmas Eve... it starts with one solo boys voice no accompaniment ...as they process into the Chapel... they do not tell the boy solo who actually sings it until they get ready to enter the chapel... it is such a daunting task...

[brianclough]

When I was too young to attend midnight mass, this program was my 'own mass'. A really beautiful event, thanks for the vid.

[marcoaugustobravo]

espectaculari no mas...

[1807andy]

as a former chorister and RSCM member,

this boys voice is VERY special,especially

with the sound quality.

[coffeetime22]

Thanks for posting -- Moving, stirring!

[JasonKnight1000]

There is no pleasing some people ... Full marks to whoever posted this ! If someone thinks the quality is bad then go out and buy a DVD. AND ... don't use such language on a site where someone is trying to do their best ...

[Altatrinitabeata]

@JasonKnight1000 You want a good image and sound quality for this famous

choir ? Visit my channel please...:)

[3NUNS]

@JasonKnight1000 : The ethereal quality of this recording gives it such a realistic effect. If one listened to this by undersea cable - before the days of radio - then it would sound like this !

[DoubleDipperBrian]

@JasonKnight1000 Unfortunately, as much as I LOVE the Kings' College Choir, I do have to say that the audio quality of this video really is quite bad.  That's not to be mean nor critical; it's just an observation. And it's not the fault of the poster, I don't believe. The distortion is clearly a digital distortion most likely caused by a poor internet upload connection. The sampling level was clearly compromised.

[news672]

@JasonKnight1000 Thanks so much for your kind comments about the video. Sadly I accept the quality is poor. Back then my equipment was pretty shaky at best but I wanted to record the music. I actually have the whole service for 2007 but have debated releasing it given the quality problems. The spiritdei channel is where I've posted much higher quality work. Thanks again for your kind comments!

[readmychickenlips]

Great song - crap sound quality!

[Boggletheartist]

really good but sound a bit weird

[jls850807]

beautiful video but organ and the audio quality are terrible.

[foxxychick1978]

oh my god we do that song at school and we dont even do it that opery and the long notes not so high so overall it was kinda good or rubish i cant tell :p

[molestaz]

Good show boris j

[Guinizelli777]

Beautiful video, beautiful carol, poor sound (alas). But thank you for posting the video, though.

[nodlon20]

I've heard a better version of this! The sound is a little weird. Sounds like it's coming through a pipe!

[joeyboi87]

sound quality is appalling!!

[burrows1978]

Fantastic. God live David and anbout that may name him self from 1976.

[MandyJMaddison]

This is mentioned in passing much further down, but it's interesting so I'll post it again. The boy that sings this solo, which is the opening of the Carol Service, is not named until just before the choir enters. He had only a few minutes warning.

[lucylemonslol]

hes awesome lol :)

[Streaky1986]

I have The Spirit of Christmas (1996), look it up on Google, it has this song in Organ version.

[MrBolino]

this is of maine favorite h ymn to noel

[JenniferTaipei]

What a sound of grace and beauty, thank you for sharing!!

[theukelelegirl]

wow Joe

good voice (:

[jaycie13100]

I'm afraid the sound track on this is absolutely stuffed

[MelvinEU]

Thanks for the wonderful video. It is excellent audio and video. King College Boys Choir is well known in all over Europe and America. The Wiener Sangerknaen admitted that they are popular not just the name; it is REALISTIC.

I visited King College, Cambridge a few days ago. I did not have a chance to sit in the choir. But the King College Chapel reminds me of their music.

Thank you. Today is May 23, 2009.

[MandyJMaddison]

I don't understand this comment comment by Melvin about the audio. When I listened to it, the sound recording was terrible as if it was corrupted in some way.

[bradtaylor32]

Agreed, not sure what happened to the audio.

[empire07today]

wow i've never heard a pipe organ played like that what an excellent choir and great organist...God bless you all.

[zebigbos122]

Actually, I do not believe in a god, that serves as an excuse for many people not to think for themselves.

