Sunday, September 29, 2024

2024: Working List of New Classical and Choral Christmas and Hanukkah Recordings


2024: Working List of New Classical and Choral Christmas and Hanukkah Recordings

Compiled by R. Rojas
Updated: November 23, 2024

The descriptions below are those of record labels or the ensembles, and are not reviews by the Christmas Carols Blog. Some have been altered for better web viewing. Don't fret, we left the King's English intact. Where available, links to the ensemble or record label have been included to make purchasing easier. We will be adding some links where they have been left off, as well as adding tracks, as we get the information. 

If we missed your new recording, email us at: christmascarolblog@gmail.com.

List alphabetized by album title. If album is dedicated to a composer in the album's title, we alphabetized if the composer is listed first in the title using the first or last name depending on how given in the album's title.



Over 35 years after his legendary first recording of Johann Sebastian Bach's famous Christmas Oratorio in 1987, Sir John Eliot Gardiner performed this piece live with his ensembles, English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, at the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields in London on two evenings in December 2022. Available as a 2 CD/Blu-ray disc set, featuring a 76-page booklet in a capbox.

Deutsche Grammophon

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/j-s-bach-christmas-oratorio-john-eliot-gardiner-13591


Britten - Missa Brevis - Ceremony of Carols and Williams - Mass - Aachener Domchor

Aulos Media


Cecily Beer says, ‘This new music from Thomas Hewitt-Jones has been the biggest joy to learn and record. We had both agreed we wanted something that sparkled but with familiar melodies which people know and love. For me, the upbeat tracks, Sussex Carol and Bell Carol, are exactly what I want to be listening to while dancing around my kitchen making Christmas lunch; while the final track, Silent Night, has the perfect balance of joy that comes with this sublime new string arrangement, and nostalgia for a melody we all know and love so well.’

Sussex Carol

A rippling harp introduces the famous Christmas tune with a ‘spinning wheel’ of broken chords with forward motion and delicate emotion. The intensity builds with interplay between harp soloist and strings during thematic development which propels the piece towards a satisfying conclusion.

Silent Night

This slow, reflective setting features a rippling version of the melody in the harp underpinned by warm, expressive strings. As the track unfolds a relaxed calmness expands to a quietly emotional feel as we modulate up a tone, leading us gently yet optimistically forward as we approach Christmas.

Bell Carol

The melody of Bell Carol comes from the song “Shchedryk” written by the Ukrainian composer Mylola Leontovych in 1914. We hope this new arrangement for harp and strings can be enjoyed by a wide audience during this challenging time globally.



Choral, vocal and piano works performed by the soloists’ choir Jervaulx Singers and Charlie Gower-Smith with pianist Alison Frances Gill.

Editor's Note: Although not a Christmas album, it does contain Jonathan Dove's seven-songed, "The Passing of the Year."

https://conviviumrecords.co.uk/product/les-chansons-des-roses/#



A collection of orchestral music for Christmas by British composers, curated by Philip Lane, ‘the doyen of light music’ (Gramophone), expertly played by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
  1. Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-47): Overture to a Pantomime (1946)
  2. Gordon Thornett (b.1942): A Child's Christmas (2016) *
  3. Adam Saunders (b.1968): The Magical Kingdom (2003) *
  4. Thomas Hewitt Jones (b.1984): Christmas Party (2016) *Solo Violin: Simon Hewitt Jones
  5. Roy Moore (b.1948): Santa's Sleigh Ride (2019)
  6. Bryan Kelly (b.1934): A Song of Sixpence (2020)
  7. Adam Saunders (b.1968): Journey to Lapland (2020)
  8. John Lanchbery (1923-2003): Tales of Beatrix Potter – excerpts
    1. Introduction
    2. Tale of Jemima Puddleduck
    3. The Picnic The Picnic (continued) & Finale
  9. Thomas Hewitt Jones (b. 1984): Overture: The Age of Optimism (2023)
  10. Philip Lane (b.1950) & Ian Nicholls (b.1960) Suite: The Adventures of Captain Pugwash (1999) **
Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Barry Wordsworth & Gavin Sutherland *

City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Julian Bigg **



German baritone Benjamin Appl celebrates Christmas through the enduring tradition of Bach chorales and popular carols, from as far afield as Germany, Austria, America, Britain, Sweden and France. 

For this truly universal Christmas celebration he is accompanied by Germany's most famous children's choir, of which he was a member in his youth, the Munich Radio Orchestra and instrumentalists (including his own mother on guitar): "Christmas evokes intense memories and emotions in all of us. It takes us back to our childhood: that sense of magic and excitement, so often reawakened by the sight of a traditional Nativity scene, or the lights on a Christmas tree, or by hearing Christmas carols…It was with all these images in mind that I returned to my home town to record this album with 'my' boys’ choir. 

When, after more than twenty years, I found myself back among the choristers and heard the familiar sound, the emotion was very intense."


https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/christmas-album





A celebration of the Christmas season, from Advent through the New Year, in music from the courts of 15th-century France and Burgundy. Music by Guillaume Du Fay, Johannes Regis, Jacob Obrecht, Josquin Desprez, Antoine Brumel, Adrian Willaert, and others.


This is the first recording of music from Ripon Cathedral under their present director of music, Ronny Krippner.

It is a lovely collection of popular carols which this newly assembled choir perform admirably.

https://www.prioryrecords.co.uk/Ripon-Cathedral-Choir-Krippner-Carols



This is Albion’s third Christmas album with William Vann and his Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. It mainly comprises carols and fantasias of the first half of the twentieth century, by Ralph Vaughan Williams, his friends and former students. These are carols for choral, rather than for congregational, singing.

The more contemporary exception is a new carol by William Vann himself, composed for the recording, setting a poem by the poet and composer Ivor Gurney.

Two of the longer works can justly be called ‘fantasias’: Vaughan Williams’s well-known "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" and Gustav Holst’s "Christmas Day," which deserves to be every bit as popular.

There are premiere recordings of works by Rebecca Clarke, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs and Gerald Finzi in addition to William Vann’s Carol – and there are even two first recordings of carols from Herefordshire by Vaughan Williams set for a capella SATB. Other carols are by John Ireland, Herbert Howells and Elizabeth Maconchy.

The majority of the carols and fantasias are unaccompanied, but six of the 16 works are accompanied on the organ by Jamie Riches. The distinguished bass-baritone Ashley Riches joins the choir for three works.

It was recorded at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, London on 12 and 13 February 2024.

https://rvwsociety.com/a-christmas-fantasia/



Gjermund Larsen Trio´s “Christmas Sessions” is a warm and intimate Christmas album. The trio lets the melodies shine with a strong folk music identity.

After nearly 20 years of playing their own compositions, Gjermund Larsen Trio is now releasing their first Christmas album. In a beautiful, folk-inspired musical landscape, the trio interprets well-known and beloved Christmas songs in their own unique way.

Gjermund Larsen Trio, consisting of Gjermund Larsen (fiddle), Andreas Utnem (harmonium/piano), and Sondre Meisfjord (double bass), has received high praise, acclaim, and numerous awards since their debut release in 2008, including a Norwegian Grammy award (2008), the German Phonographic Critics Award (2015), and the TONO Composer Award (2016).

The trio had long wanted to make a Christmas album but hadn’t found the time to realize the project until now. When Gjermund Larsen Trio performed with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir on their Christmas album “Veni – Songs of Christmas II” in 2022, it sparked even more motivation to begin their own Christmas project.

This fall, with just three recording days available, the trio entered Amper Tone Studio. The process was inspiring, intense, and productive. Gjermund Larsen explains:

– We had sketches, ideas, and thoughts about how we wanted to shape the music, but it took its final form and shape during three intense studio days. It’s both daunting and exciting to release music that everyone knows and has a strong attachment to. We selected the Christmas music we like best and gave it our own signature. Releasing Christmas music now also feels right for reasons beyond the purely musical ones. Many Christmas songs carry a powerful message of peace, something that is unfortunately more relevant than ever in these times!

