BR Klassik releases Maxwell Davies' "O Magnum Mysterium" to Stream

BR Klassik releases Maxwell Davies' "O Magnum Mysterium" to Stream

MAXWELL DAVIES, P.: O magnum mysterium: 4 Carols (Bavarian Radio Chorus, Arman)

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=900851

St. Thomas Choir of Men & Boys Fifth Avenue New York Issues "No Small Wonder: Music for the Christmas Season"

St. Thomas Choir of Men & Boys Fifth Avenue New York Issues "No Small Wonder: Music for the Christmas Season"

No Small Wonder, Staint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys Fift Avenue New Work, Jeremy Filsell

Recorded May 23–25, 2022
Producer & Editor: Adrian Peacock
Recording Engineer: Mark Willey
Duration: 79’33”
APL53981

1. Once in Royal David’s City Irby † | Philip Ledger (descant)
2. Francis Segger, treble solo
3. Rorate, caeli desuper | Leo Nestor
4. Adam Lay Ybounden | Matthew Martin
5. A Song of Wisdom＊| Charles Villiers Stanford
6. Venite, Gaudete! | Adrian Peacock
7. Fantasia, The Christmas Light: (Lux fulgebit hodie) Nicolas Haigh, organ | Simon Preston
8. On Christmas Day † | Simon Preston
9. The Blessed Virgin’s Cradle Song † William Hanoian, treble solo | Edward Bairstow
10. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen＊| arr. David Willcocks 
11. As I Outrode This Enderes Night＊| Gerald Hendrie
12. Chanticleer＊| Richard Dirksen
13. Ding Dong Merrily on High＊| Stephen Hough
14. Toccata Festiva (from Partita for Piano 2019), Jeremy Filsell, organ | Stephen Hough
15. No Small Wonder † | Paul Edwards
16. Sussex Carol: On Christmas Night＊| arr. Philip Ledger
17. In the Bleak Midwinter † John Ramseyer, tenor solo | Francis Pott
18. Seek him that maketh the seven stars＊| Jonathan Dove
19. Epiphany＊| Judith Bingham
20. Epiphany Carol William Hanoian, treble solo | Alexander L’Estrange
21. O come, all ye faithful Adeste Fideles † | J. F. Wade, arr. David Willcocks
22. Jeremy Filsell, The Nancy B. & John B. Hoffmann Organist and Director of Music

＊Nicolas Haigh, Associate Organist
† Maks Adach, Assistant Organist

https://www.acisproductions.com/st-thomas-fifth-ave-nyc-men-and-boys-christmas-no-small-wonder

2016 New Classical Christmas Recordings

 

New Classical Christmas Recording 2016

Updated: Nov. 27, 2023

Adeste Fideles: Christmas Carols from Her Majesty's Chapel Royal

Adeste Fideles: Christmas Carols from her Majesty's Chapel Royal by Various artists - The English choral Christmas album has tended toward innovation, and it's good to hear that there's still a place for the traditional kind, with lightly embroidered traditional hymns, just ever so slightly wobbly, but utterly endearing, boy sopranos, and strongly diatonic Christmas compositions that are consistently and simply rapt in mood.

Signum Classics

Christmas Carols Old And New For String Quartet

1. Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella
2. What Sweeter Music Can We Bring
3. The Friendly Beasts
4. Shepherds
5. The Angel Gabriel
6. King Wenceslas' Feast
7. Christmas Lullaby
8. The Huron Carol
9. The Star
10. The Journey of the Magi
11. What Child Is This (Greensleeves)

 

Sir David Valentine Willcocks CBE MC (30 December 1919–17 September 2015) was one of the most influential choirmasters of his age, working with singers of all ages, moulding voices and raising standards in all his work.

This recording features twenty-three of his best-known arrangements, ranging from exquisite gems of quiet stillness to rousing shouts of majestic praise, sung by the Choir of Worcester Cathedral. The Cathedral Choir is joined by the Worcester Festival Choral Society and Sennet Brass for the magnificent large-scale favourites, including O come, all ye faithful and Hark! the herald-angels sing.

Christopher Allsop organ, Peter Nardone director
1. O come, all ye faithful * 7:30
2. Sussex Carol 2:12
3. God rest you merry, gentlemen 3:38
4. Ding, dong! merrily on high * 2:34
5. Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing? 4:35
6. Angelus ad virginem 2:50
7. Once in royal David’s city * 4:38
8. The infant King 3:59
9. Gabriel’s message 3:06
10. Unto us is born a son * 2:35
11. Cherry tree carol 2:07
12. Rocking 2:17
13. While shepherds watched * 2:40
14. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day 2:17
15. Infant holy, infant lowly 2:09
16. It came upon the midnight clear * 3:45
17. Away in a manger 2:56
18. I saw three ships 2:12
19. The first nowell * 5:51
20. Resonemus laudibus 2:01
21. O come, O come, Emmanuel 4:09
22. Deck the hall 1:30
23. Hark, the herald-angels sing * 4:04

On Christmas Night (Choir of Magdalen College, Oxford)

Roderick Williams (Barritone); Daniel Hyde (Director);

The much lauded Magdalen College Choir present a glorious programme celebrating the remarkable variety of the twentieth-century English carol. Combining well-loved standards and innovative choir favourites, the breadth of musical expression runs a range of emotions from quiet contemplation to joyous revelling at the wondrous miracle of Christmas. Acclaimed baritone Roderick Williams soars in Williams’ celebrated Fantasia, crowning the selection of carols and organ solos led by renowned director and organist Daniel Hyde.

https://www.opusarte.com/details/OACD9022D

O NATA LUX, Vocal Ensemble Gentleman Singers.