I must say the opening verses of this boy are really astounding! Fragile and robust at the same time, like he had a rough night. At the first vibrato-sung word, you recognize the true singer. What a talent! What a talent!

[christopherga1980]

if you dont believe that the Anglican/Episcopal Church is the ONLY true church then watch this oh and the fact that Saint Paul's Episcopal Church at ground zero was 100 % undamaged and it was at the FOOTSTOOL of tower one GOD BLESS THE ANGLICAN FAITH !!!!!

[smog718]

But the organ at Trinity Church on Wall Street was damaged and it hasn't been played to this day...

[choirboy526]

Yeah... you guys are heretics from the True Christian Faith (the Roman Catholic Church)

And you follow the Deviant King Henry VIII

[ds1868]

He wasn't deviant at all actually. He was a true defender of the Church, and was trained to enter the church and not be King, as he had an elder brother. Unfortunately, his first wife was unable to bear a son, and to avoid Civil War he needed to remarry to produce one. The fact that the corrupt Papacy would not grant a divorce led to the English church breaking away, but this was thevery last thing Henry wanted to do. He put his Kingdom first, above a corrupt Pope, and was quite right to do so.

[tranurse]

well, to be fair the pope had given him a dispensation to marry his brother's wife. and when she got older, lost several babies and only had a girl, he decided he was cursed. when he asked for the annulment, the pope said no, as he had given him permission to marry her in the first place. that and her nephew the holy roman emperor, sorta had a gun to the pope's head. so the misdeeds were on both sides, the pope and henry's. and i say that as an anglican.

[tranurse]

henry wasn't any more deviant than any other ruler at the time. he just needed a son, as the tudors were kinda hanging on by a thread. and really and truly, he pretty much stayed catholic in practice.

[choirboy526]

He stole Catholic traditions. And you admit he was a deviant.

Therefore, the founder of the Anglican religion was a deviant.

[ds1868]

Henry VIII was a Catholic to the day he died. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer came later. The King was not a deviant, neither is the Anglican faith. It simply rested on the fact that England insisted on independence from Rome, for political reasons. I think you are confusing the Anglican faith with Lutherism (which is a completely different issue). You really must read more historical texts choirboy526!

[tranurse]

thank you for saying it better than i did. i was trying to comment on the fact that in most cases, the protestant reformation was political. and that absolute monarchs, which the pope was at that time, did tend to abuse that power. you put it much more straight forwardly than i did.

[ds1868]

well I think you put it better than me tranurse! I think the struggle for power in renaissance Europe is a fascinating historical topic. The pope as you say was much more a temporal power even than a religious one; the King of England had tremendous temporal power but also had religious responsibilities even pre-1066 (the pope had for long given the King discretion to appoint Bishops). So the clash was coming sooner or later: the King Henry marriage problem was the catalyst! Fascinating stuff!

[tranurse]

well, martin luther started off protesting monetary offenses, such as indulgences. 'a coin in the coffer rings, so a soul from heaven springs.' like we were talking about earlier, the catholic church at that time was a political and monetary entity. more than anything, at first the protestant reformation was a movement against church abuses, not an effort to start new churches. it sort of got way out of hand.

[ds1868]

Yes the 'sale of indulgences' was Luther's most effective point. From any viewpoint the church was wrong in this respect, and of all the Lutheran arguments this was the most effective. Would love to have witnessed Luther's defence in person in front of Emperor Charles V at the Imperial Diet - the man had courage, no doubt about it!

[choirboy526]

Please show me a single piece of evidence that the church was "selling" indulgences?

As the church has explained, the person Luther revolted against was a priest very misinformed on the topic of indulgences.

In Geoffrey Chaucer's tale of the Pardoner, he describes the pardoner as a wicked and greedy trickster who connives ignorant medieval peasants into buying "forgiveness" of their sins, not a person sent from the church.

[tranurse]

they were selling indulgences to pay for st.peter's basilica.

[tranurse]

johan tetzel was sent by rome to germany to sell indulgences to rebuild st.peter's. pope leo x had his fingers in the pie. it wasn't until the council of trent about 50 years later, that the church banned indulgences involving money, led by pope clement.