With harmonium featured in all tracks, they create a warm and beautiful Christmas atmosphere. The intimate arrangements fit the repertoire well, keeping the overall feel natural and unpretentious. Gjermund continues:

– We believe this release will make an important contribution to the ever-growing jungle of Christmas albums. The album is instrumental, and the arrangements are original and unembellished. We play with a strong folk music identity, which we believe many will find familiar. In many ways, Christmas music today is everyone’s folk music.

1. Det kimer nå til julefest 03:22
2. Jeg er så glad hver julekveld 03:29
3. Stille natt 04:01
4. O jul med din glede 02:29
5. O helga Natt 04:21
6. Home for christmas 03:55
7. Du grønne glitrende tre 02:19
8. Det hev ei rose sprunge 02:56
9. Joleklokker over jordi 03:20
10. O Little town of Bethlehem 03:25
11. Deilig er Jorden 02:30

https://grappa.no/en/albums/heilo/christmas-sessions/


CHRISTMAS TIME (Bavarian Radio Chorus, Munich Radio Orchestra, G. Sutherland)

Christmas classics not only delight us in our own living rooms – they are also at home in the cinema. What can be experienced here at Christmas often goes straight to the heart and thus has the chance to become an “evergreen”. The Munich Radio Orchestra presents “Christmas Time”. Under the direction of Gavin Sutherland, the Munich Radio Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Chorus present selected soundtracks from Christmas cinema classics in widescreen sound.

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – arr. G. Sutherland for choir and orchestra)

2. Home Alone: Somewhere in my Memory – John Williams

3. It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (arr. G. Sutherland for choir and orchestra), Edward Pola and George Wyle

4. Sleigh Ride – Leroy Anderson

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=900859



Following their first successful album on Signum Records, the Bevan Family Consort present a collection of Christmas Carols and compositions for Advent. The collection includes familiar works such as Darke’s setting of ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’, which is presented here in a new arrangement by Francis Bevan and was as works newly transcribed for this album such as Palestrina’s ‘Missa sine nominee a5’ and Weelkes ‘Gloria in excelsis Deo’. ‘Lute-book lullaby’ also features, composed by original Bevan Family Choir founder David Bevan.

1 Alleluia. Veni Domine noli tardare
2 Rorate cæli (Transcr. Francis Bevan)
3 In the Bleak Midwinter (Arr. Francis Bevan)
4 Missa sine nomine a5 (Transcr. Francis Bevan): Kyrie
5 The Holly and the Ivy (Arr. H. Walford Davies)
6 Missa sine nomine a5 (Transcr. Francis Bevan): Gloria
7 There is a Flower
8 Missa sine nomine a5 (Transcr. Francis Bevan): Credo
9 The Holy Boy
10 Missa sine nomine a5 (Transcr. Francis Bevan): Sanctus
11 Gloria in excelsis Deo (Transcr. Francis Bevan)
12 Missa sine nomine a5 (Transcr. Francis Bevan): Agnus Dei
13 There is no rose
14 Ave Maria … virgo serena
15 Lute-book Lullaby
16 Benedicamus Domino
17 The Virgin Unspotted
18 Here is the Little Door
19 O magnum mysterium (Transcr. Francis Bevan)
20 Jesu dulcis memoria

Christmas with the Bevan Family Consort - Signum Records


Discover Dan Locklair’s From East to West and other choral music, performed by The Choir of Royal Holloway, Onyx Brass and organist David Goode, directed by Rupert Gough.

Editor's Note: Although not a Christmas album, it does contain recordings of Locklairs "Love Came Down at Christmas" and his Three Christmas Motets: "Quem Vidistis," "O Magnum Mysterium," "Hodie Christus Nactus Est."

https://conviviumrecords.co.uk/product/dan-locklair-from-east-to-west/#





Long associated with the music of Gabriel Jackson, in 2020 the Choir of Merton College, Oxford and their director Benjamin Nicholas won a BBC Music Magazine Award for their recording of The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, a work which grounded its narrative of Christ’s suffering and humanity’s redemption in texts associated with the history of the College.

The Christmas Story, again with a libretto assembled by the College’s chaplain the Revd Dr Simon Jones, takes the same approach to tell the story of Christ’s birth. Spanning the period from Advent to Candlemas, it mixes biblical narrative with liturgical texts and four specially commissioned poems by members of the College.

The new poems are given to the College’s girl choristers (an independent part of its choral foundation since 2016), while the main body of the work is carried by the full choir and by an ensemble of flute, percussion, strings, saxophone and three trombones – the latter recalling the hieratic sonorities of the seventeenth-century works by Schütz and others which Jackson had in mind while composing The Christmas Story.

GLOBAL RELEASE DATE:
8 NOVEMBER 2024


The legendary Brass music Ensemble German Brass is turning 50 this year. Their legendary Christmas albums are now available in one box. Get into the Christmas spirit and enjoy the splendor of the festivities with these wonderful recordings.



Opheim, Tillung, Økland, Brunborg and Eilertsen revitalize beautiful and forgotten folk tunes and Christmas hymns on “Helgasong”.

“Helgasong” is a revitalization of religious folk tunes from Voss, Hardanger, Eksingedalen, and Øygarden. These Christmas hymns have been sung in Norway for hundreds of years, presented here in local variants with new arrangements. The older song tradition forms the backdrop—an individual voice singing alone, or harmonized voices in old homes. 

Hymn texts that have held significant meaning for many, and therefore still remain today. “In deepest darkness, the sky becomes clear,” begins the second verse of “Now come God’s angels with greetings from the sky,” written by Elias Blix. These Advent and Christmas hymns tell us of the light being reborn each Advent and Christmas, at the Winter Solstice, when it is darkest in the north. Berit Opheim explains:

– The background story is a desire to highlight and share local folk tunes in Christmas hymns as part of Norway’s song tradition. Over the past couple of years, we’ve discovered several folk tunes in older notations, including those transcribed by Olav Sande. Beautiful melodies that are a joy to sing and to bring forward in new arrangements.

Some of these folk tunes haven’t been used in decades, making it an even greater pleasure to bring them out of dormancy. The ensemble includes Irene Tillung (accordion), Mats Eilertsen (double bass), Nils Økland (fiddles), Tore Brunborg (saxophone), and Berit Opheim (vocals). All the arrangements were collaboratively developed by the musicians, and the recording took place in August 2024 at Raundalskyrkja in Voss. Opheim continues:

– The recording process was very positive, with good days and a warm atmosphere in a room with rich acoustics, in the wooden church in Raundalen, Voss. The instrumentation was chosen based on the expression we wanted for the different songs, and to create variety on the album. The arrangements are largely collaborative, with much of the music being improvised.

The concert tour for Helgasong begins on December 15 in Ål Church, followed by performances in Kabuso, Øystese on 16.12, Mariakirken, Bergen on 17.12, Vangskyrkja, Voss on 18.12, and two concerts on 19.12 in Eksingedalen Church and Dale Church.

Berit Opheim emphasizes the central message, concluding:

– Regardless of what one believes, or what one finds in the texts, or likes, many people experience a sense of community and belonging when Christmas hymns are performed, especially when they participate in the singing. Singing often creates a strong sense of togetherness. 

We hope to convey the closeness in these hymns, which have been so important to many for centuries. Intimacy, tenderness, grandeur, joy, and light—the hymns

1. No koma Guds englar 4:47
2. Den fagraste rosa er funni 5:20
3. I denne søte juletid 4:43
4. Oppå land 1:30
5. Eg er so glad kvar jolekveld 3:52
6. Fager er jordi 3:52
7. Fryd dig du Kristi brud 3:25
8. Her det ny som på jorderig skjedte 3:42
9. Eit barn er født i Betlehem 5:06Dei to systrena 1:24
10. Fra himlen høyt 3:39

https://grappa.no/en/albums/heilo/helgasong/

Following on from the critically acclaimed Anthems, Hymns and Gloria (8.574130) released in 2020, Nicholas Childs and the Black Dyke Band return to the music of John Rutter with this album of Christmas carols arranged for brass. 

The Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus is also featured on O Clap Your Hands, Nativity Carol and Te Deum. Includes twelve world premiere recordings.

Release Date: 8th Nov 2024


https://www.delphianrecords.com/products/gabriel-jackson-the-christmas-story


We are thrilled to present this CD of music by Liz Dilnot Johnson in her 60th birthday year. We have loved working closely with Liz for several years, as she explains in the booklet:

“This album celebrates my creative relationship with Ex Cathedra over the last nine years and as [a] composer-in-residence since 2021. The recording was made in three intense days at the Bradshaw Hall (Royal Birmingham Conservatoire), the warm but clearly defined acoustic revealing the choir’s exceptional vocal skills.

“The first eight tracks span nearly forty years of my composing life, up to A Wild Midwinter Carol [2022] – the first of my new set of ‘eco-songs’. The second half of the album presents When A Child Is A Witness – requiem for refugees – one of the largest and most ambitious collaborations with Ex Cathedra so far, and winner of an Ivors Composer Award 2022.”

Editors notes: This album includes four Christmas tracks:

For This Babe

Magi

Gentle Flame

A wild midwinter carol

Blake Reimagined (a la Christmas according to the composer)

Christmas Carols Blog: Our thanks to the composer for informing us of the Christmas pieces on this album.

https://excathedra.co.uk/recordings/johnson-gentle-flame/



Heinrich Schütz continued to set himself challenges throughout his long career. Of all the genres of sacred music that he undertook, the oratorio offers us his most contrasting ideas. His "Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi" (1664) is in many respects the model for the genre that would later be employed by the musicians of Johann Sebastian Bach's generation; the score that Vox Luminis use for this recording has been reconstructed from manuscript sources in the Düben Collection in Uppsala. 

The album is completed with a number of particularly festive motets for the Christmas period by Heinrich Schütz and his illustrious contemporary Andreas Hammerschmidt.

https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/schutz-weihnachtshistorie






The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square are joined by award winning Indian American actor and singer Michael Maliakel (star of Disney's Aladdin on Broadway), and Lesley Nicol (known for role as Mrs. Patmore in Downton Abbey), to present a gorgeous collection of beloved Christmas songs as well as a reading of the Christmas story in Luke 2. Recorded live in 2023 in the Conference Center at Salt Lake City UT, for a collective audience of roughly 60,000.

Reflecting the composer’s life journey, Alexander Campkin‘s choral music is a fascinating odyssey from darkness to light. Recorded by the young voices of the Phoenix Consort.

Editor's Note: Although not a Christmas album, it does contain some Christmas work including "Sleep, Holy Babe" and "Tommy's Carol."

https://conviviumrecords.co.uk/product/i-saw-eternity/#


‘Like to a flower’ is the second album dedicated to the music of Annabel Rooney, following the success of ‘As a seed bursts forth’, released in 2019. These beautiful and approachable settings of traditional texts bring a fresh and original voice to the growing repertoire of sacred choral music by female composers. The disc opens with a ‘mini’ Evensong: Introit; Preces; Psalm; Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis; Responses and Anthem, together with a Mass, anthems, and motets for all the seasons of the church’s year.

Annabel Rooney read music at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and continued her studies in Cambridge with postgraduate research on eighteenth-century opera. Rooney turned to composition comparatively late, when her youngest child was starting school, mostly writing choral music.

Her music has been performed by many choirs in the UK and overseas, including Exeter and Ely Cathedrals, Bath Abbey, York Minster, the Chapel Royal, and King’s Voices and broadcast on Choral Evensong on Radio 3. Her music is published by Selah, and Oxford University Press, notably in the ‘Breath of Song’ anthology of music by women composers.

Compiler's note: This recording contains the winter piece "'Tis  winter now," and the Christmas piece "Love Came Down at Christmas."

https://www.regent-records.co.uk/product/like-to-a-flower-choral-music-by-annabel-rooney/



Christmas chez Liszt, imagined by one of the UK's most exciting piano virtuosos. Composed and compiled by Liszt between 1873 and 1881, the 'Christmas Tree' suite has more to offer than carol transcriptions and twinkly sketches of festive joy. It begins with one of the composer's typically free transcriptions of a plainsong Christmas hymn harmonised in the 17th century by Michael Praetorius, and takes in the procession of the Magi towards Bethlehem and a lullaby at the cradle, but also cuts away to contemporary times with a sparkling scherzo to depict the lighting of candles on the tree. 

The last four of the suite's twelve movements bear only tenuous connections to the festive season, yet they bring some of the most memorable inspirations of all: evocations of evening bells, of 'Yesteryear' in the composer's searching late style, and then Hungarian- and Polish-themed themed pieces. 

As Mark Viner remarks in his detailed booklet introduction to the album, there is nothing quite like Weihnachtsbaum even in Liszt's own prodigiously varied catalogue. It is impossible to categorise, and yet every bar sounds uniquely Lisztian. Perhaps even less familiar to most listeners, on account not least of it's sheer scale, is the vast three-part oratorio which Liszt based on the life of Christ. 

Liszt made solo-piano transcriptions of two Christmas-themed orchestral movements from the oratorio's first part, picturing in turn the Shepherds at the Manger and, once more, the 'march' of the Magi. In complement, Mark Viner presents the composer's pianistic translation of the ancient carol Christus natus est. Mark Viner's recordings for Piano Classics have attracted international acclaim. 'The melodies in his hands are not simply played, they are sung on the piano!' (Fanfare, reviewing a previous Liszt album, PCL0116). 'If Alkan could play it as Viner does here, no wonder he was the only pianist in front of whom Liszt was hesitant of playing.' (Gramophone, reviewing Viner's latest volume in his Alkan cycle, PCL10275).


Franz Liszt's Weihnachtsbaum ('Christmas Tree') is an all-embracing impression of Christmas that includes traditional carols alongside childhood and adult views of the season. 

The dark chromaticism of Die Trauergondel II is a tribute to Wagner, contrasting with the brighter range and yearning lyrical lines of the Wiegenlied. Many of these works remained unpublished in Liszt's lifetime, and are genuine rarities even today.


Releases November 22, 2024.

Advent and Christmas are for many people a time for light and hope and warmth. Yet the world around us is cold and turbulent. Wars are being fought. People are fleeing from their homes. Children are dying. Thousands of people lack food and medicine. Our prayers are for peace. We sing "Beautiful is our Earth! Glorious is God’s heaven!" as a protest song for peace and justice, the world being unjust.

During Advent many of us are fond of the familiar and much-loved Christmas carols as we remember them from our childhood, and as they have been sung for generations. There are carols in these traditional arrangements on this album, but there are others in completely new arrangements, made specially for Uranienborg Vokalensemble and for this recording.

Christmas can be a festival that intensifies our feelings – what is good seems even better, and what hurts feels even more painful. Perhaps we have lost someone close to us: can we then sing "Oh, Christmas, so cheerful"? We know that there are people who look forward to Christmas but at the same time dread it, and we believe that Kjetil Bjerkestrand's arrangement brings out this element of equivocation and irony. The birth of Jesus – this is the message of Christmas! – a birth that changed the world for ever. May your Christmas be peaceful!



Following his album Christmas with Hope from 2020, violinist Daniel Hope wishes everyone a wonderful Christmas this year with this new version of the Christmas classic Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, in a version for violin and chamber orchestra.

https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/catalogue/products/have-yourself-a-merry-little-christmas-daniel-hope-13643



The resounding refrains of The Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford reverberate throughout A Lullaby Carol: Christmas from Christ Church, a rich tapestry of traditional and contemporary works celebrating the choir’s musical heritage, particularly from the 20th and 21st centuries. 

