The new Christmas album from Prima Facie presents us with an alternative look at the Carol, featuring music composed and arranged by Philip Spratley, performed by the Alteri Choir, their director David Jones and organist Ronald Frost.

This album contains carols for all seasons and includes some previously unpublished and unperformed material. There are carols which have been neglected, and others that simply languished in long forgotten library books. Four are from manuscript copies in the Lucy Broadwood collection courtesy of English Folk Dance and Song Society.

The word Carol usually means only one thing to most people, a Christmas song either sacred or secular. Many would call to mind ‘O come, all ye faithful’, ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Jingle Bells’ as familiar carols. But these are a far cry from the folk carol whose origins are obscure and whose rhythms owe much to the dance. It is important to stress that carols were sung for all seasons and just about all calendar occasions.

During Cromwell’s time as Lord Protector they received a body blow, and many survived by going underground. They just about surfaced during the Restoration but experienced further disfavour during the religious revivals of Wesley and others during the eighteenth century. During early Victorian times Davies, Gilbert and Sandys made attempts at revival, as did J. M. Neale, whose work was enduring and inspiring. Even by Neale’s time the carol had mostly contracted to Christmas time, one reason being that young people only received gifts for their singing during that season. Some carols were uprooted from other times of the year and forced into the festive season. A good example is ‘The Lamb of God’ (no.11) which was given a totally inappropriate ‘Happy New Year’ refrain.