This album features music primarily related to the seasons of Advent and Christmas. It includes a number of recent commissions for the male vocal ensemble, Gentlemen Singers, and was recorded in their hometown (Hradec Králové) in the Czech Republic. The programme also includes fresh arrangements produced for the recording. The carols are performed their original languages. Label: Convivium.

https://conviviumrecords.co.uk/product/o-nata-lux-contemplative-christmas-classics/#

Songs of the Nativity, The Sixteen

On this release, The Sixteen contrasts the dramatic intensity of music by some of today's most admired composers with such traditional and modern carols as Boris Ord's Adam Lay Ybounden and Henry Walford Davis' version of O Little Town of Bethlehem. Much-loved classics appear on this album along with many others that, with time, will become classics. 

Every work on this album captures the joy and sincerity of the most wonderful of seasons. The album provides a perfect peaceful and uplifting antidote to the hectic pre-Christmas rush.

1 O Magnum Mysterium 2 Adam Lay Ybounden 3 The Saviour's Work 4 The Christ-Child 5 Bethlehem Down 6 A Gallery Carol 7 My Lord Has Come 8 The Holy Boy 9 O Little Town of Bethlehem 10 When Christ Was Born of Mary Free 11 Now May We Singen 12 Children's Song of the Nativity 13 Adam Lay Ybounden 14 Song of the Shepherds 15 Somerset Carol 16 The Shepherd's Carol 17 This Endris Night 18 There Is a Flower 19 Christmas Eve 20 And All the Stars Looked Down 21 Dutch Carol 22 O Radiant Dawn

Label: Coro

 

Surrounded by Angels: A Christmas Celebration with Ensemble Galilei

Ensemble Galilei showcases their astounding playing as well as arranging talents on this release, Surrounded by Angels. Each member of Ensemble Galilei is renowned in thier own field - two winners of the All-Ireland Senior Championship, two winners of teh U.S. National Scottish Fiddle Championship, a four-time winner of the U.S. National Scottish Harp Championship, a Fulbright Scholar - they bring uncontested talents to this release. This release is so rich, soulful and deep that it transcends the genres of Irish or Scottish or Early Music.

1 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence - Konvulsionslåten - the Celt
2 Divinum Mysterium - Tàladh Ar Slànaigheir
3 Away in the Manger (Flow Gently, Sweet Afton) - Polonessa Spoof
4 Es Ist Ein Ros Entsprungen
5 I Wonder As I Wander
6 Greensleeves
7 Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agréable - Jesu Kreuz, Leiden Und Pein
8 The Surround - Snowy Path - Half C
9 Une Vierge Pucelle - Joseph Est Bien Marié
10 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Good King Wenceslas
11 At Midnight Hour - Joy Be with You
12 Carol of the Birds
13 Winter's Falling Light
14 The Wexford Carol - Shetland Reel
15 Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning - Farewell to Goirtin
16 Silent Night

Label: Sono Luminus         

There is No Rose, Vocal Groups Concert Clemens


This new release of Christmas tunes comes from the Danish choir vocal group Concert Clemens. Featuring a selection of festive favorites and lesser-known works, many of which have been newly arranged and recorded for the first time, this release will put you in the Holiday spirit. Entitled There is no Rose, the recording follows the theme of the rose as a symbol of love. Concert Clemens is an ambitious classical vocal group resident in Aarhus, Denmark. Formed in 1997 by conductor Carsten Seyer-Hansen, the ensemble aims to present classical vocal music with precision and warmth, and performs at music festivals, competitions and in concerts around the world.

Upon a Winter's Night, Cara Dillon

Multi award winning and internationally acclaimed Irish folk singer Cara Dillon, captures the mystery of Christmas with a collection of songs ancient and modern providing a welcome antidote to 21st century Yuletide excess. Here, the story of Christmas is retold and explored through an array of musical guises brimming with gravitas, reverence, mythology and atmosphere. Along the way the mood shifts from joyous wonder to reflection, faith and celebration. Traditional favourites "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" and "O Holy Night" are as stunning as anything in Cara's back catalogue, the latter being an arresting a-cappella version sung with her sister Mary Dillon. Other highlights include the atmospheric "Wexford Carol" with newly added cinematic instrumental sections. Sitting perfectly alongside these classics are three originals written by Cara and long time musical partner, Sam Lakeman, including the dynamic title track "Upon A Winter's Night". "Standing By My Christmas Tree", a secular reflection touching on the loneliness and nostalgia felt at Christmas. The final original, "Mother Mary", envisages the Virgin Mary soothing her newborn in a delicate and pensive lullaby "Go to sleep my darling child, for at your feet will fall, the hopes and prayers of all... I am your Mother Mary".
Charcoal Records

Naxos Releases Rimsky-Korsakov's "Christmas Eve" Opera

 

Naxos Releases Rimsky-Korsakov's "Christmas Eve" Opera

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV, N.A.: Christmas Eve [Opera] (G. Vasiliev, Muzychenko, A. Popov, Shkoza, Tikhomirov, Frankfurt Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Weigle)

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, based on a short story by Gogol, centres on the love of the blacksmith Vakula for the rich farmer’s daughter Oksana, who mockingly requires him to obtain for her the Tsarina’s shoes in order to win her hand in marriage. However, evil spirits are on the rampage imperiling their love – a witch on her broomstick gathers the stars and the devil steals the moon. Rimsky-Korsakov blends Christian and pagan elements, Ukrainian folk songs and carols, and atmospheric orchestral interludes in this vivacious and fantastical village romance.

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.660543-44

Vokalgruppen Concert Clemens releases Hugo Distler's Weihnachtseschichte

 

Vokalgruppen Concert Clemens releases Hugo Distler's Weihnachtseschichte

Description off of NAXOS:

Hugo Distler’s exquisite Christmas narrative draws inspiration from German Protestant sacred music of the early Baroque era, particularly the music of Heinrich Schütz. 

Following Schütz’s example, Distler composed his Christmas story exclusively for vocalists – soloists and a 4-8-voiced ensemble. In Distler’s own words, it is described as an ‘Oratorium mit kammermusik-alishem Charakter’ (an oratorio with a chamber music-like character). 

