"Midwinter's Eve – Music for Christmas", performed by The London Chamber Orchestra conducted by Christopher Warren-Green, is a collection of instrumental classical treatments of Christmas carols and other best-loved melodies of the Christmas season. The carols have been given contemporary arrangements by Craig Leon.

Carols were once sung at festivals at different times of the year, to accompany dances and celebrate the changing of the seasons. A second source for Christmas carols is the tradition of Christian hymns known since the 4th century, which from the Middle Ages gave rise to joyful Christmas songs sung in European vernacular languages. The earliest English Christmas carols that are known today date from the start of the 15th century. In the 18th and 19th centuries many lyrics from the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods were set to new compositions, and the tradition of a service of “Nine Lessons and Carols”, which today so many people around the world love to listen to or join in, originated in Cornwall in 1880, when carols were sung in Truro Cathedral.

This album presents a wide selection of popular and famous Christmas carols, such as O Come All Ye Faithful, two versions of Away in a Manger and the ancient Coventry Carol, in a list of 17 tracks that is by no means confined to favourites of English origin: Silent Night is included, as well as the Wexford Carol from Ireland and a Galician carol entitled Moita Festa.

Craig Leon’s arrangements and the performance techniques, though modern, are rooted in the styles and musical attitudes of the various periods when the source pieces were first written. Leon is an American-born record producer, composer and arranger who now lives in England. When he was active in pop music production from 1974 to 1998, Leon played a major part in launching the careers of leading artists, among them The Ramones and Blondie. Since 1998 Leon has focused on classical composition, orchestration and arrangement recording, and has contributed to many classical recordings with artists of the calibre of Luciano Pavarotti and Sir James Galway.

The London Chamber Orchestra under Christopher Warren-Green was the orchestra that provided the music and recorded the official album for the English royal wedding, when the marriage of Prince William to his bride Kate was watched by an audience of over two billion around the world. The London Chamber Orchestra, founded in 1921 and based at St John’s, Smith Square in Westminster, is the longest-established chamber orchestra in the UK and has a distinguished record in giving over 100 UK premieres, which include works by Fauré, Janacek, Vaughan Williams and Stravinsky. Its repertoire also encompasses modern and minimalist works. Since 1988 Christopher Warren-Green has been the principal conductor, leading the ensemble in many notable events, such as its appearance as resident orchestra for the Hong Kong International Piano Competition and two private performances for the British royal family. He is principal guest conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra and music director of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in North Carolina.