Hastings Philharmonic Choir’s carol concert in 2019 at St Mary in the Castle.

Hastings Philharmonic Choir’s carol concert this Saturday

Old favourites as well as less familiar songs are included in Hastings Philharmonic Choir’s Christmas carol concert at Christ Church this Saturday, as press officer Gareth Simpson recounts. Photos by Peter Mould.

Hastings Philharmonic Choir will present their annual Carols For All concert on Saturday 16 December at the beautiful Victorian Christ Church in St Leonards, starting at 5pm.

With Marcio da Silva conducting, accompanied by the renowned Cromwell Brass ensemble and with Francis Rayner on piano, the choir will perform a range of carols, including A Babe is Born, The Boar’s Head Carol and I Wonder as I Wander, as well as leading the audience in some well-known favourites such as O Come All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem and God Rest Ye, among others.

So come along and get into the festive mood !

Carols evolved from midwinter songs, sung to keep up everyone’s spirits along with dancing and feasting. But by the 15^th century they were well established as Christmas carols.

From HPC’s Christmas Gala concert, December 2022.

Many of the carols sung today were made popular by the Victorians, including O Come All Ye Faithful, based on the Latin version Adeste Fideles, which was first translated into English in 1841.

And not all carols are British. Away in a Manger first appeared in the USA in the 1880s, though its origins are hazy.

The lyrics for Hark the Herald Angels Sing were originally written by Charles Wesley (1707–88), who, with his brother John, founded the Christian denomination of Methodism. However, the carol didn’t get the tune we know today until it was composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1840.

Carols for All Hastings Philharmonic Choir, Saturday 16 December, 5pm, at Christ Church, Silchester Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6GL. Adults £22/£17.50/£13. Under 18s, students, universal credit/JSA recipients £5/free.

Tickets are available from the HPC website,  by phone (01424 437554) or from The Bookkeeper, 1a Kings Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6EA (open Thurs–Sat, 10am-5pm).

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