Over the past couple of decades, the Christmas recordings of John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers have claimed such a solid and widely enjoyed presence among choral music fans that we have to say that this group and its director/composer/arranger have long ago passed from phenomenon to tradition. This new release, which contains 19 previously issued but newly re-mixed tracks along with four never-before released selections, is both a celebration of that legacy and a re-affirmation of Rutter's uniquely influential contributions to a special genre that began years ago with his acclaimed carol arrangements and his now-classic anthem "What sweeter music". While this disc does not feature Rutter's own compositions--those can be found on an earlier companion disc, The John Rutter Christmas Album (type Q5895 in Search Reviews)--it does offer many of his carol arrangements (notably the infectious "Somerset Wassail") along with some of the finest by such masters as David Willcocks, H. Walford Davies, and Healey Willan (whose rarely-heard setting of "What is this lovely fragrance?" is happily included rather than the fine but ubiquitous Willcocks version).

The program also provides a very healthy dose of original pieces, from Victoria's O magnum mysterium, Handel's For unto us a child is born, Kenneth Leighton's Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child, and Britten's A New Year Carol, to Sweelinck's double-choir Hodie Christus natus est, John Tavener's The Lamb, and Peter Warlock's Balulalow and I saw a fair maiden. The disc ends with Vaughan Williams' rousing Fantasia on Christmas Carols. As you might expect, there's not a dull moment during this very generously filled 77-plus-minute CD, and there's so much joy and beauty in these well-chosen, perfectly sung pieces that a simple numerical rating doesn't do it justice. The sound is appropriately full, vibrant, clear, and dynamic. Add this to your list. [11/8/2003]

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

This recording from Maddy Prior is a collection of ancient carols from across Europe, played by The Carnival Band on replicas of medieval instruments. It was recorded at The Quaker Meeting House, Frenchay, near Bristol. Tracks include "The Sans Day Carol," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman," "The Holly & the Ivy," "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," and more. (Saydisc)

The program includes international favourites ("Silent Night" and "Veni, veni Emanuel"), Swedish traditional versions from the rich stock of the Lutheran hymn book ("Es ist ein Ros entsprungen") and Swedish folk tunes and newly written material in the same vein. The resulting disc gives a fresh breath of life to familiar materials, presenting us with an entirely new view of Christmas. (BIS)

John Rutter directs the Cambridge Singers, The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the award-winning Farnham Youth Choir alongside guest soloists Melanie Marshall, Clara Sanabras and Elin Manahan Thomas, for an unforgettable festival of Christmas music.

REVIEW:

Fans of John Rutter--and particularly of his Christmas music and programs--will certainly rejoice and be merry with the release of this, "the first all-new Christmas recording from John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers for 20 years". Listeners familiar with the Cambridge Singers' half-dozen or so earlier Christmas albums will be especially pleased to find the premieres of five new Rutter works and 10 new arrangements. Opening and (almost) closing the disc are two old favorites: David Willcocks' arrangements of O come all ye faithful and Hark! the herald angels sing--but with newly written fanfares by Rutter, whose annual London Christmas Festival concerts provided the idea and much of the material for this program.

As for Rutter's original pieces--Ave Maria; Rejoice and be merry; Magical Kingdom; New Year; I wish you Christmas--there are no surprises here, just more of the same instinctively tuneful lines, ingratiating, pop-flavored harmonies, and thoughtful treatment of texts that for decades have endeared his music to millions of singers and audiences. Seasoned Rutter listeners will especially savor the composer's trademark rhythmic style and harmonic changes in I wish you Christmas (which he wrote for the 2006 Festival) and New Year (a 2006 commission for Sandringham Church to celebrate the 80th birthday of Queen Elizabeth), for which he also wrote the texts.

