This year is the 50th anniversary of OUP’s Carols for Choirs books, and on Tuesday night, in the exquisite setting of Merton College Chapel, a special concert was held to celebrate this milestone and mark the launch of the latest in the series, Carols for Choirs 5, edited and arranged by Bob Chilcott and David Blackwell. Appropriately, Sir David Willcocks, who co-edited the first four books, was in the audience to enjoy this salute to a series that has become a staple for choirs all over the world.

A feature of the books has always been the huge range of carols, from traditional to modern, from the familiar to the unknown, and this was represented in the variety of carols showcased on Tuesday night by Merton College Choir. The evening opened with a carol from the new book, Matthew Martin’s exquisite setting of I sing of a maiden, which was performed from the ante-chapel, instantly capturing that sense of expectation and wonderment that is so intrinsic to the Christmas story.

Other samples from the new book included the more boisterous A patre ingenious by Swiss composer Carl Rütti and Bob Chilcott’s arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem.

Old favourites from previous editions of the book included Robert Pearsall’s In dulci jubilo, David Willcocks’s arrangements of Rocking and Tomorrow shall be my dancing day, and John Rutter’s Nativity Carol.

Merton College choir did itself proud, with some lovely clear singing and impressively secure intonation in the unaccompanied pieces. I would have liked a little more tenderness in Rocking, which was a tad strident for a lullaby, but otherwise they sang well, doing full justice to this wonderful selection of carols.

There were opportunities, too, for audience participation with O come all ye faithful and Good King Wenceslas, ending with a rousing Hark the Herald Angels Sing that ensured we all went on our way feeling well and truly into the festive spirit.