Bob Chilcott (b.1955)

Bob Chilcott has become one of the world's most widely performed composers and arrangers of choral music. His compositional output reflects his wide taste in music styles and his commitment to writing music that is both singable and communicative. He has been involved in choral music most of his life he was a chorister and then a choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and was a member of the British vocal group The King's Singers for whom he made a number of popular arrangements of well-known songs from all genres. As well as being a full-time composer he is also a highly acclaimed choral conductor. He has been privileged to conduct many choirs all over the world. He is Principal Guest Conductor of The BBC Singers and in 2019 he was appointed Principal Conductor of Birmingham University Singers. His music has been widely recorded by many choirs and groups including The King's Singers, Tenebrae, and The BBC Singers.

"Familiar melodies appear in several movements . . . and these tunes are frequently found in the unison treble choir part, making this an accessible larger work for beginning treble choirs . . . The arrangement follows the Nativity narrative in its arc, and Chilcott has indicated suggested Biblical readings to come between each movement, making the work a self-contained service of lessons and carols. The music itself occupies a space of roughly 23 minutes, making it an excellent length for extended preludes. Each movement is also autonomous, thus providing the additional option of excepting carols as anthems. The musical language adheres more to Chilcott's typical ecclesiastical vein, eschewing his penchant for more pop-oriented harmonies and rhythms. As with all of his works, the voice parts are interesting without being particularly challenging, and the total effect is attractive without pandering." - Jason Overall, Journal of the Association of Anglican Musicians, November 19

"Written with characteristic fluency and charm, Chilcott pulls together eight carol settings in all. His variety as a composer is fully evident, with folksy, Copland-esque numbers standing alongside a 'jubilate' mode reminiscent of William Mathias, and a more trademark, gently plangent style heard at its best in a lovely setting of A Spotless Rose . . . This is a very singable cycle . . ." - Matthew Greenall, The Singer August 2011

"The music is original, but in several of the carols the upper voices introduce a different carol with its well-known melody. So, in the middle of the opening and closing 'This is the truth', the upper voices sing 'Once in royal David's city' to the expected tune . . . This upper-voice part is ideal for children's choirs although the composer also suggests it could be sung by congregation or audience. At one magical moment the tables are turned and under a soprano solo (or ad lib. upper voices) Sweet was the song the SATB choir sings Silent night. Any choir with upper voices and SATB would find many different ways of using this imaginative Christmas sequence." - Stephen Patterson, Church Music Quarterly, September 11

"In several of the pieces Chilcott combines an original tune of his own with that of a favourite traditional carol - I won't spoil things by saying which well-loved carols are included - and I think that this blending of old and new works very well. Chilcott's original tunes are good ones, too. I like the one to which he sets 'This is the truth sent from above', which opens and closes the sequence, and also the melodies for 'Sweet was the song' and 'O little town of Bethlehem'. There's a vivacious setting of 'Adam lay ybounden' and the penultimate setting, 'Rejoice and be merry' is joyful and exuberant. To some extent On Christmas Night is a case of old wine in new bottles; it's most attractive and I now think it works very much better than I did when first I heard it." - John Quinn, MusicWeb International, November 2013