[choirboy526]

I surrender for now. I have to look into it a bit more.

[tranurse]

like i said earlier, i'm not knocking the catholic church. just that at that point and time, the catholic church was political as m uch as religious. and martin luther et al, weren't starting new religions, at least in their minds at first, but protesting abuses by men, who weren't always being the rock, they were supposed to be.

[tranurse]

most of the popes at that time were deviants also. and so was the holy roman empire. they had too much money and power

[choirboy526]

very few popes were corrupt. And besides, the popes did not found the Catholic Church. Christ did.

And England did not have "too much" money and power?

[tranurse]

yeah they were. they are men after all. and absolute monarchs, which henry was, what the pope was at that time, they do have too much power. i'm not knocking the catholic church, in my opinion the church isn't some old guy in rome, or some old welsh guy in canterbury. it's the people in the pews, the old ladies teaching catechism classes etc. but the catholic church at that time was a HUGE political entity. and as such a lot of decisions made weren't bases on christ, but on greed etc.

[ds1868]

During the second half of the sixteenth century England was the most powerful country in Europe (with Habsburg Spain and Bourbon France tied for a close second). As I said before choirboy526, get reading and get a grasp of the basic historical facts. From there you may be able to formulate a rather better balanced opinion than the one you're banging on about at the moment.

[tranurse]

and to be fair, this fight had been brewing b/n england and the church since becket. and i love martin luther, i'm not lutheran, but the whole thing is fascinating. i mean, he was basically some constipated monk in some backwater town, who got the ball rolling so to speak.

[ds1868]

Absolutely agree tranurse. The son Henry desired was desperately needed to avoid another English Civil War (ironically that came later anyway under the Stuarts). The English did not want the extinction of the Tudors as this would result in war between the aristocratic families linked by blood to the crown, or worse the dreaded Scottish crown coming down south. Of course that happened anyway, resulting in the second English Civil War!

[3NUNS]

Good comment . Is everyone aware that Episcopal Ordination was taken from the British Isles through the Episcopal Church of Scotland because America was in rebellion -- at the time from England.

[christopherga1980]

ANGLICAN IS THE BEST GOD BLESS

[tranurse]

i'm anglican also, but i don't think the lord really cares what church door you enter, as long as you pick one, and they preach the right thiings. peace.

[RationalEmotive]

ahm, you make no FRIGGIN' sense, not 1%!!!

mate, you seem very delusional and Henry VIII and Queen worshiping. Please stick to flag waving on Whitsunday and leave us modern youtubers alone, free from your dreams of empire.

[VivaceSubito]

This is the service I would like to see a video of:

"A Festival of Lessons and Carols as sung on Christmas Eve" (argo/RG39)in King's College Chapel, Cambridge / The Choir of King's College/directed by Boris Ord / Hugh McLean, Organ / 1954/Rodney Williams(treble), Nigel Rogers(tenor), Michael West(treble), John Walker(bass)

I especially enjoyed the treble solo by Michael West. Where is he now & is he still singing? I would love to know.

[VivaceSubito]

Does anybody have a video clip from the 1954 first televised service of the King's College Choir? I used to have the Carols from King's DVD that had the 1954 service on it but I wore it out, & I would love to see the 1954 televised service again. If anyone can upload it onto YouTube I would appreciate it. I really enjoyed it.

[chorister51]

Beautiful.

[thenameaintjim]

oh woooow he has the voice of an angel!!! beautiful!

[VivaceSubito]

SparkyO8Electrified, watch your language. And he looks fine to me. He's nervous, that's all; who wouldn't be?

[VivaceSubito]

Breathing shallow, ouch. And singing in front of 10 billion people (some in the Chapel, some over the radio, some on TV...) That must be nerve-wracking. I would be nervous too. I play the organ in church sometimes, (it is my passionate hobby), but since my voice is frog-like I do not sing. But I can realize that singing a solo would be nervewracking no matter how angelic the singer. Who is this soloist? Well done, chorister! The King's College Choir is THE BEST.

