Hark the Herald Angels Sing by The Australian Girls' Choir and The National Boys' Choir

‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ is performed by the Australian Girls’ Choir and the National Boys’ Choir from the album Australia’s Christmas Spirit. The choirs came together for the Qantas 1998 advertising campaign featuring Peter Allen’s song ‘I Still Call Australia Home’. The campaign featured amazing footage of the young choristers performing in exotic locations such as a glacier in Argentina, a Maasai village in Africa, amongst the Terracotta Warriors in China, and in Kings Canyon in the Northern Territory.

The choirs’ strong rich sound sits well with the light yet powerful orchestration. The production team behind this album have a pop pedigree of note, and have left their mark on the overall sound of this album. Engineer Richard Lush started his career at the famous Abbey Road Studios in the UK learning his trade with luminaries such as Sir George Martin and Geoff Emerick. Lush is credited as the second engineer on the iconic Beatles Album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Moving to Australia in 1970 Lush went on to record many Australian artists including Sherbet, Jon English and Billy Field.  

Producer Les Gock’s career goes back to 1972 as the lead guitarist and songwriter in the glam rock band, Hush. Gock turned his talents to jingle writing and created Song Zu after the band’s demise. Starting with just himself and wife Mulan, the successful company was sold some 25 years later complete with a staff of 40 and a reputation as the best jingle production house in Australia.

The orchestra on ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ was recorded at Allan Eaton Studios in Melbourne, which since the 1980s has been the go-to studio for recording string sections; their recording space can hold a 60-piece orchestra. Sit back and enjoy!