Vaughan Williams was (with Cecil Sharp) one of the foremost collectors of folk songs during the early 1900s. He collected many traditional Christmas carols as well. This collection is of carols as he arranged them, thus presenting his view of Christmas in the first half of the 20th century. He also wrote four completely new carols for the Oxford Book of Carols, which are also all included here. This release includes world première recordings of two sets of carols: 'Two Carols' from 1945 and 'Nine Carols for Male Voices', commissioned by the British Council in 1941 for performance by and for British troops serving in Iceland. They are performed by the outstanding Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea (of which all members are professional musicians) under the directorship of William Vann.