Highlights include the melodically and rhythmically rich “Make we joy now in this fest” and “All this time” by Sir William Walton, one of Christ Church’s most famous alumni, and Simon Preston’s timeless “There is no rose”. There are also two settings by former Organists of Christ Church: Stephen Darlington’s arrangement of “Silent Night”, and his successor Steven Grahl’s setting of “O nata lux”.

WILLIAM WALTON (1902–1983)
1. Make we joy now in this fest 3.48

ELIZABETH POSTON (1905–1987)
2. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree 3.13

SIMON PRESTON (1938–2022)
3. There is no rose 3.06

GILES SWAYNE (b. 1946)
4. Magnificat 4.10

PIERS CONNOR KENNEDY (b. 1991)
5. A Spotless Rose 4.06

WILLIAM WALTON
6. All this time 1.43

JUDITH WEIR (b. 1954); arr. David Maw (b. 1967)
7. Drop down, ye heavens, from above 1.55

TRADITIONAL; arr. David Maw (b. 1967)
8. I Saw Three Ships 2.50
9. Away in a Manger 3.29

GEORGE BAKER (b. 1951)
10. Toccata-Gigue on the Sussex Carol 5.02

DAVID MAW (b. 1967)
11. Lullay, lullay, litel child 4.32

PETER WARLOCK (1894–1930)
12. Benedicamus Domino 1.31

PIERS CONNOR KENNEDY
13. little tree 2.10
words: e e cummings (1894–1962)
14. Epiphany 2.10
words: Henry Vaughan (1621–1695)

FRANZ XAVIER GRUBER (1787–1863); arr. Stephen Darlington (b. 1952)
words: Josef Mohr (1792–1848), transl. John F. Young (1820–1885)
15. Silent night! Holy night! 3.12

STEVEN GRAHL (b. 1979)
16. O nata lux 2.18

JUDITH WEIR
17. Illuminare, Jerusalem 2.23

FRANCIS POTT (b. 1957)
18. Improvisation on Adeste, fideles 6.19

SPIRITUAL; arr. Robert L. Morris (b. 1941)
19. Glory to the newborn King 2.35

PETER WARLOCK; words: Bruce Blunt (1899–1957)
20. Bethlehem Down 4.36

CHERYL FRANCES-HOAD (b. 1980)
21. Good Day, Sir Christemas! 2.12

Avie Records

https://www.avie-records.com/releases/a-lullaby-carol-christmas-at-christ-church/


Johann Kuhnau (1670-1722), Bach's eternal 'predecessor' as Leipzig's Thomaskantor, has only been rediscovered in recent years and his true greatness has not yet been truly recognised.

He was highly respected by his contemporaries, however, and not just as a musician: he had a doctorate, worked as a lawyer, wrote satirical novels - a polymath... His musical oeuvre must have been extensive, much of it is lost.

It is therefore all the more pleasing that his magnificent Christmas cantata "Frohlocket, ihr Volker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden" ['Rejoice, ye nations, and shout for joy, ye heathen'] has been preserved. It opens the programme on this CD and, with its instrumentation and duration of over 25 minutes, surpasses many a great cantata by his famous successor.

The quality of his work is also evident in his second cantata "Uns ist ein Kind geboren" ['A child has been born to us']: it was long regarded as a work by Johann Sebastian Bach!

Peter Gortner with the chamber choir of the Christuskirche Karlsruhe and the orchestra L'arpa festante complements these two Kuhnau cantatas with well-known movements by Michael Praetorius and Johannes Eccard to create a festive Christmas CD.

1. Johann Kuhnau: Frohlocket, ihr Volker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden (Weihnachskantate) I. Chor: Frohlocket, ihr Volker, und jauchzet, ihr Heiden
2. II. Recitativo (Tenor): Halleluja, der Heiden Trost ist nunmehr da
3. III. Aria (Tenor): Kleines Kind und grober Held
4. IV. Recitativo (Alto): Wie danken wir dir doch vor diese unverdiente Gnade
5. V. Aria da Ciaconno (Alto): Willkommen, mein Leben, willkommen, mein Licht
6. VI. Chor: O Freuden Wort, mein Freund ist mein
7. Michael Praetorius: Der Morgenstern ist aufgedrungen
8. Wie schon leuchtet der Morgenstern
9. Johannes Eccard: Ubers Gebirg Maria geht (Motette)
10. Michael Praetorius: Resonet in laudibus (instrumental)
11. Johannes Eccard: Ubers Gebirg Maria geht (instrumental)
12. Johann Kuhnau: Uns ist ein Kind geboren (Weihnachtskantate) I. Sonata
13. II. Chor: Uns ist ein Kind geboren
14. III. Aria (Bass): Dein Geburtstag ist erschienen
15. IV. Chor: Ich will den Namen Gottes loben
16. V. Aria (Tenor): Jesu, dir sei Dank gesungen
17. VI. Recitativo (Alto): Immanuel, so wirst du dir gefallen lassen
18. VII. Aria (Alto): Jesu, dir sei Preis gesungen
19. VIII. Choral: Alleluja
20. Michael Praetorius: Es ist ein Ros entsprungenProper Music

https://propermusic.com/products/soloistskammerchorderchristuskirchekarlsruhelarpafestantepetergortner-unsisteinkindgeborenweihnachtskantaten



Barokk Boreal brings to light hidden and forgotten Christmas treasures by 17th-century poets from all around Norway. The album “JULETIDE” features a fascinating collection of wonderful and miraculous Christmas songs about winter, angels, stars, Christmas night, moonlight, the stable, the manger, fishing under the sun, and peace on earth.

The songwriters included on the album are Iver Brinch, Ingeborg Grytten, Samuel Bruun, Johan Brunsmand, Samuel Bugge, Oluff Lind, Peder Offvid, Petter Dass, and Dorothe Engelbretsdatter—small and great giants of their time, who saw their songs printed and shared with the world.

For each song, there’s often something like “To be sung as: A small child so joyfully.” These poets wrote lyrics to melodies they knew by heart and assumed the reader would as well. Barokk Boreal has sought and found these melodies—both in folk tradition and in written sources from the 1600s—uncovering the same melodic material from two different sources.

In true Barokk Boreal style, each Christmas song is presented as a musical tableau, weaving together the folk performance traditions with written sources from the 1600s. Both sources are rich in variations, and Barokk Boreal embraces this diversity, treating each “child” in each melody family as equally original and equally valuable. Cathrine sings from the written Baroque sources, Øyonn from folk traditions, while Vegar and Ulrik play across both traditions.

This time, the producer is early music veteran Rolf Lislevand.

“Christmas music and Christmas songs are among the most beautiful things we have. ‘Here and now’ and times gone by, woven together. Old, unknown songs, and new variations on familiar ones.”

Cathrine Jane Bothner-By shares: “Since we began Christmas concerts in 2015, new Norwegian Christmas and New Year’s songs from the 1600s have constantly come to light. We knew we’d encounter truly wonderful Christmas texts and melodies in this material. Yet it’s still like finding gold every time. Then comes the exciting task of arranging them, following the moods, finding different ways to use the four of us in Barokk Boreal, and trying to bring out the beauty and richness of it all.

We’re so glad to have completed this recording, so more people can enjoy this treasure. Here you’ll find atmosphere and storytelling, wonder, subtle humor, and a hope for peace on earth.”

1 Engelbretsdatters Julesang 02:48
2 Oluff Linds Nyttarsgave 03:09
3 Samuel Bruuns Juleode 03:38
4 Petter Dass Juleevangelie I 03:23
5 Petter Dass Juleevangelie II 05:07
6 Iver Brinchs Julevise 02:24
7 Offvids Trekongerssang 04:03
8 Brunsmands Julenattsang 03:39
9 Samuel Bugges Vinterrim 03:46
10 Ingeborg Gryttens Juledikt 03:11

https://grappa.no/en/albums/simax-classics/juletide-julesanger-av-norske-1600-tallsdiktere/



HOLIDAY JOY by Essential Voices USA, under the direction of acclaimed conductor Judith Clurman, offers a moving celebration of light, peace, and joy for the holiday season. 

