Out of the Pulpit: Encounters with King's College Chapel

It ends as it began, with the first ever recorded episode of Encounters with King's College Chapel.

Aside from the immediate staff of King's College Chapel, Provost Gillian Tett (OBE) is likely spends more time in the Chapel than anyone else. Matriculation, ceremonies for new fellows, memorial services. Gillian's role as Provost of King's College is so intertwined with the Chapel, she has her own stall - commissioned by none other than King Henry VIII. She's also likely to be the only Provost in history to get married in the chapel. Join Dr Stephen Cherry and King's College Provost Gillian Tett as they take you on a walking tour of the space that at first, often intimidates new King's students, but ultimately becomes their training ground for taking on some of the world's most intimidating professional arenas.

One of the working titles for this podcast was More than Carols, after all this series is about preserving and sharing the spoken word of King's College Chapel. But then we got the opportunity to interview the phenomenal BBC Studios team behind Carols from King's, and the title had to change.

Imagine aspiring to just visit the space that created your favourite music. Now imagine you would spend your life composing for that space. This is the life story of Sir John Rutter; a world treasure, and a composer most treasured by King's College Cambridge. Join Dr Stephen Cherry and Sir John Rutter as they take you on a walking tour of the sound that "never leaves" John's head; the sound of King's College Chapel. You'll learn how the space influences John's writing practices, how his bedside table is overflowing with poetry, and you'll get a fairly comprehensive history of recorded music in the chapel, to which John has contributed many times. King's College Choirs' latest album, All the Stars Looked Down is out now. It sees the choir performing with Britten Sinfonia, and includes beautiful orchestral arrangements of Christmas carols by Sir John Rutter alongside a selection of both well-loved and lesser-known carols by the great choral composers who have influenced Rutter, including Sir Philip Ledger, Sir David Willcocks and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The album's title track, John Rutter's All the Stars Looked Down, is dedicated to the late Sir Stephen Cleobury, whose enormous contribution to the Christmas choral legacy is also celebrated on the album.

While writing his book England's Thousand Best Churches, Sir Simon Jenkins visited over 2000 churches in Britain. At a reception for the book George Carey, then Archbishop of Canterbury, asked Simon 'You have been to more churches than I have; does none of it rub off?' He replied: 'You lot didn't rub off, but something did.'