Other notable entries are Bob Chilcott's The Shepherd's Carol, written in 2000 for the famed King's College service of Nine Lessons and Carols, and Nigel Hess' Christmas Overture, a tightly woven orchestral medley of traditional Christmas tunes written for the 2007 Festival that skillfully exploits both the full orchestra and the festive characteristics of the carols themselves.

There are several selections for solo voice as well, the most enjoyable of which are performed by Clara Sanabras (Rutter's setting of the Catalan carol El Noi de la Mare) and Melanie Marshall (two other Rutter arrangements, of Jester Hairston's Mary's Boy Child and the Caribbean carol The Virgin Mary had a baby boy).

In addition to the expectedly excellent performances by the Cambridge Singers, we also enjoy contributions by the fine Farnham Youth Choir on several tracks--and the Royal Philharmonic treats Rutter's orchestrations with appropriate style and enthusiasm. There's a big, festive feel to the sound and overall ambience of this production (recorded in London's Cadogan Hall), which absolutely suits the occasion--and Melanie Marshall's closing rendition of Have yourself a merry little Christmas (another Rutter arrangement) brings it all home with a nice personal blessing. A great job, and a welcome early Christmas present!

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

Nothing evokes Christmas like bells – ringing from a church steeple, accompanying a sleigh ride, or adorning evergreens. In this best-selling album, reissued at mid-price just in time for the season, the Christmas spirit is joyfully expressed through beloved carols performed on six-and-a-half octave set of Malmark handbells. The Gloriae Dei Ringers include old favorites in new arrangements, as well as original handbell works.

The Bells of Christmas is a new edition of the bestselling holiday recording, Hear them Ring. Featured are beloved favorites such as Away in a Manger, March of the Kings, and In the Bleak Midwinter arranged by some of today's best known handbell specialists and composers.

Described as "dynamically explosive" by the American Record Guide, the Gloriae Dei Ringers perform a diverse and expanding repertoire of original handbell compositions as well as classical arrangements. The Gloriae Dei Ringers, a sparkling and sonorous performing ensemble of young musicians, have dazzled audiences around the world including the US, Russia, Siberia, Italy, Finland and Switzerland.

"These virtuosi of metal and mallet positively palpitate with imagination and their arrangements are the ne plus ultra of shimmering, quivering pulsating pulchritude. The arrangement by Frances Legge Callahan summoning up twangy sonorities and pedal notes, a delicious range of colors including plucking and martellato effects. There are eleven players in this plucky Massachusetts group directed by Richard K Pugsley... they use 79 Malmark handbells (of 6 1/2 octaves). Twas Christmas Eve receives a rather suggestive reading that ends in Renaissance dignity whilst the witty coloration of The Twelve Days of Christmas is full of pitch extremes and glittering sonorities, like stars exploding. Away in a Manger is saturated in impressionistic ostinato; if you think handbells are inflexible creatures listen to the dynamic variance cultivated by these patrician East Coast ringers. They wouldn't rouse a butterfly's eyelids with the spectral quiescence of their Malmarks. A Flight of Angels is rhythmically novel; the sound of mallet on bell is distinctive as elsewhere the piping of shepherds in Shepherds, Watching is conveyed through simplicity and delicacy. Altogether their ensemble is metaltight, the sonorities they conjure full of lithe and pleasurable novelty."

— Jonathan Woolf, Musicweb-international.com

"The Gloriae Dei Ringers perform with a set of 79 bells covering 6 1/2 octaves. They are based in Massachusetts, but have toured in both eastern and western Europe, including Russia. This disc consists of arrangements of familiar Christmas carols as well as some original compositions for hand-bell choir by composers such as Donald Allured, Dale Jergenson, and Judy Hunnicutt. The performances are virtuosic, considering the teamwork essential to coherent ensemble in this medium. The program displays the wide variety of sounds that can be obtained from the bells through such techniques as plucking, martellato playing, and striking with mallets."