The composition also incorporates sections of the beautiful choral piece "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen," which makes seven appearances throughout the narrative, each time presented in a new harmonic colour. 

Distler’s exquisite Christmas narrative draws inspiration from German Protestant sacred music of the early Baroque era, particularly the music of Heinrich Schütz. 

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=6.220684

https://www.concertclemens.dk/english/

Naxos releases Elizabeth Poston "Carols and Anthems" Album by the St. Albans Cathedral Girls Choir and Lay Clerks

 

Naxos releases Elizabeth Poston "Carols and Anthems" Album by the St. Albans Cathedral Girls Choir and Lay Clerks

Elizabeth Poston’s long and distinguished career included significant work for the BBC during the Second World War, where she performed as a respected pianist and later composed scores for numerous radio and television productions. 

Describing herself as ‘a littlemonger’ who never wanted to write big pieces, Poston’s supreme talent for composing vocal and choral miniatures is fully represented in this recording, the first to be dedicated entirely to her work. 

Poston’s music reveals timeless melodic charm, a great sensitivity of word setting and her profound appreciation of ancient folk-song traditions.

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.574576

Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge Releases Advent Live 3

 

Advent Live Volume 3, Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge is out

Releases Nov. 24, 2023

The third album in our series of live recordings from our Advent Carol Services, including commissions by Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Helen Grime.

Release Nov. 24, 2023

Signum Classics

1. Lo! The desert-depths are stirr’d

2. Advent Calendar

3. Telling

4. There is no rose

5. Herr Christ, der ein’ge Gottes-Sohn, BWV 601

6. Pan fo’r stormydd garwa’n curo

7. Hymn – O come, O come, Emmanuel!

8. Nowel, nowel. Owt of your slepe

9. Drop down, ye heavens, from above

10. Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland

11. There is no rose

12. Hymn – Come, thou long-expected Jesus

13. O virgo virginum

14. One star, at last

15. Antiphons – O Dayspring; O King of the Nations

16. Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme

17. Adam lay ybounden

18. Gottes Sohn ist kommen

19. Hymn – On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry

20. Antiphon – O Emmanuel

21. Adam lay ybounden

22. A Gallery Carol 

https://signumrecords.com/product/advent-live-volume-3/SIGCD768/

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos and descriptions used above, we do not know whom the owners of these are, and infringement is not intended. Photos and descriptions are used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos and descriptions are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA.

Choir of King's College Cambridge Releases Rutter Orchestral Carol Album

 

Choir of King's College Cambridge Releases Rutter Orchestral Carol Album

Britten Sinfonioa

Label Description: 

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, releases a selection of arrangements and original works for choir and orchestra by John Rutter under the direction of Daniel Hyde, featuring Britten Sinfonia. RUTTER ORCHESTRAL CAROLS includes beautiful orchestral arrangements of well-known favourites such as Silent Night and Sans Day Carol as well as

Rutter’s original carols All bells in paradise and All the stars looked down, which is dedicated to the late Sir Stephen Cleobury.

“It was a pleasure to record a handful of John’s carols, some old, some new, in these colourful orchestrations. Both John Rutter and the Britten Sinfonia are long term friends and partners with King’s College Choir; hopefully these new tracks will add a bit of magic to people’s Christmas this year.” – Daniel Hyde, Director of Music, King’s College

1. Silent Night - Gruber

2. All the Stars Looked Down - Rutter

3. Child in a Manger - Traditional Celtic - arr. Rutter

4. Sans Day Carol - arr. Rutter

5. Blake's Lullaby - Rutter

6. All the Bells in Paradise - Rutter

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/KG%200069

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos and descriptions used above, we do not know whom the owners of these are, and infringement is not intended. Photos and descriptions are used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos and descriptions are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA.

Christmas Touched Upon in New Collection of Jonathan Rutherford's Works by the London Voices

 

Christmas Touched Upon in New Collection of Jonathan Rutherford's Works by the London Voices
Ben Parry Leads the London Voices on New Orchid Classics Album


Editor's Note: This recording has Rutherford's 1998 song cycle 3 Advent Carols and the work The Star Child and some carols.

"Isaiah 35: Three Advent Carols (1998) was written for my brother Christian when he was music director of the choir of Little St Mary’s Church, Cambridge. I was asked, by Little St Mary’s Church, to set the words of Chapter 35 of Isaiah, from the Old Testament.


At first, I could see no convincing way of setting the prose to music, and so I asked Jennifer Thorn, who had written the poem sung at the end of my piece "An Intake of Breath," to adapt it into verse.


She gave me the words which I have made the first of these three carols. While I was waiting for Jenny to write the verses, I found and read the lovely words, spoken by the character Isaiah, that open The Shearmen and Tailors’ Play (the Coventry Mystery Play) written probably between 1400 and 1425.


This became the second carol. While composing these two settings, it then became obvious to me how I should make the music for a setting of the original words in the Bible, and provide a group of pieces that made a satisfactory whole.


Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (1985) come from the last scene of the opera, The Star-Child (1979-85), which combines the stories of two of Oscar Wilde’s fairy tales, The Young King and The Star-Child. I


I combined the two stories because they had so many similarities of plot, and had scenes which yearned for music and theatre. Both of the stories concerned the disparity between those living with opulent wealth, and those in miserable poverty.


“Better that we had died of cold in the forest, or that some wild beast had fallen upon us and slain us” is a phrase which one of the woodcutters utters in the first scene of The Star-Child. In the action, the eponymous hero, having become narcissistic, feels guilty of cruelty, for he has rejected his mother, who is now a lone beggarwoman who has pleaded with him to come back to her.


In the second act, he has recognized through dreams, that in the making of his magnificent coronation robes, poverty-stricken slaves have died (“given their lives” is the euphemism).


