Christmas Tidings features the music of Brian Knowles. Born in Belfast in 1946, Knowles attended the Royal Academy of Music. Following his studies, Knowles formed the band, Saffron, who recorded for EMI at Abbey Road Studios. For 18 years, Knowles served as the touring musical director for the popular English singer Roger Whittaker. Knowles was then appointed Composer in Residence at the Royal School, Haselmere. There, Knowles composed musicals, songs, and numerous other works. Knowles authored the lyrics for the majority of the works on Christmas Tidings. There are also Knowles settings of Love Came Down at Christmas (Christina Georgina Rossetti), Sweet Was the Song (anon. ca. 1600), Rejoice And Be Merry (from an Old Dorset Church-Gallery Book discovered by L J T Darwall), I Sing Of A Maiden (anon. 15^th century), Twelfth Night (Laurie Lee), Night Mail (W. H. Auden), He Who Made The Starry Skies (trad. Latin words, trans. Denis Stevens and John A. Parkinson), and We Three Kings (John H. Hopkins, Junior). Throughout, Knowles composes in a highly accessible idiom. I should say “idioms”, because the styles range from an embrace of John Rutter’s take on the English choral tradition, to jazz, swing, and Broadway (Knowles’s setting of “We Three Kings” could serve as a musical’s up-tempo show-stopper). The music is all artfully crafted, brimming with melody, and beautifully performed. Conductor David Ogden and pianist Rebecca Taylor join the Celestia Brass (two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba) and Celestia Singers (15 voices). The recording, made in July 2022 at Real World Studios in Bath, is lovely. Song texts are also provided. An appealing disc for the Christmas season.