— William Gatens, American Record Guide

"From the Red Kettle Santas to the midnight call from the steeple, bells are a part of Christmas. This recording of Gloriae Dei's 11 musicians with their six-and-a-half-octave handbells goes beyond the usual arrangements of carols to transcriptions weaving dissonances and descants, the very highest and lowest tones, even the use of mallets on the bells to produce an intriguing and beautiful concert. In Twas Christmas Eve,Paul McKlveen pairs Let All Mortal Flesh with God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. A Flight of Angels is Dale Jergenson's composition specifically for the bells, as is Donald Allured's Bellfest."

— Patricia Nakamura, The Living Church

The international award-winning octet, VOCES8, has established itself at the forefront of British a cappella. Performing a repertoire ranging from Renaissance polyphony to unique Jazz and Pop arrangements, the group has been praised for stunning performance, exquisite singing and creating a sound that spans the entire range of vocal color.

REVIEW:

Voces8 offer polished and well-nigh flawless singing. The tone, however, seems rather ‘white’; frequently I found myself longing for a bit less studied technical perfection and a bit more by way of grit and feeling; much of this disc seems too smooth and effortless.

-- MusicWeb International

For over 500 years, the Vienna Boys’ Choir has been a living tradition. Since their beginning, the choir has worked with composers such as Mozart, Schubert, and Bruckner. Capriccio presents this two-disc set of what the choir is best known for - traditional Christmas music.

Celebrate Christmas with America's oldest arts organisation, the Handel and Haydn Society, as they explore a fascinating and eclectic selection of festive music from traditional carols using American tunes to Christmas motets by Charles Ives and contemporary American composer, James Bassi. Also included are carols by the 'father of American choral music', Bostonian William Billings, and the captivating and instantly-recognisable Carol of the Bells by Mykola Leontovich.

REVIEWS:

There are some surprising and beautiful arrangements on the Boston-based Handel and Haydn Society’s Joy to the World – An American Christmas, conducted by their English artistic director, Harry Christophers. What Christophers has offered is an overview of the most popular carols sung in America (sometimes presenting them alongside their English counterparts), yielding not only the usual fare of Rutter and Howells, as well as a particularly accomplished performance of Morten Lauridsen’s O magnum mysterium, but some new works including Quem pastores laudavere, a wonderfully creative combination of traditional melodies and barbershop ideas by James Bassi.

-- Gramophone

This is not the brash affair that you might expect from the Christmas-card cover; even the pseudo-Handelian Joy to the World receives the most tasteful performance I’ve ever heard. It contains slightly more familiar material than the [comparable offerings from other labels]...there’s some material that isn’t specifically seasonal or familiar and the presence of Harry Christophers at the helm of the Handel and Haydn Society lends it distinction well above the run of the mill. Good recording and the inclusion of the booklet provide added incentives.

-- Brian Wilson

This Christmas collection consists of 19 numbers, many traditional and familiar. Included are two settings of ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and three of ‘In Dulci Jubilo’. The superlative musicianship and the almost perfect blending of voices make this one of the best Christmas recordings I’ve heard. If you like “different” arrangements, there are ‘Joy to the World’ and ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ with harmonies slightly altered from the usual. If you prefer the traditional, you can hear perfectly sung renditions of ‘It Came upon the Midnight Clear’, ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, and ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’. Other high points include gorgeous choral sound in Marten Lauridsen’s ‘O Magnum Mysterium’ and James Bassi’s ‘Quem Pastores Laudavere’.

My favorites come near the middle of the program. Harry Christophers, the director, has included two songs new to me: ‘The Shepherd’s Carol’ by Bob Chilcott and Charles Ives’s simply-titled ‘Christmas Carol’. Both are simple, beautiful texts set to lovely music and scrupulously performed. Just these two selections make this recording worth owning. There is also a fine solo on ‘I Wonder as I Wander’, a beautiful diminuendo to end Herbert Howells’s ‘A Spotless Rose’, and at the end as perfect a ‘Carol of the Bells’ as one is likely to hear.