He subsequently chooses to go to his coronation in rags, to the shame of everyone, the public alike. The Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis are heard near the end of the final act, as the Young King, arriving for his coronation, in rags, having argued fruitlessly outside the cathedral with the Lord Chamberlain who has tried to dissuade him, storms into the cathedral, only to have a further argument with the Bishop, who sings his reproachful aria “My son, I am an old man, and in the winter of my days”. As the Young King opens the doors of the cathedral, we hear the opening of the Magnificat in full voice.

Pilgrim’s Song (1984) is a setting of John Bunyan’s words from Pilgrim’s Progress which I used in the 2nd act of The Star-Child, which presents the dreams of the Young King, in which slaves’ lives have been sacrificed to make him rich and powerful.


The Star-Child, burdened by guilt, and choosing to reject the wealth he is to inherit, becomes a pilgrim as two monks, representing the Star Child’s dreaming soul, sing the poem in searching two-part counterpoint, expressing a sense of searching, while also evoking a sense of humility.


I have used John Bunyan’s original words, not Percy Dearmer’s famous and desecrated hymn version, which not only changes words altogether, but confuses 1st and 3rd persons.


"Rejoice! Rejoice! "(2010) was written for the Jubilee Opera Chorus production of Beatrix Potter’s The Tailor of Gloucester. It was to be sung at the moment Beatrix Potter describes, that in the old story “all the beasts can talk in the night between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the morning (though there are very few folk that can hear them, or know what it is that they say)”.


"In the Bleak Midwinter" (2015) is a setting of Christina Rosetti’s poem first published in January 1872. Without their asking, my setting was written for Seraphim, the amateur female singing group in East Anglia founded by Vetta Wise. In choosing a text, I thought it would be nice to set Christina Rosetti’s words, one of which is the gentle word: Seraphim.


Because there was no prospect of Seraphim performing the work, I chose to allow myself intervals difficult for amateurs to sing. But, the members of Seraphim were very brave, and liking the music in rehearsal, were determined to sing it. They performed it in 2017 with flute (Anna Noakes) and harp (Gabriella Dall’Olio) helping them. There is no doubt that the piece should be sung unaccompanied as it is in this recording. There are two poems on this CD album which are more famous as hymns or carols, with tunes designed to comfort the listener.


John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Song better known as the cheerful hymn He Who Would Valiant Be. The other is In the Bleak Midwinter made famous in the deeply comforting musical settings by both Gustav Holst and Harold Darke.


In the cases of both poems, I wanted to find a more challenging and poignant meaning in the words than the famous tunes would suggest. In Christina Rosetti’s carol I was keen to set the freezing words “snow on snow” in such a way that they would express bleakness and coldness.


Britten had done just this in his setting of "In the Bleak Midwinter" within his choral work, A Boy is Born.


Perhaps regretfully, I used a version of the poem found in a traditional anthology. Sadly, and primly, the anthology left out the beautiful verse about ‘a breastful of milk’. I have found it impossible, in retrospect, to insert a new setting of the verse, as the structure of the musical journey can only be damaged by doing so.

"Blessèd is the Man who Finds Wisdom" (2015) (words from Proverbs chapter 3: verses 13-18) was written for Maggie Beale in memory of her husband John, to be sung by the Orford Benefice Choir (of which he was a member). Maggie chose various possible words to set to music, including some by Shelley, but we settled on these. In reply to a solo female phrase, the anthem finishes with a tenor solo voice, representing John, for he was a tenor in the choir, and he may be said to have the last word, surrounded by a choir of angels.

For "Behold, I Create New Heavens and a New Earth (2019) was written for Graeme Kay and the Orford Benefice Choir, who performed it on the occasion of the Easter 2019 dedication of the newly acquired Peter Collins organ.


To date, it is the only piece specifically written for that instrument since it came from Southampton to take its place in Orford. It is a setting of Isaiah 65: verses 17-25. Having discovered that the biblical reading for the day of performance was Isaiah 65: verses 17-25, I was immediately inspired by the interesting words, and I set them to music very quickly and confidently.


I was already familiar with the literary style and prophetic voice of Isaiah, as in 1999 I had set words from Isaiah 35 in my piece, Isaiah 35: Three Advent Carols. I am very pleased with my liberal choice of keys and modulations in this work.


I enjoyed briefly quoting Britten’s Old Abram Brown at one point. I have discussed tonality and modulation elsewhere in this booklet, as it is a fascinating and important subject.


Good Friday Music (Seven Last Words) (2015) was written for liturgical use, to enhance Good Friday services, and vigils, by the use of thoughtful and contemplative music and silences.


I was somewhat impatient with the lack of these qualities in a Good Friday service I had recently experienced, when the string quartet which performed Haydn’s Seven Last Words received applause from the congregation. The focus was on the activity of the musicians, and English politeness was observed.


The spirit and poignancy of the occasion should have invoked silence. Words can be so beautiful when given focus of mind and thoughtful expression; and so, the music throughout the composition develops not at all, because the important thing is how the words turn to silence, and meditation.


The music is full of phrases which become familiar by repetition and recognition. And then there are passages completely free from leitmotifs, such as the setting of “Greater love hath no man than this: That a man lay down his life for his friends” which was originally written for a Taizé service in a church local to me; as there seemed to be no existing Taizé chant for those words. In my setting, I took no trouble to find different music for the words “This is my commandment: That ye love one another, as I have loved you” as I was specifically avoiding development. In my setting – after the final words “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life” I wrote a final, paused, bar of silence and the indication that “This bar is everlasting peace; the congregation leaves in silent contemplation”.



