Hurry to Bethlehem

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Hurry to Bethlehem is a carol for unison voices and piano, with optional descant. The style is lyrical and approachable and would be suitable for many young choirs or ensembles looking for new and exciting Christmas music.

Hurry to Bethlehem also exists in a version for SATB Choir and Organ [RM185].
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Difficulty: Easy
8 pages / A4 format / Paperback
Duration: c.3 minutes

Hurry to Bethlehem also exists in a version for SATB choir and organ.
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Christopher Maxim was born in Wrexham in 1971. From the time he was able to climb up onto the stool, he played his grandmother's piano at every opportunity, testing his grandfather's patience to the limits with his early experiments at the keyboard. He received his first musical training in the choir of St Margaret's Church, where the seeds of his love of choral and organ music were sown.

He was educated at Calday Grange Grammar School on the Wirral and took organ lessons with the late Patricia Phillips (St Andrew's, West Kirby) and Roger Fisher (Chester Cathedral). Aged sixteen, he was appointed Organist & Choirmaster of St Michael & All Angels, Newton where, in addition to providing music for the liturgy, he conducted concerts of choral and orchestral music. At eighteen, Chris won an Organ Scholarship to the University of Bristol where his academic tutor and organ teacher was Dr Glyn Jenkins. He played the organ and conducted in many cathedrals and for BBC radio broadcasts. He also played organ solos for a recording of Tudor music on the Herald label. He wrote his BA dissertation on the solo organ music and sacred choral music of Kenneth Leighton. He was a recipient of the Napier Miles Prize.

In 1992 Chris was awarded a Research Studentship to Cardiff University where, under the guidance of Dr David Humphreys, he wrote his PhD thesis, British Cantus Firmus Settings for Keyboard from the Early Sixteenth Century to the Middle of the Seventeenth Century. Chris undertook post-doctoral work on the Mackworth and Aylward Collections of music in Cardiff University and he worked with Prof. John Caldwell (University of Oxford) on the bibliography to the article Keyboard Music to 1750 in the 2001 edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. He has published academic articles in Early Music, Organists' Review, The Musical Times and The Organ Yearbook; has given papers at conferences; and has been interviewed on musical topics on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Wales. As the author of hundreds of reviews, Chris has contributed to almost every edition of Church Music Quarterly and Organists' Review for over a decade. He has also reviewed for Early Music.

From 1993-2000 Chris was Organist and Director of Music at the University Anglican Chaplaincy Church of St Andrew & St Teilo in Cardiff and was responsible for the restoration of the church's 1886 Vowles Organ. From 1998-2000 Chris was the first President of the South East Wales Organists' Association. Since January 2003, he has been Organist of St Matthew's Bethnal Green in London where he enjoys the opportunities to improvise music within the liturgy.

Chris has held a number of conducting posts, including The University of Bristol Church Choir, The Cardiff University Chamber Choir, The Cardiff University Church Choir, The Cardiff Bay Singers, and The Elizabethan Singers of London. He directs The St Teilo Singers (a peripatetic liturgical choir) and he is founder-conductor of The Giltspur Singers. He holds the diploma of FVCM (with Honours) in choral conducting.

Chris's teaching experience embraces Higher Education, Secondary Education and private tuition. Between 1993 and 2000, he lectured at Cardiff University in the Department of Music. He also gave courses in the Department for Continuing Education. He lectured at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama from 1996 to 2000; and he has tutored on Open University Summer Schools since 1996. He is currently Assistant Headteacher at a large secondary school in East London. He holds a PGCE in Secondary Music from the Institute of Education of the University of London, two Certificates in the Advanced Professional Practice of Education (both with Distinction) from Oxford Brookes University, and the NPQH (National Professional Qualification for Headship). Chris was among the first people to be awarded Chartered London Teacher Status and he is a Fellow of the College of Teachers. His submissions for CLTS and FCoT have been published on-line. He has appeared on Teachers' TV.

Composition lies at the heart of Chris's musical life. He specialises in composing for choirs and for the organ, but his output also includes instrumental music, piano music and songs.