A Traditional Christmas Carol Collection, Vol. 2 / The Sixteen

$15.99
Label
Coro
Release Date
September 27, 2010
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      TRADITIONAL
    • PERFORMER
      V2: Traditional Christmas
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      September 27, 2010
    • UPC
      828021608520
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      COR16085
    • LABEL
      Coro
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Choral - Secular
    Works ⌄

    1. Of the Father's Heart Begotten

      Composer: Anonymous

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    2. The Truth From Above (arr. R. Vaughan Williams)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    3. Gabriel's Message

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    4. Masters in this Hall

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    5. Past Three a Clock

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    6. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

      Composer: Elizabeth Poston

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    7. In the Bleak Midwinter

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    8. Gloucestershire Wassail

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    9. In dulci jubilo

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    10. Veni, veni Emmanuel (O come, o come Emmanuel)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    11. Adam Lay Ybounden

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    12. Wither's Rocking Hymn

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    13. The Cherry Tree Carol

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    14. It Came upon the Midnight Clear

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    15. Personent hodie

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    16. Down in Yon Forest

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    17. The Wexford carol

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    18. Joys Seven

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    19. As with Gladness Men of Old

      Composer: Conrad Kocher

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers

    20. Unto Us a Boy Is Born

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: The Sixteen Choir

      Performer: Robert Quinney

      Conductor: Harry Christophers



It's no secret that if you're looking for a well-filled, thoughtfully programmed disc of Christmas choral music, you won't go wrong with any of The Sixteen's recordings. In 2006 this oft-lauded group led by founder Harry Christophers released a Volume 1 program of traditional carols, and this year (2010) decided to augment that release with a collection of 20 more favorites (including a few lesser-known pieces). Performed with the knowing style of a seasoned, professional British choir, these songs, hymns, and carols (all very loosely categorized here as "carols")--such gems as Holst's Masters in this hall, Poston's Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, and Darke's beloved In the bleak mid-winter--ring in the season intensified and made more meaningful by the choir's authority and respect for the music, its revered tradition, and with an obvious true love for its sound and inherent spirit.

Although Christophers mentions in the notes that selections were drawn from the 1928 Oxford Book of Carols, and certainly such pieces as the Gloucester Wassail, the Wexford Carol, and In dulci jubilo were at least partially lifted from that source, the provenance of many others is not so clearly evident (Of the Father's heart begotten, for example, isn't included in the 1928 OBC), although in some cases the popular "green" and "orange" carol books may have been consulted.

At any rate, these arrangements are all artful and refreshingly unadorned--in the best "traditional" realizations; where there is organ, its contributions are always tasteful, imaginative, and appropriate to support and/or enhance the singers. And as for the singers, well, this is one of the great, world-class choirs, its uniquely rich, vibrant sound characterized by pure-voiced sopranos and its contingent of male altos. The production and sound, from London's St. Giles Church, Cripplegate, presided over by the first-rate team of Mark Brown and Mike Hatch, is excellent. A solid and satisfying addition to any Christmas music library.

--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com