Isaiah 35 – Three Advent Carols (1998)
1. Rejoice, you barren land
2. The Sofferent thatte seeth evere seycrette
3. The Wilderness and the Solitary Place


Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis & Pilgrim’s Song
from “The Star Child” (1979-1985)
4. Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis
5. Pilgrim’s Song
6. Rejoice! Rejoice! (2010)
7. In the Bleak Midwinter (2015)
8. Blessèd is the Man who Finds Wisdom (2015)
9. For Behold, I Create New Heavens and a New Earth (2018)


Good Friday Music (Seven Last Words) (2015)
10. The First Word
11. The Second Word
12. The Third Word
13 . The Fourth Word
14. The Fifth Word
15. The Sixth Word
16. The Seventh Word

https://www.orchidclassics.com/releases/orc100268-rutherford-the-wilderness/

Choir of Salisbury Cathedral releases "Salisbury Christmas"

 

Choir of Salisbury Cathedral releases "Salisbury Christmas"

Updated with description on Nov. 25, 2023.

Description from https://www.salisburycathedral.org.uk/salisbury-cathedral-launches-first-christmas-album-for-a-decade/ with changes for easier mobile viewing.

"On 15 November 2023, Salisbury Cathedral Choir is releasing its first Christmas album for over a decade on its own recently founded Salisbury Cathedral record label.

The album entitled Salisbury Christmas is a collection of Christmas carols old and new, sung by Salisbury Cathedral Choir, with John Challenger (organ), directed by David Halls. 

The album features the full Cathedral Choir, girl and boy choristers and adult singers, accompanied on the famous ‘Father’ Willis organ.

Many works on the album have a particular Salisbury link. Several carols are arrangements by the late Sir David Willcocks, Organist at Salisbury Cathedral in the 1940s and subsequently Director of the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, famous for Carols from King’s on BBC television and radio each Christmas Eve. 

Herbert Howells, another former organist, is represented in the beautiful carol, Sing lullaby along with a new award-winning work, "Toccata on the Advent hymn ‘Wachet auf’", by David Halls, the Cathedral’s current Director of Music.

Across the decades there has been another change, with work by women composers included in the album line up. Amongst those is Errollyn Wallen, the award-winning composer named as one of the BBC’s 100 Women in 2018, who was commissioned by Salisbury Cathedral Choir to write "Salisbury Carol". Errollyn’s carol was first performed in Salisbury Cathedral on 22 December 2022 and is a tribute to Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

Other women composers include Cecilia McDowall, Sally Beamish and Jeanne Demessieux. There is also a carol by contemporary favourite composer, John Rutter.

As is fitting for a home-grown album, the cover image has been supplied by Salisbury photographer and ICU consultant Martin Cook.

David Halls, Salisbury Cathedral’s Director of Music, said:
'Christmas is a very special time of year at the Cathedral, and we welcome thousands of worshippers and concert goers over this very busy period. The selection of works on this album incorporates several old and well-known Christmas carols as well as newer works, and I’m delighted that, through this new album, we can share the joy of Christmas from Salisbury Cathedral with people at home.'

Physical copies of Salisbury Christmas are available to purchase from Salisbury Cathedral shop or online via the Cathedral’s website or streamed via this link.

Proceeds from sales of recordings released by Salisbury Cathedral continue to support the Cathedral’s music funds, continuing our rich tradition of music as well as enabling future projects."

1. God rest you merry - Trad. arr. Willcocks

2. In the stillness - Sally Beamish

3. Tocata: Wachet auf - David Halls

4. I sing of a maiden - Patrick Hadley

5. There shall a star - Felix Mendelssohn

6. Hymne a la Vierge - Pierre Villette

7. Rorate caeli - Jeanne Demessieux

8. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day - John Gardner

9. Before the paling of the stars - Cecilia McDowall

10. Candlelight Carol - John Rutter

11. In dulci jubilio (BWV 729) - J.S. Bach

12. Salisbury Carol - Errollyn Wallen

13. Sing lullaby - Herbert Howells

14 Hark the herald angels sing - Felix Mendelssohn

15. The Holy Boy - John Ireland

16. Susset Carol - Trad arr. Willcocks

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos and descriptions used above, we do not know whom the owners of these are, and infringement is not intended. Photos and descriptions are used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos and descriptions are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA.

Seraphic Fire Gives us "The Apple Tree: Christmas with Seraphic Fire"

Releases Nov. 17, 2023

For nearly 20 years, Seraphic Fire’s Christmas concerts have heralded the change of seasons for our audiences in South Florida, and there is no piece more associated with these yearly musical celebrations than Jesus Christ the Apple Tree. 

Written by Elizabeth Poston, English composer and purported World War II spy for the Allies, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree takes a Federal-era American text and clothes it in music so simple, that it could easily be an 18th-century colonial hymn. 

With its elegant treble-voice verse and luxurious ending canon, Jesus Christ the Apple Tree has become an indispensable part of Christmastide for thousands of our friends in our hometown of Miami, FL, and beyond.

With Poston’s masterpiece as our polestar, this new holiday recording by Seraphic Fire celebrates the simple and the authentic. 

From Praetorious’s double choir setting of In dulci jubilo and Gottfried Wolter’s spine-tingling Maria durch ein Dornwald ging, to familiar American carols arranged by composer contemporaries of Seraphic Fire (including Susan LaBarr, Edwin Fissinger, Timothy Takach, and Seraphic Fire’s founder Patrick Dupre Quigley), this new recording hopes to introduce new settings of old melodies that will hopefully become instant classics in your Christmas soundscape. Each Seraphic Fire Christmas program is special, and we hope that The Apple Tree: Christmas with Seraphic Fire will continue our tradition of bringing peaceful, tuneful contemplation to our beloved audiences, near and far. – James K. Bass

1. I saw three ships - Edwin Fissingger (1920-1990)

2. Adamm Lay Ybounden - John Ireland (1879-1962)

3. Adam Lay Ybounden - Matthew Martin (b. 1976)

4. Maria durch ein Dornwald ging - Gottfried Wolters s(1910-1989), arr. James K. Bass

5. 'Twas in the Moon of Wintertime - Huron Carol, Arr. Timothy C. Takach (b. 1978)

