After the Christmas Oratorio at the beginning of December I didn’t have any more Christmas concerts, but I had more carol services than usual: Advent, a special one on behalf of the local hospital, and the church Christmas one (which I’ve missed singing in the last few years). We stuck to familiar (to us) pieces for Advent and I am gradually working my way through the O antiphons: this time it was O Rex gentium. The Christmas carol service included two pieces (and composers) new to me: Ian Assersohn’s mediæval-inspired Make we joy now in this fest and Samuel Pegg’s The wise men (a setting of G K Chesterton) as well as a setting of In the Bleak Midwinter by a member of the choir.
In the middle of this we had a wedding of a choir member; I have sung at few such occasions since I was a student. The choice of hymns and anthems appropriately exploited the nuptial imagery associated with Advent.