Born in Ireland, Charles Wood was a treble chorister in the choir of the nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral where he received his early education. Later he studied composition at the Royal College of Music in London with Stanford and Parry. He went to Cambridge as student, organ scholar, then Fellow, becoming the first Director of Music and Organist. As a composer he is chiefly remembered for his Anglican church music, usually in a late romantic harmonic style. All
Wood's a cappella music demonstrates fastidious craftsmanship and a supreme mastery of the genre, and he is no less resourceful in his accompanied choral works which sometimes include unison sections and have stirring organ accompaniments, conveying a satisfying warmth and richness of emotional expression
appropriate to his carefully chosen texts. Wood co-edited three books of carols, wrote eight string quartets, and was co-founder of the Irish Folk Song Society. His pupils included Ralph Vaughan Williams and Herbert Howells.
John Rutter studied music at Clare College, Cambridge and first came to notice as a composer and arranger of Christmas carols and other choral pieces during those early years; today his compositions, including such concert-length works as Requiem, Magnificat, Mass of the Children, The Gift of Life, and Visions are performed around the world.
John edits the Oxford Choral Classics series, and, with Sir David Willcocks, co-edited four volumes of Carols for Choirs. In 1983 he formed his own choir The Cambridge Singers, with whom he has made numerous recordings on the Collegium Records label, and he appears regularly in several countries as a guest conductor and choral ambassador.
John holds a Lambeth Doctorate in Music, and was awarded a CBE for services to music in 2007.