Ceremony of Carols: Britten and Beyond

Pittsburgh Girls Choir is delighted to announce our return to live performance for a holiday concert with harpist Nuiko Wadden, featuring Benjamin Britten’s beloved “A Ceremony of Carols” (Op. 28). 

Beautifully suited to the warmth and purity of young women’s voices, Ceremony of Carols has become a signature work for Pittsburgh Girls Choir. This cycle of eleven pieces sets to music eleven early English and Latin poems, including Wolcum Yole (“Welcome, Yule”), There is no rose and Hodie Christus natus est. Composed by Britten in the dark days of 1942 as a work of hope and belief in a better future, it was originally written for SSA children’s choir: literally the voice of the future.  

Ceremony of Carols was first performed by the women’s voices of the Fleet Street Choir at Norwich Castle on 5 December 1942. Regularly performed around the world in the holiday season ever since, Pittsburgh Girls Choir are thrilled to continue this tradition and look forward to sharing it with our audience!