The Naxos Book Of Carols - An Advent Sequence In Music

$13.99
Label
Naxos
Release Date
October 19, 2004
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      VARIOUS
    • PERFORMER
      Alex, Rebecca, L'Estrange, Simon, Hickey, Joanna, Grant, Richard, Forbes, Nicholas, Eteson, Chalmers
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      October 19, 2004
    • UPC
      747313233021
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      8557330
    • LABEL
      Naxos
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      1
    • GENRE
      Christmas / Chanukkah
    Works ⌄

    1. O come, O come, Emmanuel (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    2. Of the Father's heart begotten (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    3. O quickly come

      Composer: Antony Pitts

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    4. Verbum Patris umanatur (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    5. Lo! He comes (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Martin Madan, Thomas Olivers

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    6. The Holly and the Ivy (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Antony Pitts, Cecil James Sharp

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    7. Lo, There is a Rose Blooming (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Michael Praetorius

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Rebecca Hickey, Alexander L'Estrange, Richard Eteson, Simon Grant

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    8. Alleluya - A New Work (arr. A. Pitts for 2 voices and organ)

      Composer: Anonymous

      Performer: Joanna Forbes, Alexander L'Estrange, Antony Pitts

    9. Ding! Dong! Merrily on High (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Jehan Tabourot

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    10. While shepherds watched (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: George Kirbye, Christopher Tye

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Kathryn Oswald, Simon Grant

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    11. The Song of Angels (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Orlando Gibbons

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Rebecca Hickey

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    12. Festgesang, MWV D4, "Gutenberg-Kantate": No. 2. (adap. W.H. Cummings as Hark! The Herald Angels Sing) (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Felix Mendelssohn

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    13. Silent Night (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Franz Xaver Gruber

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Richard Eteson

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    14. Away in a Manger (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: William J. Kirkpatrick

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    15. Baby Jesus, hush! now sleep (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Joanna Forbes, Alexander L'Estrange, Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    16. O little town of Bethlehem (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: John Michael Pitts

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    17. Jesu, the very thought is sweet (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    18. Adeste fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: John Francis Wade

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    19. Personent hodie (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    20. In dulci jubilo (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach, Michael Praetorius, John Stainer

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    21. Good King Wenceslas (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    22. We Three Kings of Orient Are (arr. A. Pitts for choir and organ)

      Composer: John Henry Hopkins Jr.

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Joanna Forbes, Kathryn Oswald, Richard Eteson, Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    23. I saw three ships come sailing in (arr. A. Pitts for choir)

      Composer: Traditional

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Conductor: Antony Pitts

    24. Hail to the Lord's Anointed

      Composer: Antony Pitts

      Ensemble: Tonus Peregrinus

      Performer: Nicholas Chalmers

      Conductor: Antony Pitts


If you're very comfortable with your favorite Christmas carol choral arrangements, be prepared to adjust your ears and your sensibility as you listen to these newly commissioned--and sometimes very different--settings by Antony Pitts (who also happens to be a composer, radio producer, and the conductor of the vocal ensemble Tonus Peregrinus). Although Pitts strove to honor the original tunes and to preserve certain familiar aspects of carol singing forms and customs, he wasn't afraid to shake tradition with new harmonies and a few unusual melodies. Of course, how many ways can you harmonize "Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming" and still have it recognizable and singable? Pitts chooses not to tinker very much with this beloved hymn, instead substituting a completely different translation ("Lo, there a Rose is blooming") set to very familiar harmony, gradually introducing dissonances and changing the texture, carefully ornamenting the non-melodic lines. Other pieces are more daring--the melismatic inner parts and flatted sevenths in "While shepherds watched", for example, or the stark, open, fourth- and fifth-oriented harmonies in "O come, o come, Emmanuel".


While Pitts shows fertile imagination and often impressive resourcefulness in rethinking these 24 mostly well-known carols and hymns, some of his ideas are better than others, and occasionally we're left thinking that, well, maybe the traditional version really is the best after all. Among the offerings, which are presented in four thematically organized sections: a "Silent Night" that's just too schmaltzy for its own good; a plodding, tedious "O little town of Bethlehem" (to a tune many won't recognize, complete with theatre-organ tremolo!); a wonderfully dancing "Good King Wenceslas" that enlivens this usually routine song; a weirdly chaotic "Hark the herald angels sing"; a beautiful realization of the 15th-century "Alleluya--a new work"; and an unusual "Away in a manger" that features some delicious harmonies that cleverly illustrate the sound of the "lowing" cattle and the baby awaking. However, rather than describe these as I hear them, you should get this and judge for yourself. You may find some of these arrangements will become your new favorites--or at least welcome alternatives to the ubiquitous Willcocks/Rutter/Oxford Carol Book "standards". At the Naxos budget price, it's a great buy and, if you're interested, the arrangements are available online. [11/30/2004]
--David Vernier, ClassicsToday.com