YOUNG Oxford choristers will give a Christmas performance with a twist this year, as they mark the anniversary of a master composer’s death.

The Oxford Youth Choir will give a duo of concerts on Sunday, with one in the evening paying tribute to Benjamin Britten (1913–1976).

The choir will perform at St John the Evangelist Church, in Iffley Road, one of the city’s biggest venues for music.

They are also set to be joined by international baritone and composer Roderick Williams, a patron, who will sing and conduct.

Musician and singing teacher Richard Vendome, who originally founded the choir for girls in 1984, said the two songs by Britten chosen for the performance – Hymn to St Cecilia and A Ceremony of Carols – were both composed aboard a Swedish merchant ship.

Britten wrote them while travelling home from the United Sates in 1942 with his professional partner and muse Axel Johnson.

Mr Vendome said: “They are two of his finest works. The music is simply wonderful.

“It sounds like it was written by someone sitting at in a house somewhere nice, not on a rusting ship in danger of being killed any moment.

“So it’s a miraculous piece.”

The performances tomorrow begin with a 4pm Christmas family concert given by a mixed choir of children aged 4 to 18.

It will be followed at 7.30pm by the Britten-themed concert, given by Oxford Girls’ Choir and former members making a debut appearance as part of a new group called ALUMNAE.

For Mr Vendome, a former organist at Exeter College and Oxford University Leverhulme Fellow in Music, it will also be a reunion with Roderick Williams.

He added: “Roderick was one of my choristers at Exeter. He is a wonderful singer and a fantastic conductor. Working with him is also tremendous experience for our choristers.”

For tickets to the evening show, visit: wegottickets.com/event/380864