The London Choral Sinfonia marks it's 10th anniversary with On Christmas Night, a festive collection of classic carols in vivid new orchestrations. Featuring soprano Emma Bell and young star treble Malakai Bayoh, the album blends favorites such as "Silent Night," "Walking in the Air," "O Holy Night," and "In the Bleak Midwinter" with world-premiere arrangements and sparkling new works. This is a recording that captures the spirit of Christmas with freshness and warmth.
A focused portrait of Britten alongside a little-known but significant British contemporary, marking both the 50th anniversary of Britten's death and the centenary year of Arthur Oldham's birth. Under Michael Waldron, the London Choral Sinfonia pairs Britten with the one composer he privately mentored: Arthur Oldham. The program brings together familiar works by Britten with a substantial selection of Oldham's choral music, placing the two composers in direct conversation. At the center is Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, a cycle of nocturnal poetry (Tennyson, Blake, Keats and others) framed by the horn's natural harmonics in the Prologue and Epilogue. Horn soloist Annemarie Federle and Tenor Nick Pritchard trace it's shifting atmosphere, with string accompaniment from the London Choral Sinfonia. Britten's Te Deum in C appears in the rarely heard orchestrated version for strings and harp, presented here as a world premiere recording. Oldham's music completes the program: the cantata Laudes Creaturarum on the text of St Francis of Assisi (with Carolyn Sampson), the carol Remember, O thou man, and the ceremonial Sacerdos et Pontifex for chorus and organ - also recorded here for the first time.