Carols for Choirs

Carols for Choirs is a collection of choral scores, predominantly of Christmas carols and hymns, widely used by English-speaking choirs.

Published from 1961 by Oxford University Press, the first volume was edited by Sir David Willcocks and Reginald Jacques, with a second volume following in 1970, edited by David Willcocks and John Rutter. The series now contains six volumes, plus a compendium edition.

In addition to music for Christmas, the collection also offers works that are suitable for other Christian festivals such as Advent and Epiphany.

The books contain choral arrangements of traditional and some specially composed carols. Some include descants by the editors (mainly Willcocks) which have become standard in the Anglican communion in the UK. Most of the first volume's arrangements were originally written for use by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge or the Bach Choir in London.