The excellent booklet includes texts and background information on the music and the performers. An excellent addition to one’s Christmas collection!

-- American Record Guide

When the Handel and Haydn Society sing holiday standards, it’s as though carolers stopped by your house—and happened to be top-ofthe-line professionals. Starting with a single pure voice, an a cappella rendition of “I wonder as I wander,” with pristine tone and impeccable intonation, opens the recording. The singers bring a gentle lilt to various settings of “In dulci jubilo” and blend seamlessly in a reverent “O magnum mysterium,” drawing attention to its arresting harmonic shifts. The ensemble also performs an exuberant “Joy to the World,” with florid accompanimental lines and calland-response sections buffeting the familiar melody, as well as a “Carol of the Bells” that highlights the vocalists’ pinpoint precision.

-- NJ.com

Dramatic, highly-colored music from one of the most approachable and individual voices in contemporary music.

Handel’s ever-popular Messiah was recorded live in the superb acoustic of Boston’s Symphony Hall, to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Handel and Haydn Society, America’s longest-standing performing arts organization. Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742 and the Handel and Haydn Society gave the first complete performance of the work in the USA in 1818. It has been performed annually in Boston as part of the Handel and Haydn Society concert season every year since 1854.

REVIEWS:

In his rendering of the score, Harry Christophers eloquently guides us through the entire oratorio with a steady hand and firm conviction. The tempi are sprightly where they ought to be, even sparkling like jewels at times—but not blazing as if on fire—and are equally slackened when they need to be. Further, the text is not merely declaimed; rather, every word is expressed!

The period instrument orchestra plays each and every note, trill, and ornament to perfection. As one would expect, the soloists are likewise fantastic. Soprano Gillian Keith, countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Tom Randle, and baritone Sumner Thompson off er impressive virtuoso contributions.

The chorus’s full-bodied yet accurate ensemble singing perked up these ears from the very first pitch of “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed” all the way through “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain” and the mammoth, closing “Amen.”

– Choral Journal

Christmas in Medieval England allows listeners to share the beauty, excitement, intensity and variety found in a Blue Heron concert performance. It includes plainchant, carols, and other music for Advent and Christmas from 15th c. England. It is comprised entirely of tracks recorded live at First Church in Cambridge, Congregational in December 2013. The disc should find favor with fans of Blue Heron’s first CD release (BHCD1001), which contained music of 15th c. France. “… one of the Boston music community’s indispensables.” (Boston Globe)

For almost two thousand years people around the world have been gathering to celebrate the Christmas season. These celebrations are as varied as their countries of origin but share at least two common threads, the birth of Jesus and the desire to celebrate this event in music. Carols such as Silent Night, O Holy Night or Ave Maria are sung throughout the world and need little introduction. Many of the tracks on this disc are less known but great Christmas carols.

Vintage Christmas Trio is David Ian’s long-awaited full-length follow up to his debut success Vintage Christmas. His purest release to date, this album features instrumental-only jazz trio interpretations of Christmas favorites using the most minimal elements--highlighting Ian’s craft as pianist and arranger. David Ian’s delightful performances transport you to an era that birthed the most sentimental songs of this season. The opener, “Deck the Halls” welcomes in the Christmas spirit with a swinging trio. David Ian’s signature sound shines throughout the album as he transforms the often stately “Joy to the World” into a jazz/blues injected festivity and then carries the listener into a dreamier state with the ever-loved classic “White Christmas.” The lyrical bass solos of Jon Estes tastefully splash their way on numerous tracks supported by the clever drumwork of Josh Hunt, who together comprise a perfectly ornamental rhythm section. “We Three Kings” takes on a new form with a reflective mood; an unexpected arrangement of a Christmas classic, more forgotten in recent years. In “Silver Bells,” Ian masterfully and fluidly switches back and forth from swing to straight time. The close of the album is a solemn “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” stripped down to just piano and percussion. If you listen closely, your ears might catch the chirps of a winter bird complementing this moving musical performance.

