Once In Royal David's City

Tune Irby by Henry John Gauntlett. Words by C F Alexander. Verses 1 - 5 arranged by A H Mann, which sees the first verse as a solo singer, second verse the choir and third onwards as congregation joining in. The final verse is arranged by Stephen Cleobury, who was music director at King's College Cambridge from 1982 - 2019. Unfortunately, he died at the end of 2019. I will always be thankful to Mr Cleobury for allowing me to play the beautiful organ a couple of times over the years after the services on a Sunday had finished.

The first verse here is the Montre as a solo, then the strings of the Recit for the second verse and it builds through the six verses to the final.

Hope you enjoy
John