THE Christmas No 1 this year, and possibly every year, is In the Bleak Midwinter. A poll of choral experts and choirmasters has voted the haunting carol their favourite of all time.

In the Bleak Midwinter, which is performed each year at the King’s College, Cambridge, Christmas Eve service, tops the list of the 50 greatest carols chosen by 50 experts. In second place is In Dulci Jubilo with its well known tune and arrangement by RL Pearsall. After this the poll throws up several surprises.

A Spotless Rose by Herbert Howells is in third place followed by Bethlehem Down, Lully Lulla, Tomorrow Shall be My Dancing Day and There is No Rose. It is only when the list goes down to eighth place with O Come, All Ye Faithful, that another perennial favourite can be found.

“It’s a pretty highbrow list but I’m not all that surprised as the choices are by choirmasters,” said Richard Harries, the former Bishop of Oxford.

He said it was easy to understand why In the Bleak Midwinter, from Christina Rossetti’s poem, holds first place: “It’s a really good start to any carol service and of course it gets an airing each year with the broadcast of the King’s College service.”

Other little known carols in the upper half of the list include the Sussex Carol (12), O Magnum Mysterium (13) and Hodie Christus Natus Est (17).

The list, which is published in the December issue of Music, a BBC magazine, will disappoint many for some notable omissions such as While Shepherds Watched, The 12 Days of Christmas, The Holly and the Ivy and I Saw Three Ships.

“Actually they’re very tired carols and I have no problem with them being off the list,” said Harries. “They are the sort liked by people who may just go to church once a year at Christmas. I know that parish priests get particularly fed up with The 12 Days of Christmas.”

Several other well known and much sung carols also take lower spots in the survey. These include Once in Royal David’s City (11), Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (14), God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (22), Silent Night (25), O Little Town of Bethlehem (27), Good King Wenceslas (42) and Away in a Manger (50).

Harries’s own favourite is Gabriel’s Message which is in 45th place. A traditional Basque folk carol, it opens with the lines “The angel Gabriel from heaven came, His wings as drifted snow”. Harries says it has “a lovely lilting sound” and loves the use of the phrase “most highly favoured lady”.

The top 50 greatest Christmas Carols

1. In the Bleak Midwinter

2. In Dulci Jubilo

3. A Spotless Rose

4. Bethlehem Down

5. Lully, Lulla

6. Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day

7. There is no Rose

8. O Come all Ye Faithful

9. Of the Father’s Heart Begotten

10. What Sweeter Music

11. Once in Royal David’s City

12. Sussex Carol

13. O Magnum Mysterium (Francis Poulenc)

14. Hark the Herald Angels Sing

15. O Magnum Mysterium (Tomas L. de Victoria)

16. There is a Flower

17. Hodie Christus Natus Est (Francis Poulenc)

18. The Little Road to Bethlehem

19. No Small Wonder

20. Hodie Christus Natus Est (Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck)

21. The Sans Day Carol

22. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

23. Three Kings

24. The Lamb

25. Silent Night

26. This Little Babe

27. O Little Town of Bethlehem

28. Joys Seven

29. This is the Truth From Above

30. I Wonder as I Wander

31. Here is the Little Door

32. Quem Vidistis

33. Wexford Carol

34. Illuminare Jerusalem

35. Ding Dong Merrily on High

36. Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen

37. Jauchzet Frohlocket

38. The First Nowell

39. Hodie Christus Natus Est

40. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

41. Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant

42. Good King Wenceslas

43. Adam Lay Ybounden

44. Angels from the Realms of Glory

45. Gabriel’s Message

46. Gloria from Puer Natus Est

47. See Amid the Winter’s Snow

48. Joy to the World

49. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

50. Away in a Manger

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