Our festive ‘Services in Preparation for Christmas’, held over two days in the magnificent Chapel of St John’s College, once again heralded the start of the season with a range of carols, poems and readings all presented by the children. The carols and readings were interspersed with 5 congregational hymns. The Services provided a sense of calm from the busy nature of this time of the year and created up a contemplative mood to help prepare for Christmas. Due to current restrictions, Sixth Form parents were invited to attend in person and it was live streamed and recorded so that all could enjoy it from any location both at the time and after the event.
Before and after the services, organ music was played by Senior House pupils. Gabriel Gritten and Kevin Ke (both Year 6), Angus Crichton-Stuart (Year 7), Lorenzo Granado and Anna Tomkinson (both Year 8) performed repertoire by J S Bach, Francis Jackson, William Mathias and Felix Mendelssohn. Director of Music, Mr Simon Kirk, explained, “It is truly remarkable that these four young organists were able to put together such a programme and to perform it to such a high standard; it is a wonderful opportunity for them to be able to play the organ in chapel as part of such special services.”
The 12 choral carols offered a wide selection of music performed beautifully by over 140 children from a range of choirs including the choristers of the College Choir, Senior House Chamber Choir, Third and Fourth Forms' Choir, Junior Choir and Byron House Chamber Choir. Amongst the highlights were the final carol, Malcolm Archer’s arrangement of I Saw Three Ships, sung with great energy by all children in the choirs and John Gardner’s Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day, sung by the choristers.
The 11 readings, a range of poems and lessons, were delivered by the Sixth Form children. The readers excelled themselves and each one read beautifully to tell the Christmas story to the congregation. Many people remarked on the Services: “It was so lovely to watch the live stream of the Service today and it was a treat to actually see the children playing the organ - we don’t normally see that. I loved the music as always, so thank you for sharing!” and another commented, “Thank you for the wonderful music at this afternoon’s Christmas Service. When the choirs all sang together at the end I was quite emotional! There is nothing like singing to bring people together and I hope you and the children enjoyed the service as much as I did.”
The retiring collection was taken in aid of this year’s Parents’ Association Charity:
Castle School, Cambridge
The Castle School has 200 pupils up to the age of 19 with various additional needs. The school can meet basic staffing and building maintenance costs but has to fundraise for other aspects of provision. The school is currently fundraising for the redevelopment of the outdoor play/work area for Key Stage 1 and the setting up of a shop selling crafts made by the Castle School community, which will allow valuable work experience for the older pupils.
A copy of the Order of Service is available to download.