6. The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came - Basque Carol, arr. Susan LaBarr (b. 1981)

7. All Beautiful the March of Days - James Kallembach (b. 1976)

8. In dulci jubilo - Michael Praetorious (1571-1621)

9. Jesus, Jesus, rest your head - Appalachian Carol, arr. Patrick Dupre Quigley

10. I Wonder as I Wander - John Jacob Niles (1892-1980), arr. Quigley

11. Jesus en Pesebre - William J. Kirkpatrick (1838-1921), arr. Quigley

12. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree - Elizabeth Poston (1905-1989)

13. Away in a manger - Ola Gjielo (b. 1978)

14. Mary had a baby - William L. Dawson (1899-1990)

15. Ain'-a that Good News! - Dawson

Label: Seraphic Fire Media 

https://arkivmusic.com/products/the-apple-tree-christmas-with-seraphic-fire

OUP released "Christmas Organ Music," Book 2

OUP released "Christmas Organ Music," Book 2

Publisher's description:

The second Oxford Book of Christmas Organ Music comprises a diverse collection of seasonal organ music, covering the Church's year from Advent to Epiphany. The music is stylistically varied, and the pieces are drawn internationally from across the centuries with a mixture of established repertoire set alongside newly commissioned works.

The volume is edited by Robert Gower.

Prelude on "Carol of the Bells" - Kristin Arakelyan

Noel - Adolphe Adam

Sleigh Ride - Leroy Anderson

Lullay, thou little tiny child - Cecil Armstrong Gibbs

Sortie on "Mendelssohn" - David Bednall

Chorale Prelude on 'Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich' - J.S. Bach

Here, King of Angels - J.S. Bach

Variations on 'Iletait une bergere' - Mark Blatchly

Ave Maria - Johannes Brahms

Prelude on 'Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht' - Guy Bovet

Prelude on 'In dulci jubilo' - Percy C. Buck

Choral Prelude on 'Gottes Sohn ist kommen' - Heinrich Buttstedt

Choral Prelude on 'Nun komm dir Heiden Heilland' - Dietrich Buxtehude

Aupres de la creche - Hedwige Chretein

Berceuse de l'Enfant Jesus - Hedwige Chretien

Puer nobis nascitur - Jean-Francois Dandrieu

Maurice Durufle - Prelude sur I'Introit de l"Eppiphanie - Maurice Dufufle

Prelude on "Gabriel's Message" - Iain Farrington

Toccatina on 'Angel we have heard on high' - Richard Elliot

Impression on "We Three Kings" - Alfred V. Fedak

Carol Symphony, extract from third movement - Victor Hely-Hutchinson

Passacaglia and Chorale on "The Truth from Above" - Benjamin Lamb

Chorale Prelude on "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" - Gottfried August Homilius

Chorale Prelude on O Jesulein sus, O Jesulein mild" - Michael Gotthardt Fischer

Prelude on 'Helmsley' - Lester Groom

A Fugal Flourish on 'Personent hodie' - Philip Moore

An Old Christmas Carol - Elizabeth Mousey

Adoration - Florence Beatrice Price

Chorale Prelude on "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" - Max Reger

Chorale Prelude on "Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern" - Max Reger

Pastorale - Camille Saint-Sains

Christmas Bells - Amy Summers

Chant de Noel - Johann Pachalbel

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-oxford-book-of-christmas-organ-music-book-2-9780193560635?q=%22Christmas%20Organ%20Music%2C%22%20Book%202&lang=en&cc=us#

Disclaimer: Regarding the photos and descriptions used above, we do not know whom the owners of these are, and infringement is not intended. Photos and descriptions are used for educational purposes only. We will gladly oblige any take down under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Photos and descriptions are used under the allowance made for "fair use" under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. We will oblige any takedown request of any photo on this blog in compliance with the DMCA.

Large Christmas Works: Part 6: A Working List Modern - Present

Large Christmas Works: Part 6: A Working List Modern - Present

Updated Dec. 31, 2023

Editor's Note: This list was originally in one blog post but due to the amount of YouTube videos we embed, the post would take a long time to load on some browsers, so we have divided it into six parts by classical music period. We have kept the same introduction for each post.

Previous Post: Twentieth Century

We spend so much time focusing on Christmas carols on this blog and our social media. The carol is the namesake of our blog. However, I bet composers of larger Christmas works are saying, "What about us?"

About the list

So here is another working list as we attempt to chronicle large Christmas works and medleys. I bet there is an annotated bibliography done by some great scholar hidden in some hidden corner of a university library, I wanted to present not just a list but an audio/video of the piece so that it is readily available for the listener. 

Although the three-minute mark is more of a post-advent-of-recording phenomenon, I have used it as our mark for what makes a larger Christmas work. Some pieces are just above and others way above. There are some that are so famous, we had to include them even if they were under three minutes.

As you know, we feature a lot of winter-themed classical music across our social media and blog, but sadly, we will not include them here because it would be an endless list. So, Sergei Prokofiev's Troika's "Sleigh Ride" or even Leopold Morzart's "Sleigh Ride" will not be included. If the winter piece mentions Christmas will be the exception.

About Medleys

I was hesitant to use the various Christmas carol medleys out there, but I think the study of the medley is an important one. In the mariachi world that I was once part of, there are a number of medleys called "popourri" in Spanish. There some really good ones, and some not so good. I think the main marker of a good quality medley is the transition, although sly modulations are also impressive. While you're making the transition, can the arranger give a prelude of the next song while still in the former?

O Magnum mysterium

We also hesitated to include "O Magnum mysterium," as well as o antiphons. However, with "O Magnum mysterium" being one of the most famous Christmas texts, we just could not. However, we limited their inclusion only to those composition over three minutes or if they had multiple movements.

