Cheryl Frances-Hoad

The Cradle

“Cheryl’s carol is a masterpiece in understatement, hauntingly beautiful and so carefully written for the current generation of King’s College Choir.” Daniel Hyde, Director of Music, King’s College, Cambridge. For millions listening to the radio around the world, A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from the candlelit Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, marks the beginning of Christmas. The service is based around nine Bible readings which tell the story of the loving purposes of God. They are interspersed with carols old and new, sung by the world-famous Chapel choir, who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas hymns. The service was introduced in 1918 to bring a more imaginative approach to worship. It was first broadcast in 1928 and is now broadcast to millions of people. A new work has been commissioned for the service every year since 1983. Forty years on from that first commission, in 2023, Chester Music composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad has written 'The Cradle', a setting of an English translation by Robert Graves of an anonymous seventeenth century Austrian text.