Betty Crocker is synonymous with baking, Intel is synonymous with computers, and the Choir of King's College, Cambridge is synonymous with Christmas. Since 1918, a special service consisting of nine lessons and carols has taken place, without fail, every year on Christmas Eve in the chapel of King's College. And besides additional new carols, the ceremonial proceedings and the quality of the music have remained unchanged over all that time. The choir itself was first established in 1441 by King Henry VI, but it was Chaplain Eric Milner-White who came up with the idea for a special Christmas service in 1918.

The various recordings collected on this new 2-disc set span a period of 60 years from 1958 to the present, and feature conductors David Willcocks, Philip Ledger, and present day Stephen Cleobury. As soon as you hear the opening Gabriel's Message from 1958, you can instantly tell that this choir and it's directors knew how to capture and convey the Christmas spirit. Back then, BBC Radio used to do 'live' broadcasts of the yearly services and then archive them on tape. So most of what is on the first disc is now heard for the first time since the original radio broadcasts. Disc 2 presents all new recordings for this year. The set contains most of the all-time favorites and standards, but also includes première recordings of new, unheard carols. Some of the highlights include There is no rose by John Joubert, Once in royal David's city, and of course the final Hark! the herald angels sing with its impressive gradual buildup of power. Over the years they've produced recordings for many different labels, including Teldec, Decca, EMI and more, but now they own and administer their own private label.

Over the years when I was managing a classical music department in a retail superstore, I remember always ordering more copies of their various Christmas CDs because they were always amongst the top sellers, and I don't see why this new release should be any different. Change is good but not for everything. This is a century old tradition that has not changed one bit and hopefully will remain that way for another 100 years.