Chronology

Those works which I do not have a date for, I have put at the bottom while I research the date. I have use dates of publication or first recording or but a "before" date using the date of the video. For some composers in which we do not know the date of publication of the work, we put the date of death of the composer's death to help the reader in placing in time, or we just posted the year the video was posted.

Obviously, there is a lot of Christmas works out there that has not been recorded or are in audio-only and have not been posted to YouTube. See our list of Lost Christmas Music.

Also, some Christmas works do not have a full video of the entire piece, so I have only posted the first video of the composition hoping you will go to YouTube to see the rest of the videos/movements. For example, John Rutter's Dancing Day, I did not post a video of the entire work, but just the first movement. If later find a video of the work in its entirety, will replace the video we have with the video of the entire work.

Yes, this is a rabbit hole we gone down and this list will probably never be complete.

However, from what I have, it is a good look at the trajectory of Christmas music in the choral and classical world from Bach's Christmas Oratorio to Patrick Hawes' The Nativity and Bob Chilcott's Christmas Oratorio.

Please send corrections on dates of publication or premiere to christmascarolsblog@gmail.com or message us on our social media.

2000 Modern to Present

Twentieth Century

Romantic Period

Classical Period

Baroque Period

The Renaissance

2001

Overture on French Carols, Philip Lane

2001 or earlier

Jesu Carols, Stephen Paulus

1. Jesu's Lyfelyne

2. The Ship Carol

3. Waye Not his Cribb

4. The Neighbors of Bethlehem

2001 or earlier

Canticum Novum, Stephen Paulus

1. Gideon

2. Ring out Yes Crystal Spheres

3. In the Moon of Wintertime

4. Christmas Day

6. Hodie Christus natus Est

7. I sing the birth

8. Christ is the morning star

9. Be merry

2001

"The Dream Isaiah Saw" commissioned by the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh and composed in 2001 by Glenn L. Rudolph

2001

A Christmas Suite, Barker

2002

A Christmas Fantasy, Ron Goodwin

2004

Happy Holidays Medley

2005

 

Basque Christmas Suite, Aita Madina 

Christmas Eve, Daniel Pickham

2007

O magnum mysterium, Marcus Paus

2007

The Strathclyde Motets – O Radiant Dawn (2007), for a cappella S.A.T.B. choir, James MacMillan

2007

O magnum mysterium, Simon Wawer

2007 or earlier

Snowcarols, William Ferris

1. The snow lies thick upon the earth tonight

2. The snow lay on the ground

3. In the bleak mid-winter

4. See amid the winter snow

5. Christmas Eve

2007

Manchester Carols, Sasha Johnson Manning

1. The Carol Singers' Carol

2. Mirabile Dictu

3. The Advent Carol

4. Christmas Flowers

5. The Trees

7. Let it be cold

8. A Miracle

9. An Angel

10. New Boy born

11. The Gold of Straw

12. Mary's Carol

13. Each Child's Name

14. Call it Nazareth

15. We Believe

16. The Present Song

2007

A Christmas Overture - Nigel Hess, John Rutter

2008

Feast of Carols, Captain Cristina M. Moore Urrutia

2009 or earlier

Hodie, John Priddy

1. I, John

2.Adam lay Ibounden

3.Come Thou Precious Ransom

4. In the Kitchen

5. Christmas Eve

6. Christ is at Thy Portals

7. Gabriel's Cradle Song

8. O Magnum Mysterium

9 Creator of the Stars of Night

2009

Stella Natalis, Karl Jenkins

2009 or before

This Endris Night (Three Nativity Carols), Stephen Paulus 

2010

On Christmas Night, Bob Chilcott. Written for the choir of the University Christan Church in Austin, Texas.

2010

Prepare the Way, Margareta Jalkeus

2010 or before

Christmas Pudding, Peter Broadbent

2010 or before

Christmas Give, Rosephanye Powell

2010

Festive Overture 'The Joy of Christmas', Gordon Thornett (available from Faber Music)

2011 or earlier

A Christmas Cantata, Nils Lindberg

2011

Carol Fantasia, John Fox

2011

Scrooge, Bryan George Kelly

2011

Christmas Rush, Matthew Curtis

2011

O magnum mysterium, Charles H. Giffen

2012 or earlier

Cor Vivaldi - A Catalan Christmas Suite 1/9 - Greeting - Kirby Shaw - Oscar Boada

2012

Christmas Cantata, Steve Dobrogosz

2012 or earlier

Carols of the Nativity, Stephen Chatman

2012

O magnum mysterium, John J. Brackenborough

2012

Before the Ice (O magnum mysterium), Bob Chilcott

2012

A Canadian Brass Christmas Suite

2013

A Carol Fantasy, Peter Graham

2013

Incarnation, Thomas Hewitt Jones

2013

A Christmas Overture, Nigel Hess

2013 or earlier

A Christmas medley, Roy Moore 

2013 or earlier

Three Medieval Carols, Ronald Corp

2013

American Christmas, Z. Randall Stroope

2013 or earlier

Holiday Suite, Paul Reale

2014

Christmas-Carol Suite, André van Vliet

2014 or earlier

A Christmas Suite, Stephen Bulla

2015 or sooner

O come, Emmanuel, Alan Bullard

1. Prelude

2. Advent Responsory I

3. Hymn, the Advent of Our God

4. O Wisdom/O Sapientia

5. Where shall Wisdome be Found?

6. O Lord of Lords / O Adonaii

7. Come Thou Long-Expected Jesu

8. O Root of Jesse / O Radix Jesse

9. There is a Rose-Tree

10. O key of David / O Calvis David

11. Earth Grown Old

12. Hymn, They Kingdome come! On 

13. O morning star / O Oriens

14. Chanticleer

15. O King of the Nations / O Rex Gentium

16. Hymn, Joy to the World

17. And they shall call his name...

18. O Emmanuel

19. Gabriel's Message

20. And Art Thou Come with us to...

21. Advent Responsory II

22. Hymn, Lo! He Comes with Cloud...

2015 or earlier

A Christmas Rondel, Philip Spratley

2015 or earlier

Ten Carols for Christmas, Alan Bullard

1. A baby so Small, a Message so Great
2. A boy si born in Bethlehem (Puer Natus)
3. And all the Stars Looked Down
4. Hillside Carol
5. The Gracious Gift
6. This Night
7. Rose of Such Virtue
8. Child in the manger, Lord of All
9. Star as Bright as Day
10. Merrily Did the Shepherds Blow

