Julianne Baird and her frequent collaborator, the period-instrument group The Aulos Ensemble, offer some of the fruits of their many Christmas concerts together in a pleasingly varied, Baroque-focused program of vocal and instrumental works. Most of the 16 selections feature Baird's bright, clear, and very agreeable soprano, supported by some combination of flute, recorder, baroque oboe, violin, and cello, and harpsichord or organ. Most familiar are the title tune, plus such mainstays of today's Christmas repertoire as "Remember O thou Man", "Gently the Fragrance" (better known as Whence is that goodly fragrance, or by its French title, Quelle est cette odeur), and "Tomorrow shall be my dancing day". Another favorite is a beautiful Advent cantata aria by Bach (from BWV 36), usually heard as "Auch mit gedämpften..." but for some reason performed here in the version from the decidedly non-Christmas secular cantata Die Freude reget sich (BWV 36b). Regardless, the music is still just as lovely, although you can hear the BWV 36 setting sublimely rendered by Sibylla Rubens, Philippe Herreweghe, and Collegium Vocale on an excellent 1996 Harmonia Mundi recording.


The instrumental playing is first-rate, and the accompaniments to Baird's singing are smartly arranged and well-balanced with the voice. My only reservation concerns a couple of the longer selections--Böddecker's Veni Salvator hominum and the instrumental "Symphonie" by Corrette--whose musical material isn't substantial enough to fully command our interest for six or eight minutes. On the other hand, Corrette's Noël Provençal, an instrumental number that closes the disc, is a wild, wonderful, colorful rustic dance that leaves you smiling and uplifted, a perfect complement to the opening "In dulci jubilo". The sound, from Princeton Theological Seminary's Miller Chapel, is suitably vibrant, clear, and natural. [10/26/2006]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com

REVIEWS:

Early Music America (Spring-2000, pp.14-15) - "...Burdick brings careful musicological research abd tasteful musicianship to this triumphant new recording of the 'Messiah'....it is a pleasure to hear strong young voices in this refreshing music....This is an exemplary 'Messiah'..."

The melting beauty of Arcangelo Corelli's justifiably famous "Pastorale" movement from his Concerto grosso in G minor, Op. 6, No. 8, seems to have suggested the idea for this very appealing recording of Italian Baroque music. The explicit pastoral Christmas theme of both the Corelli and Alessandro Scarlatti's 'Cantata pastorale' invites the listener to hear the trumpet featured in Alessandro Stradella's Sonata as a seraphic herald and the oboe featured in the concertos of Alessandro Marcello and Tomaso Albinoni as a shepherd's adoration. Under Helmut Mueller-Bruehl's sensitive direction, the Cologne Chamber Orchestra gives precise and joy-filled readings of this festive music.

RYBA: Czech Christmas Mass / Missa Pastoralis

Classical Music

If you are looking for a choral disc of Christmas music without resorting to the usual “lessons & carols” format you will be hard pressed to do better than this.

This CD from Nimbus has rarely been out of the catalogue since its first release in the late 1980s - and with good reason. It’s a cracking disc with sympathetic performances, well recorded and featuring some superb music. If you are looking for a choral disc of Christmas music without resorting to the usual “lessons & carols” format you will be hard pressed to do better than this.

The concept here is as simple as it is neat. The producers have compiled a programme of music by two of the greatest 20 ^th century English composers - Walton sang with this choir whilst an undergraduate - that are linked to the festive season. The fascination for the listener who is seeking more than just a sequence of familiar carols is the juxtaposition of the familiar and relatively unknown together with the differing styles the composers employ. David Trendell’s liner-note from 1987 has been retained, and rightly so: it is a model of succinct insight into both the music and the musicians. My only quibble about the programming comes with the opening track - In the Bleak Mid-Winter. This is one of my all-time favourite carols and Holst’s setting of the Christina Rossetti text is heart-meltingly beautiful. But as an opener to an album entitled Make We Joy it is, how shall I put it … a little bleak! Also, the choir has clearly chosen for this a deliberately pared back, bleached almost grey tone that is rather haunting but until you hear the rest of the disc the fear is that the prevailing tone will be bland. Occasionally the Christ Church Cathedral Choir fall into the rather politely Anglican mannerism of over-pointing consonants and rrrolling their Rs. Frankly when this is done at the expense of a musical phrase or wording-painting I find it distracting. Take for example the opening of the Walton Jubilate Deo (tr. 15). This is very much in the style of Walton’s celebratory/ceremonial music - the Coronation Te Deum for example. Darlington makes the choir fussily point the rhythm of the opening and the effect of being “joyful in the Lord” is diminished. For comparison seek out, if you can, the recording by the mixed voices of Trinity College conducted by Richard Marlowe (Conifer - nla) where it forms part of their complete survey of Walton’s sacred choral music. This is far more dynamic and I would bet more what Walton had in mind.

