We held over our Advent carol service till the second Sunday of Advent, in order not to clash with similar services at Bath Abbey and elsewhere. There was a piece (and composer) new to me: Come, thou long-expected Jesus by Daniel Gawthrop. I re-encountered A New Song by James MacMillan and now know why the vocal parts change abruptly in style from simple to florid and back again; it is an adaptation of an earlier piece (Advent Antiphon) for soloist and congregation. (This earlier piece is on the new Advent at Merton CD).
The previous evening some of us had been out singing carols at the Christmas market for an hour. We had something of a ‘graveyard slot’ – the last hour on Saturday before the market shut, when people are gradually drifting away. However we got some complimentary comments including someone who had thought we were a much larger group until he saw us!
The following weekend I went to the Christmas concert given by local choir Canzona. The largest piece on the programme was Poulenc’s four Christmas motets; of these, Videntes Stellam seems to get performed most, with O magnum mysterium also getting quite a few outings. The programme also included some arrangements by people associated with the choir, and, as is almost mandatory in a Christmas concert, a couple of carols for the congregation.