2014 or earlier

A Christmas Carol Fantasy, arranged by Paul Campbell

2014 or earlier

Christmas Carol Suite - arr. Richard Price

2015 or sooner

Four Christmas Carols, Gordon Getty    

Call the Children
The Snow Child
Run to the Window
Candles on the Tree

2016

Three Pastorales on a German Carol, Carson Cooman

2016

Wenceslas, Bob Chilcott

2016

My Perfect Stranger, Bob Chilcott

2016 or sooner

Seven Advent Antiphons, Gabriel Jackson

2016

A Little Carol's Symphony on Traditional Themes, Fabio Ciofini

2016 or earlier

A Christmas Suite, Del Borgo

2016

A Carol Symphony, Dolf van der Linden

2017 or earlier

Burning River Nutcracker, Arranger: Dean Sorenson Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

2017 or earlier

Serenity (O magnum mysterium) , Ola Gjeilo

2017 or sooner

International Carol Suites: Carols of Europe - Mark Hayes

2017

Christmas Carol Suite, Paul Loucas

2018 (first performance)

Make We Merry, David Bednall

1. Make we merry

2. The time draws near

3. The Christ-child lay on Mary’s lap

4

All this night shrill chanticleer

5

Moonless darkness stands between

6

Sweet was the song the Virgin sang

7 Let others look for pearl and gold

8 Make we joy now   

  

2019 or earlier

'Twas the Night Before Christmas, Christmas Suite by Mark Brymer

2019

Three Christmas Carols, George Arthur

I. Of a maiden

II. Susanni

III. Balulalow

2019 or earlier

Five Carols, Ben Parry

1. The Linden Tree Carol

2. O, can you not her?

3. Taladh Chriosta

4. The Wexford Carol

5. When Christ was born

2019

Five Carols for SATB and pieano, Ben Parry

Christmas Oratorio, Bob Chilcott

A Winter's Night, Howard Ionascu

2020 or before

O magnum mysterium, Michael John Trotta

2020 or before

Waltz of the Carols, Sean O'Loughlin

2020 or earlier

Festive Christmas Suite - adapt. Yves Schumacher (Luxembourg Military Band - Brass Ensemble)

2021

The Christmas Story, Thomas Hewitt Jones

Commissioned by the Canto Deo Choirs

2021 or earlier

A Christmas Carol, Benedict Sheehan

2021

Celebration! (In Dulci Jubilo) from 'A Renaissance Christmas' (Wind Band) Kevin Norbury

2021

Christmas Oratorio, James Macmillan

2022 or earlier

Gift of the Magi, Richard E. Brown

2022

Yuletide!, Steve Dobrogosz

2022 or before

All these things, Richard Peat

2022

No video.

The Journey of the Magi, Paul Campbell

2022 or before

Christmas Oratorio, Bob Chilcott

2023 or earlier

The Nativity, Patrick Hawes

2023

Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus (with narration), Vincent Oppido

Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus (with orchestra only), Vicent Oppido

2023

Concertino di Natale for piano, Rihards Dubra

Appalachian Winter Full CD --- A Cantata for Christmas

Christmas Medley, Arranged by Victor Lenzon

Christmas Medley, arr. Christian Kolonovitz

Slavic Chorale and Orchestra Pavel Kravchuk, Conductor arr. Christian Kolonovitz Carols: 

1. Allelujah (Uruguay) 

2. Fum Fum Fum (Spain) 

3. Nu Ar Det Jul Igen (Sweden) 

4. Corramos, corramos (Venezuela) 

5. Pujdem Spolu (Czech Republic) 

6. Dormi, Dormi (Italy) 

7. Kling, Glockchen (Germany) 

8. Joy to the World (J.F. Handel)

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Christmas Medley

Christmas Waltzes, Arranger: Angela Morley

Sing A Christmas Carol,  arr. Gary Fry

Auld Lang Syne Variations, Joseph Holbrooke

Christmas Prism, Composer: Robert W. Smith

Santa's Angry Elves

Carol Fantasy - Eric Ball trs. Stephen Bulla

Caldara - Christmas Cantata

Three Christmas Pictures, Philip Lane

Wassail Dances, Philip Lane

Old Christmas Music, Suite for Orchestra, Philip Lane

The Night Before Christmas, Philip Lane

Mystery of Bethlehem, Healey Willan

Appalachian Carols, Keven Siegfried

The Birth of Christ, Clarance Lucas

New World Carols, Op. 515, Phillip Brooks

Constant Christmas, Amy Beach

Date Unknown

No video

Advent Cantata, Daniel Pinkham

Date Unknown

No video.

Christmas Jubilation, Daniel Pinkham

Date Unknown

No Video

Christian Symphonies

Date Unknown

O magnum mysterium, Matinas do Natal, José Maurício Nunes Garcia

Date Needed

The Midnight of your Birth, Bob Chilcott

1 The Angel did Fly 4:04
2 The Blackbird with One White Feather 2:34
3 Kindness (A raven flew to Bethlehem) 3:44
4 The Midnight of your Birth 3:13
5 The Rain-Tree Carol

Date needed

Snow Angel, Sarah Quartel

1. Prologue First Angel 

2. Creatures of Light Second Angel 

3. God Will Give Orders 

4. Sweet Child Third and First Angels 

5. Snow Angel