Following The Sixteen’s hugely successful album, “Song of the Nativity,” which featured Christmas music from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, this new seasonal offering explores a stunning selection of festive works from the Renaissance. The Sixteen captures the joy and sincerity of the most wonderful of seasons, from the joyous simplicity of plainsong chants ‘Resonemus laudibus’ and ‘Veni, veni Emmanuel’ to the shining purity of Lassus’ polyphonic ‘Videntes stellam Magi’ and Byrd’s jubilant ‘This day Christ was born.’ This album provides a perfect alternative to traditional carols for those looking for something a little different at Christmas. “The Sixteen gives a masterclass in the art of unaccompanied singing, and in close emotional engagement with the pieces chosen… It puts the music front and centre, in this beautifully realized Christmas sequence.” (BBC Music Magazine)

REVIEWS:

Glorious renaissance polyphony is interspersed with plainchant in this treasure love, and full texts, translations and information sleeves notes make this an enviable Christmas present.

-- Choir & Organ

[The album] was recorded in St. Augustine’s, Kilburn in 2017, the generous acoustic adding a sprinkle of seasonal fairy dust...the pieces range from less the two minutes to nearly 10, the latter Tallis’s monumental Videte miraculum. One of the finest pieces (a difficult choice) is John Sheppard’s Reges Tharis, with its delightfully scrunchy little moments of harmonic and melodic tension, known as false relations.

As usual, The Sixteen sing with an outstanding sense of consort and balance, with superb intonation. Their sopranos, a mixture of younger and more experienced singers, are particularly impressive, the clarity of their voices giving an almost boy treble-like quality in their Veni, veni Emmanuel verse.

-- Early Music Review

The satisfying program of A Renaissance Christmas is no mere academic exercise or collection of rarities for collectors. The Sixteen deliver these works with exquisite tone and polished diction, performing to their expected high standards and creating a memorable impression with this refreshing album. Coro's sound is quite clear in the resonant acoustics, and the singers have a warm and vibrant presence.

-- All Music Guide (Blair Sanderson)

Following the release of the award-winning Sugarloaf Mountain: An Appalachian Gathering, which was a Top 5 Billboard Classical Crossover hit, Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire present Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain. In this celebration of the American immigrant experience, fiddlers, medieval harp, hammered dulcimer, bagpipes and singers join with children’s voices to evoke the Celtic roots of an Appalachian Christmas. From Christmas Eve in medieval Scotland to folk carols and shape-note hymns at a toe-tapping Christmas gathering in Virginia, Apollo’s Fire follows the journeys of the Irish and Scottish settlers who bravely crossed the Atlantic, settled in the mountains and welcomed Christmas with love, singing, dancing and prayer. Acclaim for the premiere performances of this program was widespread: “The lightning strike of genius can happen, sometimes even repeatedly to those willing to earn it. Jeannette Sorrell is one such person. This show was intense, interesting, spectacularly performed, and deeply moving. If that’s not genius, I don’t know what is.” (Seen & Heard International)

REVIEWS:

Apollo’s Fire is a celebrated baroque orchestra, but their ventures into folk music are just as celebrated. This is music of and by amateurs, here arranged and performed with professional skill, but without sacrificing its vibrant folk quality to the glitz of showbiz. This recording is a must have for anyone susceptible to the allure of this tradition.

– American Record Guide

There are other ways to reveal fresh musical truths in the context of Christmas, and the determination of another early music group to do so has produced my vote for festive disc of the year. Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain from Apollo’s Fire charts the passage of Scottish and Irish immigrants to the Appalachian Mountains in the 1830s. The Baroque music group gives us sounds we don’t often associate with Bethlehem but are probably far closer to what was heard there: zingy harps, reedy winds and plenteous modality.

