"Once in Royal David's City" is sung with incomparable beauty by a boys' choir at King's College Cambridge.
"Angels we Have Heard on High" (in Latin here) and "Here we Come a Wassailing" are two golden classics.
"The Huron Carol" can be heard here in Wendat (or Huron) as well as French and English.
"Joy to the World" and "Carol of the Bells" are lovely too. Choir leader extraordinaire Grenville Jones and The Silver Ring Choir of Bath sing these beautifully on a Christmas CD I got at their concert in Vancouver a few years back.
So many carols to recall. "Il est ne le divin enfant" is another great favourite, sung here by Siouxie and the Banshees. Then there is "The Holly and the Ivy," which harks back to the middle ages and earlier, alluding to the apparent magical properties of the plants that remained green through the darkest days of winter.
A bit of the history of the history of carols and the custom of carolling can be seen here.
Favourite local choirs include the hundred-strong Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir (whose members are from all over, not just Wales), the Lyric Singers (of Boar's Head Madrigal Dinner fame) and Marcus Moseley's incredible Chorale.
One New Year's resolution already made: next year I'm joining a choir.
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