This collection brings together three evocative works: Eight Days of Lights and Chanukah Joy and Peace, composed by Clurman and David Chase, and "The Holidays Are Here," co-written by Clurman and Wesley Whatley. 

Through a blend of Jewish liturgical traditions and festive Christmas spirit, the album illuminates the universal need for light and hope in dark times.

With vivid instrumental arrangements for piano, clarinet, and cello, and stunning performances by Essential Voices USA, HOLIDAY JOY creates a sense of warmth and unity, inviting listeners to reflect on freedom, resilience, and shared celebration. 

Each piece not only honors its historical and cultural origins but also breathes new life into holiday music, making this album an inspiring and joyful experience for all.

https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy1987/


Following it's first album for Linn - a recording of motets by the English expatriates Philips and Dering - The Choir of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, travels a few centuries forward, turning now to the vibrant and engaging choral music by it's Director of Music, Matthew Martin. 

The album showcases a collection of works written between 2004 and 2022, which includes some world premiere recordings. 

From simple mass and motet settings to more complex festival anthems and canticles, the music is broadly and unabashedly composed as an extension to a familiar twentieth-century English idiom, his varied style traversing both the Anglican and Catholic traditions with hints of less familiar European chant and polyphony. 

This is music choirs will wholeheartedly add to their repertoire.

Editor's Note: Although not a Christmas album, it does contain the carols Adam lay ybounden," "I sing of a maiden," "Angelus ad Virinem,"

Linn Records



Konstantin Reinfeld and Benyamin Nuss are releasing “Merry Harmonica”, a Christmas album that presents well-known Christmas carols in new, surprising arrangements. The idea arose spontaneously during a performance in Dubai at EXPO 2021. Reinfeld, who has been fascinated by the harmonica since his youth, brings the instrument to the album with emotional depth. The repertoire includes classic Christmas songs and international hits, reinterpreted in different styles such as jazz, blues and Latin. Prominent guest musicians such as Alma Naidu and Marc Marshall further enrich the album.

1 Jingle bells
2 Santa baby
3 Snowman
4 Have yourself a Merry little Christmas
5 Mary's boy child
6 O Christmas tree
7 Go tell it on the mountain
8 Leise rieselt der Schnee
9 Christmas time is here
10 Jingle bell rock
11 Happy Xmas (War is over)
12 Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
13 The Christmas song
14 Silent night

The RIAS Kammerchor celebrates the magic of Christmas! This reissue of two historic albums by the famous Berlin choir revisits some of the loveliest pieces of music ever devoted to the Nativity and the tutelary figure of Mary.

CD1
FELIX MENDELSSOHN BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
1 | Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden op.79 Nr.1
UWE GRONOSTAY (1939-2008)
2 | Die Nacht ist vorgedrungen
JOHANN ECCARD (1553-1611)
3 | Ich lag in tiefster Todesnacht
MAX BRUCH (1838-1920)
4 | In der Christnacht op.60 Nr.1
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833-1897)
5 | O Heiland, reiß die Himmel auf op.74 Nr. 2
JOHANN ECCARD
6 | Nun liebe Seel, nun ist es Zeit
7 | Über’s Gebirg Maria geht
ARVO PÄRT (b.1935)
8 | Magnificat
ANTON BRUCKNER (1824-1896)
9 | Ave Maria
10 | Virga Jesse
FRANCIS POULENC (1899-1963)
11 | Salve Regina
EDVARD GRIEG (1843-1907)
12 | Ave maris stella
JAN PIETERSZOON SWEELINCK (1562-1621)
13 | Hodie Christus natus est
MICHAEL PRAETORIUS (1571-1621)
14 | In dulci jubilo
15 | Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
FRANCIS POULENC
Quatre Motets pour le temps de Noël
16 | 1. O magnum mysterium
17 | 2. Quem vidistis pastores dicite
18 | 3. Videntes stellam
19 | 4. Hodie Christus natus est
EUSEBIUS MANDYCZEWSKI (1857-1929)
20 | Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!

RIAS Kammerchor Berlin
Sopranos Claudia Ehmann, Aurélie Franck, Katharina Hohlfeld, Mi-Young Kim, Birte Kulawik, Anette Lösch (solo Magnificat), Anja Petersen, Stéphanie Petitlaurent, Christina Roterberg, Dagmar Wietschorke
Altos Ulrike Bartsch, Andrea Effmert, Karola Hausburg, Waltraud Heinrich, Barbara Höfling, Regina Jakobi, Hildegard Rützel, Ursula Thurmair, Marie-Luise Wilke
Tenors Volker Arndt, Joachim Buhrmann, Friedemann Büttner, Wolfgang Ebling, Jörg Genslein, Christian Mücke, Volker Nietzke, Kai Roterberg, Masashi Tsuji
Basses Janusz Gregorowicz, Ingolf Horenburg, Werner Matusch, Paul Mayr, Rudolf Preckwinkel, Andrew Redmond, Simon Robinson, Johannes Schendel, Klaus Thiem
Direction Hans-Christoph Rademann

CD 2
EDUARD KARL NÖSSLER (1863-1943)
1 | Tröstet mein Volk op.39
MAX REGER (1873-1916)
2 | Macht hoch die Tür
(Zwölf deutsche geistliche Gesänge, Nr.1)
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809-1847)
3 | Lasset uns frohlocken
(Sechs Sprüche, op.79 Nr. 5)
MAX REGER
4 | Unser lieben Frauen Traum
(Acht geistliche Gesänge op.138 Nr. 4)
5 | Es kommt ein Schiff geladen
(Zwölf deutsche geistliche Gesänge, Nr. 2)
ALBERT BECKER (1834-1899)
6 | Das Volk, das im Finstern wandelt op.84 Nr. 2
MAX REGER
7 | Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her
FRIEDRICH SILCHER (1789-1860)
8 | Ehre sei Gott in der Höhe
(Sechs vierstimmige Hymnen oder Figuralgesänge op.9 Nr.2)
MAX REGER
9 | Kommt und laßt uns Christum ehren
(Zwölf deutsche geistliche Gesänge, Nr. 5)
10 | In dulci jubilo
(Zwölf deutsche geistliche Gesänge, Nr.3)
ROBERT FUCHS (1847-1927)
11 | O freudenreicher Tag
MAX BRUCH (1838-1920)
12 | Laßt uns das Kindelein wiegen
WILHELM KIENZL (1857-1941)
13 | Mein Herz will ich dir schenken
MAX REGER
14 | Schlaf, mein Kindelein
15 | Das Wort ward Fleisch
CARL RIEDEL (1827-1888)
16 | Kommet, ihr Hirten
WILHELM KIENZL
17 | Auf, auf, ihr Hirten
FRIEDRICH SILCHER
18 | Herbei, o ihr Gläub’gen
FRANZ WÜLLNER (1832-1902)
19 | Kindelein zart
MAX REGER
20 | O Jesulein süß
EUSEBIUS MANDYCZEWSKI (1857-1929)
21 | Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
22 | Frohlocket, ihr Völker auf Erden
(Sechs Sprüche op.79 Nr.1)
HERMANN RIEDEL (1847-1913)
23 | O du fröhliche

RIAS Kammerchor Berlin
Sopranos Gudrun Barth, Madalena de Faria, Kristin Foss, Sabine Nürmberger-Gembaczka, Heike Peetz, Stéphanie Petitlaurent, Judith Schmidt, Marianne Schumann, Hannelore Starke, Inés Villanueva, Dagmar Wietschorke
Altos Monika Degenhardt, Andrea Effmert, Karola Hausburg, Waltraud Heinrich, Regina Jakobi, Bärbel Kaiser, Claudia Türpe, Marie-Luise Wilke
Tenors Volker Arndt, Reinhold Beiten, Horst-Heiner Blöß, Wolfgang Ebling, Friedemann Körner, Christian Mücke, Jan Remmers, Kai Roterberg
Basses Erich Brockhaus, Jörg Gottschick, Janusz Gregorowicz, Ingolf Horenburg, Werner Matusch, Paul Mayr, Rudolf Preckwinkel, Klaus Thiem
Direction Uwe Gronostay

https://store.harmoniamundi.com/format/1585737-music-for-a-christmas-night


The Poor Clares first arrived in Arundel in 1886 at the request of Flora, Duchess of Norfolk, their benefactor. The 15th Duke, and duchess, met the sisters at Arundel Station and the party journeyed up the hill in six carriages to the new convent, where the priest and choir of St Philip’s (then the local Catholic church, now Arundel Cathedral) met them with thirty acolytes. After a short service of thanksgiving, the duchess showed the sisters around their new home and then left them to unpack.

