Aymestrey School Carols

At the end of every Autumn Term one of the most anticipated events (together with Bust-Up) was the Carol Party held in the Hall, with the boys on the stairs.  (All quotes on this page are from the Aymestrey School Magazines, unless otherwise identified.)

The Carol Party tradition started in 1936:

Two days before the boys went home for Christmas, about fifty parents and friends came at Mr Mildmay’s invitation to tea and carols.  Even the most prosaic must have felt the glow of Christmas when they entered the hall which was decorated with holly and mistletoe and lighted by twinkling candles and the glow of a noble fire.  The boys sat all up the stairs, and their singing was accompanied by a string quartette supplied by Miss Davies and friends.  Mr Gould and Mr Asterley helped in the singing, and the whole thing was quite delightful.

However it was in 1926 that the Choir had stood on the stairs to sing carols for the first time.  That year Prize Day was delayed from the Summer Term (because Whooping Cough had disrupted the term quite badly) and was held on 14th December.
           

After the prizes were distributed, carols were sung by the Choir on the stairs with very pretty effect.  There was a large and interested gathering of parents and other friends of the school.

In 1937 about 60 guests came to tea.

The Hall was decorated with holly, ivy, mistletoe and Christmas trees, and there was no light but that of candles and the big fire.  The School sat or stood on the stairs to sing, and the orchestra was grouped round the foot of the stairs.  The school orchestra accompanied the first and last carols, and the rest were most ably accompanied by Miss Davies’ string quartette, to whom our very warmest thanks are due.  A few of the carols were for the whole party to sing, one or two for the school as a whole, and the rest for the choir only. 

Holst’s “How far is it to Bethlehem?” was the only one entirely new to us, and we shall certainly sing it again, probably in four parts next year.  We were ambitious enough to attempt the more complicated version of Pearsall’s “In dulci jubilo” unaccompanied, and surprisingly well it went, finishing only about half a semitone sharp after four most exacting verses.  The greatest successes as usual were the two Sir Richard Terry carols, “Joseph and the Angel,” which is always wonderfully singable, and “Myn Lykin.”  Leakey crowned his long leadership of the choir with a beautiful rendering of the solo part of the latter, and the little choruses were probably the most perfect and finished piece of work the choir did during the evening.

1938

Miss Davies’s string quartet “was placed in the doorway of the Memorial so as to be as closely associated with the singers as space would allow. The hall was decorated with evergreens which glittered in the light of candles placed on the staircase and on four Christmas trees which topped the posts.

A large audience was there and joined heartily in those carols in which they were allowed to sing.  Many were new-comers, uncertain whether they were attending a concert or a church service, and one felt the question arise, “Ought we to applaud?”  This, with the tendency of an unreachable candle to drip on the head of an intrepid member of the choir, caused a little anxiety at the beginning; but it soon disappeared as the simple rendering of the time-tested melodies took effect.

The war had an impact in 1939:  The Carol Party and Carol Service were also held as usual, though fewer people were there to hear.  The Choir gave of its best and the singing was at least as good as in any previous year.  By 1944 guest numbers had recovered and some 70 or 80 guests attended the party in the Hall.

1942

Jerram as soloist in Myn Lykin was very good, and other carols to go particularly well were the Coventry Carol and Silent Night

1950

There was a record number of guests at the party, and the singing was quite up to our average … The performance at the service in Crown East Church was quite outstandingly good ; all the carols were sung unaccompanied and the Choir kept pitch perfectly in every single one

By 1955 the Carol Party started with Adeste Fideles, a tradition that continued until the school closed.

The scene, as always, well repaid the labours of the decorators, and one of the best things of all was the opening procession down the stairs, made more that usually memorable by the lovely tone of the singing of Adeste Fideles, as the advancing candles gleamed on holly, ivy and mistletoe

And by 1957 Miss Davies had retired, and all the carols were sung unaccompanied.

The general level of the Choir has been very high and the Carol Concert went extremely well.  The singing this time was entirely unaccompanied and not only were the tone and volume good, but the pitch was kept remarkably well

For a more detailed description of Carols in later years, see Carols in the 1980s.

Carol Service  
Until the early 1960s the Carol Party was in addition to the Carol Service at Crown East Church. 

The first mention of a Carol Service in the church on the last Sunday evening of term is 1926; and by 1936 it had

become an event much looked forward to by the neighbourhood.  Some of the carols were new, but the usual order of service was followed.  The three lessons were read by The Vicar, Mr Mildmay and the Head boy, and some of the Carols were sung by the Choir only, which others were joined in by the congregation.  The offertory was divided between the Parish Nurse Fund and the Shaftesbury Society