Subtitled Choral variations for men's, women's and boys' voices, unaccompanied (organ ad lib), it was originally composed from 1932 to 1933.
The composer set different texts related to Christmas to music as theme and variations, scored for an a cappella choir with boys' voices.
Leslie Woodgate conducted the Wireless Chorus and choirboys of St Mark's, North Audley Street, London.
[9] This version was first performed on 22 November 1955 in London at the Grosvenor Chapel, by the Purcell Singers conducted by Imogen Holst.
Britten himself conducted a recording with Michael Hartnett (treble), the Purcell Singers, boys' voices of the English Opera Group, and the choir of All Saints.
[1] In 2013, celebrating Britten's centenary, A Boy Was Born was performed by the BBC Singers and the Temple Church Choir at The Proms, conducted by David Hill.
Variation 5, set for upper voices only, opens with Rossetti's "In the Bleak Midwinter" sung by women's voices, whose parts 'clashing' in seconds suggest the cold while their descending phrases suggest the falling snow: against this, the boys choir sing an artlessly folk-like setting of the Corpus Christi Carol.