Still in residence nearly 140 years later, the community live according to the form of life drawn up by St Clare of Assisi in 1253 – called to a life of prayer, they seek to live the Gospel in and for our world of today. They are also arguably unlikely chart-topping music sensations with their debut album released in 2020 streamed 60 million times – topping both Apple and Amazon's music charts internationally.

Four years on from their initial success, the sisters recently released a new album recorded at their chapel at Arundel and at London's iconic Abbey Road Studios. Their second album, My Peace I Give You centres on The Canticle of Creation, written by St Francis of Assisi in 1224, divided across seven songs.

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBWjI2PmTfc



The Choir of King’s College London follow up on their first recording of Edward Nesbit’s sacred choral music, named a Gramophone Editor’s Choice in 2022, with Nativity, a programme of Christmas music written by the composer over the last ten years: a joyful celebration that places Nesbit at the heart of a thriving British choral scene.


At the heart – but slightly to one side too. In a crowded field, Nesbit’s voice is distinctive. Expect much more fast-paced music than is the norm, an abundance of musical references to the classical canon, and frequent touches of humour. With their young, zestful performances, Nesbit’s music benefits from his close collaboration with the choir and its director Joseph Fort.

https://www.delphianrecords.com/products/edward-nesbit-nativity

GLOBAL RELEASE DATE: 29 NOVEMBER 2024



The Choir of St John's College, Oxford, directed by David Bannister, sings music associated with Christmas, together with youthful work by Imogen Holst and Benjamin Britten. Looking towards the sixtieth anniversary of Elizabeth Poston's Penguin Book of Carols (1965), initially undertaken with Ralph Vaughan Williams, the recording presents music associated with these two composers and the works they edited, alongside newer pieces exemplifying and revivifying the English carol tradition.

Peter Warlock (1894–1930)
1. What cheer? Good cheer!

Imogen Holst (1907–1984)
2. Nowell and Nowell

Philip W.J. Stopford (b.1977)
3. Lully, lulla, lullay

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
4. A Sussex Carol

John Rutter (b.1945)
5. All the Stars Looked Down

Gustav Holst (1874–1934)
6. In the bleak midwinter

Peter Warlock (1894–1930)
arr. Elizabeth Poston
7. I saw a fair maiden

Richard Rodney Bennett (1936–2012)
8. Puer nobis

Melchior Vulpius (c.1570–1615)
arr. David Bannister (b.1983)
9. Canon on Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen

Anonymous
10. Song of the Nuns of Chester

Benjamin Britten (1913–1976)
11. ‘Corpus Christi Carol’
from A Boy was Born

Elizabeth Maconchy (1907–1994)
12. There is no Rose

Elizabeth Poston (1905–1987)
13. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

Michael Praetorius (1571–1621)
arr. Elizabeth Poston
14. Es ist ein Ros’ entsprungen

Imogen Holst
15. ‘Gloria’ from Mass in A Minor

David Bednall (b.1979)
16. Ave Maria

Bob Chilcott (b.1955)
17. The Shepherd’s Carol

Resonus Classics

https://www.resonusclassics.com/products/news-of-great-joy-christmas-from-st-johns-college-oxford


Ranging from the subtle and soaring "O Magnum Mysterium" to the joyful and engaging "Ding! Dong! Merrily on High" this album showcases the amazing arrangements of Barlow Bradford and the Utah Chamber Artists' memorable sound.
"Under the baton of Barlow Bradford, all is imparted with mastery, artistry and insight."

Gothic

https://www.gothic-catalog.com/UCA_Noel_p/g-49334.htm



Category: Advent & Christmas, Choral, Ensemble Pro Victoria, Rowan Williams, Toby Ward

Nowel: A Choral Journey from Advent to Christmas - Delphian Records

GLOBAL RELEASE DATE: 15 NOVEMBER 2024

Editors Note: This album seems to have disappeared from the label's website. We'll update you have we receive more information.


Mystic Orthodox Christmas Chants from Russian and Bulgarian Monasteries.

This album presents a collection of traditional Russian Orthodox Christmas hymns and carols, performed a cappella in the rich, sonorous style characteristic of Russian sacred choral music. From angelic hymns to joyful proclamations, this recording transports listeners to a realm of spiritual beauty and reverence. from Scandinavia. The selection includes a mixture of unknown songs with one or two familiar carols translated into a variety of languages.

Capriccio


Releases the weekend of Nov. 9 via stream.

THE PATMOS BOOK OF CAROLS

21 years ago, the TONUS PEREGRINUS album of The Naxos Book of Carols was commissioned and released by Naxos Records, distributed to hundreds of thousands of UK homes with the Sunday newspapers, and the following year the sheet music for The Naxos Book of Carols was published as a carol-book by Faber Music. The sequence of carols – brand new arrangements and a couple of original carols by composer and conductor Antony Pitts – opened 24 windows onto the story of Advent and Christmas in a refreshingly original and innovative manner, dubbed by him as “carols for musicians”.

Now, two decades on, TONUS PEREGRINUS returns with The Patmos Book of Carols – not a single, but a double album of 24 new carols and arrangements by four members of the ensemble: Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, Alexander L’Estrange, Richard Eteson, and Antony Pitts – as well as two other members of the Pitts musical clan. Soprano Rebecca Hickey steps forward to sing the words and thoughts of the Virgin Mary, and the whole ensemble enters into the most solemn and most joyous aspects of the celebration of Christmas.

The Patmos Book of Carols takes its inspiration from passages from the Book of Revelation (written down by the disciple John while exiled on the Greek island of Patmos, not far from the seven churches on the mainland that is now Turkey): the sevenfold repetitions of the ‘O’ Antiphons of Joanna Forbes L’Estrange’s Advent ‘O’ Carol echoing the seven trumpets of Revelation, as the story of Advent both looks back to the first Christmas and forward to the return of the King, once a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. Although the secular world makes a great deal of Christmas, commercially and communally, it tends to do so almost exclusively before Christmas actually begins. And so, this sequence of carols takes us from Advent to Christmas and beyond to the next Advent.

In the first of two volumes – “Today in the city of David” – The Patmos Book of Carols brings together arrangements of favourites such as The Angel Gabriel, Once in royal David’s city (with an opening verse as you’ve never heard it before), Holst’s seasonal melody for In the bleak mid-winter, and a mysterious rendition of Let all mortal flesh keep silence, alongside two brand-new carols from Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, one of the Royal School of Church Music’s best-selling composers, and uptempo settings of Hark! the herald angels sing and It came upon the midnight clear by Antony’s older cousin, Jonathan Pitts.

One of the notable aspects of The Patmos Book of Carols is the use of location to set the scene and draw the listener in: recorded both in a château at Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer in Northern France, and in the mediaeval Charterhouse in London, we hear the intimate sounds of the stable alongside heavenly choirs and rollicking wassailers out for a bout of lively carol-singing – with The Sussex Carol and Richard Eteson’s A Jolly Wassel-Bowl framing a sophisticated carol by William Byrd, An Earthly Tree, and a miniature a cappella gem by Alexander L’Estrange, setting Rossetti’s Love came down at Christmas.

