Christmas Carols at St Mary’s Church

Our annual Carol Service was both joyful and triumphant as boys and staff celebrated the Christmas message at St. Mary & All Saints Church, Beaconsfield.

The service began with Rhys L singing the 1st verse of ‘Once in Royal David’s City’ unaccompanied, followed by a procession of the Chamber Choir walking through the Church whilst singing the 2nd verse. As well as the traditional congregational carols with their impressive descants, arrangements of well-known Christmas classics, such as John Joubert’s ‘Torches’ sung in 2-part harmony by the whole school with our infamous Handbells, got everyone into the Christmas spirit. Other Christmas arrangements performed were John Rutter’s ‘Carol of the Children’ by the Chamber Choir, Benjamin Britten’s ‘This Little Babe’ by the Senior Choral Ensemble, J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie’s ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ by the Davenies Stingers, starring a saxophone solo by Nicholas N, ‘A Christmas Prelude’ by our Senior Handbells, Felix Bernard’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ by the Brass Band, and a wonderful performance by Edward E of ‘O Come Emmanuel’ in the cello ensemble. It was a real treat to have the Friends of Davenies sing ‘The Wexford Carol’ and John Rutter’s ‘Shepherd’s Pipe Carol’ with the Chamber Choir., not to mention the Staff Choir, who entertained with a beautiful rendition of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ by Martin and Blane.

The Carol Service, well-embedded into our celebratory calendar, is always a wonderful occasion for the Davenies community to herald the festive season, and this year’s was no exception.