‘Everyone Wants to Hear’ This One Chord in a Christmas Carol

It comes after the 6th verse (featuring a descant, where the highest voices sing above the tune).

The 7th verse is all in unison, which makes the chord stand out more.

David Willcocks (whose arrangement this article discusses) used to conduct a big christmas concert every year at the Royal Albert Hall, sung a choir he conducted called the Bach Choir. For that concert he added a brass fanfare & accompaniment on top of everything else, which brings everything to another level. I went a few years in a row when I was a young boy, and it gave me some incredibly happy memories (including meeting Willcocks).

Here’s the whole seventh verse with brass, sung by that choir and conducted by Willcocks: https://youtu.be/YG2woiVsJrc?t=199.

The current conductor of that choir (David Hill) is quoted in the article.

It’s natural for Episcopalians to sing in harmony. We are too modest to be soloists, too worldly to sing in unison. When you’re singing in the key of C and you slide into the A7th and D7th chords, all two hundred of you, it’s an emotionally fulfilling moment. By our joining in harmony, we somehow promise that we will not forsake each other.

garrison keillor