ALL around the country, people can again sit down to Christmas dinner this year accompanied by festive music by the York Minster Choir, with the release of A York Yuletide, a new CD by one of the country’s top cathedral choirs.

“It is six years since the York Minster Choir last recorded a Christmas album, but it is always one of the most popular with visitors to the gift shop. This new album includes several first recordings of carols recently written for the choir as well as many well-loved classics and Vaughan Williams’ extended Fantasia on Christmas Carols with bass soloist, Matt Dowdy,” says director of music for York Minster, Robert Sharpe.

The choir is widely regarded as one of the finest in the country, if not in the world, regularly receiving glowing reviews from experts when Evensong is broadcast live from York Minster on BBC Radio 3. The choir was the first non-boarding cathedral choir in the country to share the workload of the choristers equally between boys and girls. The new CD features the senior boy and girl choristers together with choral scholars and professional Songmen.

A York Yuletide was recorded earlier this year within the Nave of York Minster to take advantage of the superb acoustics of the medieval cathedral, by choral music specialists, Regent Records.

The CD, which retails for £10 is available from the gift shop at York Minster, or online at yorkminster.org/shop, which additionally stocks the full back-catalogue collection of York Minster Choir’s previous CDs, including last year’s CD, An Ebor Epiphany and the 2013 disc, St Peter’s Day at York Minster.

Attendees at the annual York Minster Christmas Carol Concerts on December 4 and 5 will also be able to buy the CD following the performance, at which the York Minster Choir will be joined by the Yorkshire Volunteers Band and guest readers for an evening of seasonal classical and popular music and Christmas carols. The last few tickets are available priced at £12. More information is available at yorkminster.org