The programme is split 9:6 in favour of Holst and this is a fair reflection of the two composers’ involvement with choral music. All of the music is beautiful but some of the Holst works are great. Holst’s involvement with the Whitsuntide Singers of Thaxted is well known and amongst the works he wrote for them is This I have done for my True Love (tr. 8) . I did not realise until reading Trendell’s note that Holst considered this his best part-song. For sure it is a miniature masterpiece. The longest piece here, it runs to nearly six minutes and is a miracle of apt word setting and beautiful writing. The Whitsuntide Singers were a mixed (secular) choir and here we have 29 men and boys of the English Cathedral tradition. Overall I probably do miss the presence of women’s voices but the performances here are a delight. Perhaps it is the purity and naivety of the boy’s voices that is so disarming. An excellent example of Holst’s preference for austerely beautiful textures is Lullay my Liking which echoes his song settings for voice and violin. Here the use of a cathedral choir pays dividends with the purity of their sound. Another highlight is Holst’s Nunc dimittis of 1915. Neither this nor the marvellous The Evening-watch can be termed seasonally apt pieces but they would grace any programme and are performed with assurance and sensitivity.

Walton’s settings lie closer to the concept of the traditional verse/refrain carol and are simpler in their intent and design. A direct comparison between Marlowe on Conifer and Darlington here shows the former to be more deliberately expressive - more profane than sacred. Both approaches are valid and ultimately the choice will lie with the listener. If I had to choose I prefer the greater drama of Marlowe but would be loath to be without Darlington. Highlights amongst the Walton pieces are the Antiphon (let all world in ev’ry corner sing). This is one of the relatively few pieces featuring an organ accompaniment safely if not flamboyantly performed by Simon Lawford. The choir is recorded comfortably in front of the organ hence that instrument lacks a little presence in the more rhetorical passages.

Overall a disc that deserves to be heard far more often than a couple of weeks either side of Christmas. The only passing quibble is its brevity running a few seconds shy of fifty minutes. Yet it serves as yet another reminder of the quality of English cathedral choirs and the body of work written for them to perform.

-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International 

Classical Music

The Choir of Sofia (conducted by Ludmila Dimova) interprets the songs of Christmas in the world-known tradition of the Bulgarian polyphonies. Between classical music and a Folk-World-Music of the eastern countries – like the successful “Mysteries of the Bulgarian Voices” – with its antique, pre-Christian and Hellenistic roots, the Choir interprets with grace the song of our Western-countries heritage: “Silent Night”, Tino Rossi’s “Petit papa noel”, “Jingle Bells”, Shubert’s “Ave Maria”, etc. A new discovery of this Christmas songs’ heritage for every public and every age." Patrick Fremeaux

Aptly titled, this collection offers songs for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Las Posadas (the traditional Mexican remembrance of Mary's search for an inn), and Christmas. The recording was produced by Gary Daigle. Celebrate the season with this wonderful music!

Classical Music

Includes work(s) by various composers. Ensemble: Orphei Drängar. Conductor: Robert Sund. Soloists: Christina Högman, Peter Mattei, Bengt Forsberg.

Complete Track List:

1. Dagen är kommen 04:36
2. När juldagsmorgon glimmar 02:43
3. Det är en ros utsprungen 02:24
4. Betlehems stjärna (Gläns över sjö och strand) 03:17
5. Ding, dong, merrily on high 01:53
6. Nu tändas tusen juleljus 02:32
7. Stilla natt 02:44
8. Gladelig vi sjunge dig 01:49
9. Förunderligt och märkligt 02:27
10. Vid Betlehem 04:59
11. Tre kungar 02:40
12. Härlig är jorden 02:51
13. O helga natt (Adams julsång) 04:19
14. I saw three ships 02:11
15. Jungfru Maria 02:43
16. Och det hände vid den tiden 03:03
17. Jul, jul, strålande jul 02:37
18. Ave Maria 05:51
19. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day 02:41
20. Lyss till änglasångens ord 03:03

The choral music of Richard Lambert, born in Bath in the English West Country in 1951, covers a wide range of expression, ranging on this album from straightforward SATB settings for church performance to a sardonic parody of the excesses of established religion. It also encompasses the timeless and the timely, with a number of contributions to the age-old tradition of Christmas music to a cantata inspired by the Covid pandemic.

Mystical chants between the visible and the invisible: The great ancient mystery chants of Spain and Norway. Ensemble Hirundo Maris presents the enigmatic chants of the Middle Ages, Spain's El cant de la Sibil.la and Norway's Draumkvedet. Both convey profound, apocalyptic visions of the world's end and the dawn of a new era, traditionally sung on Christmas night. This album evokes the mysteries of winter, blurring the boundaries to the otherworld, transporting the listener to mystical realms.

The Christmas season can come. With this musical Advent calendar from the Landesmusikakademie Ochsenhausen, there is a new surprise every day. Each day of Advent has its own song to shorten the waiting time for children and families. Old and new Christmas carols in enchanting arrangements, sometimes contemplative, sometimes rousing and as if for dancing along, prepare us for a joyful pre-Christmas season. With the children's choir SingsalaSing, the Ulmer Spatzenchor and many more.