Christina Georgina Rossetti’s poems feature several times across the double album, including Richard Eteson’s evocative retelling of the story of The Holy Innocents, and Joanna Forbes L’Estrange’s entirely new version of In the bleak midwinter, complete with the pointillist harp playing of Olivia Jageurs. Joanna also provides her own words for the earthy and intimate I will hold Him, portraying the Virgin Mary’s response to the Angel Gabriel.

The second volume of The Patmos Book of Carols takes the listener through the story of Herod’s infanticidal rage and the visit of the wise men (referenced in the psalm text of John Sheppard’s ethereal Reges Tharsis) to the Advent season once more, taking us full circle to the final words of the Advent ‘O’ Carol that began our sequence: “Tomorrow I will come”.

As well as The Coventry Carol (Lullay Lulla) and mediaeval tunes such as Alleluya – a nywe werk and Unto us is born a Son, there are four new carols by Antony Pitts including a setting of Thomas Hardy’s perennially questioning The Oxen, published one Christmas Eve during the First World War, and Miryam’s Lullaby – inspired by the Holy Land – in which the words of Simeon (author of the Nunc Dimittis) to Mary take on their poignant meaning in sonorous harmonies looking ahead to the events of Holy Week. The album concludes with Antony’s younger brother, John Pitts’s rousing carol-hymn, Lord Jesus, come!, which has long-time collaborator Paul Ayres playing the organ at the Charterhouse Chapel.

TONUS PEREGRINUS has Christmas carols in the blood: three former Scholars at King’s College, Cambridge, are singing on this album – Francis Brett, Alex Knight, and Richard Eteson (who once sang the treble solo in Once in royal David’s city during the famous broadcast of Nine Lessons and Carols); Alexander Hickey was a choral scholar at Christ Church Oxford and Alexander L’Estrange, whose Lute-book Lullaby and Song of the Angels draw deeply on a wealth of Christmas musical tradition, was a former chorister at New College, Oxford.

As an ensemble that has remained largely unchanged for more than a quarter of a century, and that has created several significant albums while on holiday together – including Sacred Music from Notre-Dame Cathedral (the opening track featuring Rebecca Hickey has over three million listens on Spotify) – TONUS PEREGRINUS knows well how to celebrate in style, as well as how to share in the gamut of emotions and feelings that come with Christmas. This time we were delighted to welcome Nicholas Garrett into our midst.

In holiday mood, we all (figuratively and literally!) picked up rusty instruments – an assortment of strings, rustic flute, hunting horn, and voluble percussion – to form an ad hoc gallery band on its wassailing way; and each married couple – Alexander & Joanna L’Estrange, Alexander & Rebecca Hickey, Alexander & Kathryn Knight – took turns to duet in the verses of Byrd’s An Earthly Tree. The tear-stained joy that Byrd wrote of infuses the rich tapestry of The Patmos Book of Carols from beginning to end – as we very deliberately sing “why on earth should men be so sad, since our Redeemer made us glad?”

Special thanks to Isabelle de Conihout and Guillaume de Conihout,
and to the Master and community of the Charterhouse.

cover image incorporating Seven angels with trumpets from BL Royal 15 D II, f. 136v Apocalypse (the ‘Welles Apocalypse’ by Peter of Peckham)



The choral versions are recorded as a set in 2024 for the first time, coupled with the alternative settings for voice and piano, recorded in 2011.

The carols are performed with traditional words, not all of which follow the biblical canon, and they are by no means all about Christmas. As a consequence there are some unfamiliar carols and some new tunes for well-known carols.

In the first twelve tracks, William Vann directs the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea at Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, in February 2024. Tracks 13 to 24 were recorded by bass-baritone Derek Welton, accompanied by pianist Iain Burnside at Potton Hall in 2011. Those tracks form part of a longer recital of folk-carols and folk-songs arranged by Vaughan Williams presented on ALBCD013 On Christmas Day.

Andrew Walton was the producer, and the engineers were Deborah Spanton and Mike Clements.

The conductor and pianist William Vann is recognised in particular for his acclaimed revivals of neglected works of British choral music and song and is Director of Music at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. His critically acclaimed recordings with the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea have included first recordings of works by Elgar, Holst and Vaughan Williams and his studio recordings of Parry’s Judith and Prometheus Unbound have been awarded a host of accolades, including Gramophone’s ‘Recording of the Month’.

The bass-baritone Derek Welton has established himself as a respected and versatile artist both on the concert platform and the opera stage, with a repertoire ranging from Bach and Handel to the present day. He is a regular guest at the great opera houses of London, Salzburg, Vienna, Bayreuth, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Paris, Amsterdam and Chicago.

Iain Burnside is one of the UK’s best-known musicians. Iain has worked with a broad roster of international singers: Dame Margaret Price, Rosa Feola, Ailish Tynan, Joyce DiDonato, Lawrence Brownlee, Roderick Williams, and Bryn Terfel, among many others. He has recorded more than 60 CDs, often created around neglected composers, where his curatorial skills are displayed to the full. He is a great champion of young singers, playing a crucial role in introducing them to a wider audience.

https://rvwsociety.com/carols-from-herefordshire/




The CD recording of the 2023 Christmas Concert "Rejoice and Sing!" is now available at www.ConcordiaRecordings.com! You can also get some Christmas shopping done early by picking up the 2024 collectable mug for "Our Eyes, At Last, Shall See Him" and this year's Christmas Concert collector's box for the avid Concordia Christmas Concert patrons in your life.

The 2023 Concordia Christmas Concert

Experience the Emmy Award-winning Concordia Christmas Concerts! "Star of Bethlehem, Lead Us to Peace," the 2023 Concordia Christmas Concert, features nearly 300 student musicians performing works by J.S. Bach, Edward Elgar, Elaine Hagenberg, Dan Forrest, René Clausen, Paul J. Christiansen, and more.

  1. Rejoice and Sing - J.S. Bach
  2. Nimrod (from Enigma Variations, Op. 36) - Edward Elgar
  3. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning - trad. African American Spiritual
  4. Wake, Awake for Night is Flying
  5. Rejoice, Rejoice Believers - arr. Jared Campbell
  6. Carol to the King - arr. Mack Wilberg
  7. There is No Rose - Stephen Caracciolo
  8. Blessed Be! - Melanie DeMore
  9. A Spotless Rose - Herbert Howells
  10. Eit Barn er født i Bethlehem (A Child is Born in Bethlehem) - arr. Ørjan Matre
  11. In the Bleak Midwinter - Harold Darke
  12. See Dat Babe - arr. Stacey Gibbs
  13. Ding Dong, Merrily on High - arr. Katherine Davis
  14. Silent Night - arr. René Clausen
  15. Wexford Carol - arr. Elaine Hagenberg
  16. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing - arr. Dan Forrest
  17. Carol of Joy - arr. Richard Zgodava
  18. Jubilate Deo - Gyöngyösi Levente
  19. Rejoice and Sing - John Rutter
  20. Joy to the World - arr. Carmen Geiger-Schutz
  21. Rejoice and Sing - Karen Marrolli
  22. Compline - arr. René Clausen


This programme consisting of music for different seasons of the church year is predominantly by 21st century woman composers. The exception being Hildegard von Bingen of the 12th century. Those who are wary of "modern" choral music need not be as all these pieces are very accessible.  This is the first commercial recording by the Choir of Salford Cathedral under their director Alex Patterson.

https://www.prioryrecords.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=2405



In this contemporary reimagining of Wilhelm Müller’s poetry cycle Winterreise — most famously set by Schubert — an everyman at the end of his rope confronts his inner demons in an emotionally charged vocal tour de force. 

