With the release of a wondrous new compact disc, the choirs of St. Paul’s, K Street are sharing their repertoire with a wider audience this Christmas.

“Small Wonder,” the parish’s sixth CD, features music from the church’s three choirs -The Choir of Men and Boys, The Girls’ Choir and The Parish Choir - and comes almost as close as a recording can to capturing the magic of the season.

The recording was done in January, after months of rehearsal, during three nights of intensive sessions, said Jeffrey Smith, director of music. And in the following months, the post-production process continued, with sound engineers selecting and compiling the best takes from almost 15 hours of tape.

Although today’s technology makes it easier than ever to record music, making a CD can be a daunting experience for even an experienced choir, Smith said. But he believes - and choir members agree - that it is well worth the effort. “It’s a goal that’s beyond the week-to-week liturgical expectation,” he said. “It brings everybody up to their highest standard.”

Small mistakes that slip by, unnoticed, during live performances must be minimized in a recording, he said - and that takes work.

“To get to a level where you’d want to hear a CD again and again is a very tall order,” he said. And for the mostly volunteer choirs to get to this level, there’s a price - and a reward.

The choirs of St. Paul’s, K Street“By the time you get your choir good enough - as good as it can be - not only are they better, but they’ve sweated together along the way and have become very close to one another,” Smith said. “The process of doing that is a very binding, very energizing process for a number of people.”

On a recent rainy Thursday night, choir members braved the wet weather and the downtown traffic, as they do each week, to attend their regular two-hour rehearsal.

As cars sloshed by on K Street and candles flickered in the church, members took their places in the wooden choir stalls, warmed up their voices and started to sing. Choir members said their commitment to each other keeps them coming to rehearsals even during the dark winter nights, when more comfortable options beckon.

“We belong to a special group, and we support each other in what we do,” said David Parker, who has sung bass in the Parish Choir since 1980. “Anything of that nature you do, you don’t do it casually.”

“When you’re expected to be here, you will be here,” added fellow bass Robert Jones, who has been keeping Parker company in the back row for the last 10 years. The choirs of St. Paul’s, K StreetWhile Parker and Jones have worked on the parish’s other CDs, “Small Wonder” is 20-year-old soprano Gwyneth Dickey’s first recording, she said. “We had a lot of rehearsal working up to it, and then the recording itself was really intense,” she said. “But the energy was just incredible.” The three said they have the problem of what to give friends and family for Christmas wrapped - for this year, at least - but Smith said the music has even wider appeal. “Church music is one of the first ways that people are drawn into a church, and for our parishioners to have this music to give as a gift at Christmas is a way of reaching out beyond ourselves,” he said.

Music draws people in, he said, so in choosing selections for the CD, he combined the traditional with the unusual to offer an experience that was uniquely St. Paul’s.

Old favorites like “Once in Royal David’s City,” take their place alongside lesser-known choral pieces such as a Swedish carol and George Malcolm’s “Mass at the Crib,” he said. Other familiar works are given fresh appeal with new arrangements.

The CDs serve as a kind of calling card for the church, he explained. And St. Paul’s is not the only place in the Diocese of Washington to make use of the medium: St. Paul’s, Rock Creek; St. Dunstan’s, Bethesda; St. John’s, Lafayette Square; St. Albans School for Boys; the National Cathedral School for Girls; and Washington National Cathedral have all produced recordings in recent years.

There are several ways churches can go about making a recording, Smith said, explaining that St. Paul’s uses one of the most popular methods - hiring a recording company. The company provides a recording engineer, produces and distributes the CDs and takes a cut of the proceeds, Smith said. If the CD sells well, it can be profitable for the church.

But it’s a long-term commitment: It can take months or even years from the time the music is chosen until the choir is trained, musicians booked, reproduction rights obtained, liner notes produced, photographs taken, recording sessions scheduled and accomplished, and the CD is produced, packaged and shipped, Smith said.

“It is a major undertaking if you want to do it right,” he said. “It’s a marvelous feeling of satisfaction when it’s completed. It documents your working relationship and your friendship with so many people.”

And for many others, it makes Christmas shine a little brighter.