Exeter College Chapel Showcases New Commissions at Advent and Christmas

During the past festive season, Exeter College Chapel celebrated both Advent and Christmas with the premieres of two specially commissioned works, each bringing a unique voice to the College’s rich musical tradition. 

At the Advent Carol Service, Oxford-based composer Richard Pantcheff’s setting of R.S. Thomas’s poem The Call was performed for the first time. Commissioned in honour of the thirtieth anniversary of the chapel organ’s installation, the piece is a meditative and powerful addition to the Advent repertoire, echoing the season’s themes of reflection and anticipation. 

Exeter alumnus Jonathan Wikeley (2001, Music), showcased A New Christmas Carol for Exeter College. Drawing on medieval imagery and rhythm, the carol is both joyful and contemplative: 

 So laughing in lap laid, 

So prettily, so pertly, so passingly well apaid, 

Full softly and full soberly, 

Unto her sweet Son she said. 

Quid petis, O Fili? Mater dulcissima ba ba: 

Quid petis, O Fili? Michi plausus, oscula da da! 

The Mother assured was and sat with child arrayed, 

Looking on her little Son so laughing in lap laid, 

So prettily, so pertly, so passingly well apaid, 

Full softly and full soberly unto her Son she said:  

I mean this by Mary, our Maker’s mother of might, 

Full lovely looking on our Lord, the Lantern of Light, 

Thus saying to our Saviour, this saw I in my sight; 

The reason that I rede in now, I rede it full right.  

Musing on her presence so, my word was my main, 

Save it pleased me so passingly that past was my pain; 

Yet softly to her sweet Son methought I heard her sayn: 

‘Now gracious God, and good sweet Babe, yet once again this game. 

Central to the piece is a Latin refrain: 

Quid petis, O Fili? Mater dulcissima ba ba: 
Quid petis, O Fili? Michi plausus, oscula da da! 

This text, sourced from Edith Rickert’s Ancient English Christmas Carols 1400–1700 and believed to date from the time of Henry VII or VIII, is loosely translated as:
“What seekest thou, O my Son? / The sweetest mother kisses? / Clapping hands, give me kisses?” 

Reflecting on the piece, Wikeley writes: “I quite like the imagery of the mother and son having a quiet moment together amidst all the mess and uncertainty swirling around them, neither of them perhaps aware yet of what is to come. For a moment, they are able simply to delight in each other’s company.” 

Together, these two commissions offered moments of stillness, beauty, and fresh perspective within the familiar arc of the season.