[loupblanc26]

Le son est déformé dommage!

Merci News...

[sparky08electrified]

oh i agree crispy he looks fuckin hilarious

[VivaceSubito]

He doesn't look funny to me, Chrispy. What do you mean?

[gameoverdeadpriest]

shame the soloist is flat....

[LuminosaMundo]

How so? Could you give an example...Do you mean when he begins to go higher e.g. on 'Mary' and 'manger', if so I don't think you can really call that flat - it's not.

He's got a lovely, lilted voice, and he's very cute :)

[justinsimarddotcom]

He's just nervous, and breathing a bit shallow. But he sounds great.

[ArdanC]

23 years old and commenting at a far remove on a child singing solo, live on television (who only discovered he would perform the solo moments prior to beginning) how about you post a vidseo of you singing this with half the composure and none of the pressure you unnutterable twat.

[VivaceSubito]

I agree with you. I sympathise with the chorister. I hope he felt relieved when the rest of the choir joined in.

[ZOWi3x]

I'm singing this in the school choir but my music teacher has changed the tune. I can't remember it though. :(

[mottledbrain]

!!!?!! NO! Changed the tune? Oh dear.

[ROKpwincess]

lol our choir is did dat i got 2 do the solo

[Liberaisnumber1]

hey guys, did you know that if you reverse the song once in royal david city, the solo part, you can clearly hear Christ the Lord be with you its so awesome

[OrodesIII]

Regretably, the sound is quite poor because of deplorable fidelity.

[curzmg]

'deplorable fidelity,' what on earth are you talking about, surely only those with fidelity would sing a Christian carol song? xXx

[peggysueiloveyou]

Haha, I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding here. I am certain that Orodeslll is not referring to Christian fidelity or faithfulness, he is commenting upon the quality of the sound in the video. Here, the term 'fidelity' is used in reference to the video, as in how faithful the recording reproduces the original sound. You may have heard of the term 'Hi-Fi' which is actually an abbreviation of 'High Fidelity' when speaking of a stereo or a record, tape or cd. :-)

[peggysueiloveyou]

Oops! I meant to say 'how faithfully', rather than 'how faithful. I couldn't find an edit button, sorry.

[curzmg]

Oh of course well observed. I suppose the context of Christian sing song put my mind on a different road. Sorry Orodeslll typed too quickly without thinking. Thank you peggysueiloveyou. xXx

[ncguy27713]

Nothing weird about this Chrispy. Perhaps it's just you. It's the story of Jesus' birth.

[chrispy123321]

this is a weird sing but the boy in it looks funny

[TheSolidGloryisJesus]

It is hard to say, but, truly, I believe this is my favorite of all Christmas songs. The words are so exquisite and the music matching such! Great memories of childhood choral singing - blessings on you!

[moopandpoom]

wow, i didnt know that the bbc version on tv was not live, so its just the radio one that is?

[ArdanC]

So post a video.................no? thought not.

[edders05]

The congregation sit everwhere that the choir doesn't. The chapel is also the same length again on the other side of the organ screen, which is not shown on this video.

Remember also that this is not the same service as is broadcast on Radio 3, and is in fact recorded in early December.

[dewie91]

Noooo!!!!! this is the processional hymn so the congregation stand as the choir and ministers enter, then the whole congregation join in singing. i do this every year in My Chapel Choir.

[edders05]

I think you misunderstood what I was saying - I meant that the congregation are seated everywhere (not whenever!) the choir are not seated - ie they sit both in the chapel and in the ante-chapel (on the other side of the screen). This was in reply to AVARAN31, who asked 'where does the congregation sit?'. I too sing this several times every year in our choir. Obviously the congregation stand during the hymns, so are not sitting whenever teh choir are standing.

[AVARAN31]

hey, was that from th carol service of 2007? oh man.. thans a million for putting it on... it sounds so glorious.... was that a pipe organ, th entry was a little too loud... but still, it felt so good

and, i though it was a big chappel.... where does th congregation sit?