– Gramophone

Certainly, the 'quietest time of year' is also the time when music is to be most frequently heard - not only in public, in shops or markets, but also in the countryside, where Christmas is the time when perhaps the most singing is done. The music author Marius Schneider once underlined this fact by writing:"God hungers for songs." And thus the time which celebrates the symbolic birth of the Lord is a great time for music - even for people who may have no direct religious beliefs. With this 5CD-Set Capriccio presents in total 100 Classical Christmas titles, sung by most famous choruses and soloists. And draws a bow from the high classical Christmas Oratorio by Bach to more simple songs from the country side. And of course the most famous song can't be missed: "Silent Night, Holy Night."

Keyboard legend, Rick Wakeman, famous the world over for his hugely successful and high-profile rock career - most notably with leading bands Yes and The Strawbs and for his sought-after collaborations with top artists of the day such as David Bowie and Black Sabbath - is pleased to celebrate the festive season with a brand-new album, 'Christmas Portraits'. With all tracks personally chosen and arranged by Wakeman himself, this special holiday album celebrates Wakeman's favourite time of the year as he performs familiar and favourite festive music, arranged for solo piano, all performed on his beloved Granary Steinway Model D grand piano. A former student and Fellow of the Royal College of Music, Wakeman has covered much musical ground during his wide-ranging career and here with 'Christmas Portraits', he brings his classic Wakeman twist to traditional Christmas classics, arranging some evergreens into fresh new medleys. Of this brand-new album, Rick Wakeman commented: "Christmas is my absolute favourite time of the year. I love every aspect of it, especially traditional Christmas music and songs which have wonderful simplistic melodies that are perfect for adaptation to produce variations on the piano. That is something I love to do and that is exactly what this album is".

The Choral Scholars is an internationally acclaimed chamber choir of gifted student singers led by founding Artistic Director, Dr. Desmond Earley, based at University College Dublin College of Arts & Humanities. Scholars come from various academic disciplines and commit to an intensive programme of choral study. Be all Merry is one of three new pieces especially composed for the Choral Scholars. This lively carol for choir, orchestra and violin by Irish composer Eoghan Desmond evokes the joyful play of Christmas in the lines ‘Be all merry in this house/Exultet celum laudibus!’. The recording contains a remarkable setting of the Advent plainsong hymn Christe Redemptor Omnium for tenor solo, chorus, violin and violoncello by Ivo Antognini, crafted for Choral Scholars with the kind support of the Swiss Embassy in Dublin. The Adoration of the Magi by American composer Timothy Stephens is a breathtaking setting of W. B. Yeats’ poetry. A beautiful Irish-language lullaby – Cró na Nollag – set by father and son, Adhamhnán and Uinseann Mac Domhnaill, and the much-loved Scottish tune simply titled Suantraí, are also included. The Irish Chamber Orchestra are also featured on a number of tracks including The Wexford Carol and Carol of the Bells. The choir closes the album with the song most associated with friendship, hope and the promise of a new year, Auld Lang Syne. The post-production phase of this recording project took place as the world grappled with the outbreak of COVID-19. American composer Linda Kachelmeier’s piece – We Toast the Days – serves as a reminder of the strength, love and hope that resonates throughout the world not simply at Christmastide but also during periods of hardship.

REVIEW:

Like the Winchester Quiristers, the Choral Scholars of University College Dublin are unique – a relatively new group of collegiate singers who trade a chapel for an intriguing commercial instinct. Be All Merry is a slick album of new, largely unrecognisable settings of old carols woven through with the sound of Gaelic folk song, much of it from the fiddle of the Irish Chamber Orchestra’s concertmaster. It provides that one thing we badly need from Christmas albums – something different that’s still consistent and festive – and only occasionally edges into processed cheese despite every track being suitable for a TV chat show’s play-out. If you can take a degree of Gaelic mistiness there is plenty to enjoy. The jagged arrangement of the Carol of the Bells by conductor Desmond Earley caught my ear, sung by a choir very well trained with an idea of its own sound.

-- Gramophone