Diocesan Christmas Carol

We're planning to record a diocesan version of 'Once in Royal David's City' to release in Christmas week and need your help!

We'd like as many people as possible to film themselves singing the final three verses of Once in Royal David's City so we can put it together into one amazing hymn to share on our website and social media pages! You don't have to be in a choir to do this, anyone who loves singing can take part!

Deadline for submissions

In order to give us enough time to put the video together in time for Christmas please have videos sent to us before Sunday 22 November. 

What to do

We have some resources below to help you. You can download the lyrics and sheet music, if you can read music. It's important to sing along to a backing track to ensure we all sing in time! Choose which part suits your voice and download the backing track. When filming it's important that we only hear your voice and not the backing track on the recording, so you will need two devices - one to film and one to listen to the backing track.

For a more advanced look at the music, Nicholas Freestone, Assistant Director of Music at Worcester Cathedral has kindly put together a series of helpful videos tutorials. 

Download Sheet Music and Lyrics (PDF)

• Sheet Music

• Lyrics

Download Backing Tracks

Click the  icon to download the track or click play to stream. The music starts with the organ and then you'll be counted in.

Tips for filming

• No fancy camera or audio equipment required, use a smart phone or webcam!

• Please ensure your camera lens is clean and you film in landscape.

• Please film in HD, if your phone can. 

• On a phone the back camera is better quality, though the front camera is fine if you need to see yourself! 

• Find somewhere light and quiet to ensure good audio quality and don't stand too far away from the camera.

• Use a second device to listen to the backing track, your phone probably won't allow you to listen to music and have the camera app open at the same time.

• Use headphones to listen to the backing track while singing, the recording should only feature the sound of your voice and no other sounds.

Where to send your video

Please send your recording to both jatkinson@cofe-worcester.org.uk and NicholasFreestone@worcestercathedral.org.uk. Use a file transfer service such as wetransfer.com to send us the video and please have them sent to use before Sunday 22 November. Please do get in touch if you have any issues or queries.

Video Tutorials

Click to view a short tutorial based on the part you would like to sing.

• Melody
• Alto
• Bass
• Soprano
• Tenor