For what it's worth, I daresay there was method in the madness (if one considers it mad!) of scheduling the 1930 version of Bethlehem Down rather than the familiar 1927 SATB version, and that it was a collaborative decision. It provided chiastic balance and parity with the (live) broadcast which we did the following day (Armistice Day) with the girls, in which the final piece, Mark Blatchly "For the fallen", was to be sung by the girls only; it was fitting, therefore, for the introit in our broadcast with the boys to be sung by the boys only. Note also that the canticles in the broadcast with the girls were Sumsion in A, while the canticles in the broadcast with the boys were Sumsion in G. Believe it or not, we do also sing canticles by composers other than Herbert Sumsion (!), but we do always sing the plainsong Office Hymn set for the occasion. (Incidentally, those with particularly keen hearing might be able to detect that a couple of verses were edited out from both hymns in this broadcast in order to bring it down to the right length: one of the benefits of pre-recording eight weeks before the airing date!)
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