Composer Douglas J. Cuomo is known for his concert, operatic, theatrical, television, and film compositions. His music is influenced by jazz, world music, classical and popular sources, as well as his spiritual practice as a Buddhist. Along with the operas Doubt, and Arjuna’s Dilemma, he has written for the London Philharmonic, Fort Worth Symphony, Romero Guitar Quartet, Joe Lovano, Denyce Graves, Christine Brewer, Nels Cline, Maya Beiser and others. He composed the theme for Sex & the City and scored over 20 feature films.

https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy1974/


Reissue:
We have a tradition here at Real Gone Music of releasing Christmas albums on CD every holiday season, and this year we are releasing a record that started a tradition of its own. For nearly 70 years, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir–today known as The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square–has provided the soundtrack of Christmas. The 360-person, all-volunteer choir’s lush and majestic sound is one of the most distinctive in American popular song, and that’s in no small part due to the group’s legacy of Christmas albums. That legacy, which is still going strong today, began in 1957 with the Columbia Masterworks release of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols. 

Though the Choir made its first recordings in 1910, Christmas Carols was their first seasonal set, and quickly became a beloved perennial in the Columbia catalog. Eight years later, with stereo sound having all but taken over, the album was re-recorded, and the original disappeared…until now! Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records are proud to celebrate the season with the first-ever authorized reissue of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols in all its gorgeous mono splendor. Christmas music has never sounded so stirring and inspirational as on this set of fifteen classic carols and hymns, backed by the monumental 11,623-pipe organ at the Salt Lake Tabernacle. 

We’ve added four rare period bonus tracks (in stereo) to this essential package. It’s all been newly remastered from the original tapes by Mike Milchner at SonicVision, and The Second Disc’s Joe Marchese has penned new liner notes exploring The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s history of Christmas music. The most wonderful time of the year has just gotten a bit more wonderful with the CD premiere of this lost classic from “America’s Choir” that’s sure to enliven your Christmas morning! 

1. Joy to the World 2. When Jesus Was a Little Child 3. Away in a Manger 4. A Boy Is Born 5. There Shall Be a Star from Jacob 6. Come, O Come, Emmanuel 7. Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains 8. O Holy Night (Cantique De Noel) 9. What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) 10. Beautiful Savior (The Crusader’s Hymn) 11. Carol of the Nativity 12. Tell Us, Shepherd Maids 13. The Holy City 14. I Heard the Bells 15. Silent Night 16. The Three Kings 17. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring 18. Hallelujah Chorus 19. For Unto Us a Child Is Born


The Ukrainian violin virtuoso Solomiya Ivakhiv presents a selection of Ukrainian Christmas carols arranged for violin and orchestra by Bohdan Kryvopust - the much-lauded composer whose works have been performed internationally. Accompanying Ivakhiv in these world premiere recordings is the Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra conducted by Serhii Khorovets.

Gruber, Franz Xaver Silent Night (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)

Kryvopust, Bohdan Fantasia


Traditional All around the world, good tidings (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
A peacock strolls (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
Evening of plenty, evening of goodness (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
Glory to God in the highest (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
God is born (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
Good evening to you! (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
How wondrous this is (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
Malanka (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
New joy has arisen (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)
Zhdankin, Vasyl On a sleigh, God was born (arr. Bohdan Kryvopust)

https://www.naxos.com/CatalogueDetail/?id=8.574677


Whether celebrating the Peace of Utrecht in London (Handel’s Te Deum) or the Nativity in Leipzig (Bach’s Magnificat, performed here in its original version), Handel and Bach played the card of vocal and orchestral splendour. Flanked by an outstanding quintet of soloists, the RIAS Kammerchor offers us a flamboyant interpretation of these seminal works.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Magnificat BWV 243.1 (243a) E flat major / mi bémol majeur / Es-Dur · Magnificat anima mea (2'49)
· Et exsultavit spiritus meus (2'12)
· Vom Himmel hoch (1'41)
· Quia respexit (2'32)
· Omnes generationes (1'12)
· Quia fecit mihi magna (1'46)
· Freut euch und jubiliert (1'15)
· Et misericordia (3'07)
· Fecit potentiam (1'49)
· Gloria in excelsis Deo (1'01)
· Deposuit potentes (1'50)
· Esurientes implevit bonis (2'54)
· Virga Jesse (3'23)
· Suscepit Israel (2'06)
· Sicut locutus est (1'25)
· Gloria Patri (2'11)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Te Deum for the Peace of Utrecht HWV 278 Pour le traité de paix d'Utrecht, / für den Frieden von Utrecht D Major / ré majeur / D-Dur · We praise thee, O God (Adagio) (3'48)
· To thee all angels cry aloud (Largo e staccato) (1'10)
· To thee cherubin and seraphin (Andante) (1'07)
· The glorious company of the apostles (Andante - Adagio - Allegro- Adagio - Allegro) (4'55)
· When thou took’st upon thee to deliver man (Adagio - Allegro - Adagio - Allegro) (3'03)
· We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge (Largo) (2'51)
· Day by day we magnify thee (Allegro) (1'12)
· And we worship thy name (0'47)
· Vouchsafe, O Lord (Adagio) (3'03)
· O Lord, in thee have I trusted (Allegro) (1'08)

https://www.harmoniamundi.com/en/albums/j-s-bach-weihnachts-magnificat-g-f-handel-utrecht-te-deum/




A captivating new recording featuring new and rarely-recorded Christmas music for upper voices, sung by the Choristers and Schola of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

  1. Tomorrow shall be my dancing day – John Gardner (1917–2011)
  2. Salvator mundi – William Mathias (1934–92)
  3. i Make we merry
  4. ii Mirabile mysterium
  5. iii Be we merry in this Feast
  6. iv Lullay
  7. v Susanni
  8. vi Christe, redemptor omnium
  9. vii Welcome, Yule
  10. Toccata giocosa – William Mathias David Leigh, organ
  11. Dancing Day: Prelude -  J. Rutter
  12. Dancing Day: Angelus ad virginemǂ
  13. Dancing Day: A virgin most pureǂ
  14. Dancing Day: Personent hodie
  15. Dancing Day: nterlude
  16. Dancing Day: There is no rose
  17. Dancing Day: Coventry Carol
  18. Dancing Day: Tomorrow shall be my dancing day

Carillon on a Ukrainian carol – Gerald Near (b 1942) Stuart Nicholson, organ

Wexford Carol – Trad Irish, arr Alice Parker (b 1925) I saw three ships come sailing in – Trad English, arr Stuart Nicholson (b 1975)

https://www.regent-records.co.uk/product/welcome-yule-a-choristers-christmas/


Editor's note: For 2025 release. Although not being marketed a total Christmas album, the album will include "O Magnum Mysterium," "See Amid the Winter Snow," and "On this Night."

This new collection of my choral music features recent commissions from choirs near and far. The overall theme of the album is one of hope but also concern for our relationship with living things and the planet we inhabit. Thus, in Earthificat I have based a new secular, environmental text on the words and structure of The Magnificat and in Renew Me In The Sunlight the words ask for strength to move forward in balance with nature. There is a movement, Reverence from my secular mass m=pV, a work about our stewardship of nature and our place within the universe and a setting of some beautiful words by the great ‘nature poet’ William Wordsworth. Alongside this are Christmas settings and other choral songs. The timbres weave between my more classical ‘a cappella and strings’ texture, towards a more jazz inflected sound world in tracks such as On This Night and Let All The People Praise You. I have worked many times with the inspirational Newcastle-based choir Voices of Hope who won BBC Choir of The Year in 2016 and who have continued to grow in vocal magic and audience since that time. It’s been a joy to work with them and their choir director Mark Edwards alongside my own ensemble and string players from The Alina Orchestra.

  1. All Will Be Well
  2. We Are Laid Asleep
  3. Reverence
  4. Sing Me Home
  5. Blessed Are The Peacemakers
  6. Take Away My Sorrow
  7. O Magnum Mysterium
  8. See Amid The Winter’s Snow
  9. On This Night
  10. Renew Me In The Sunlight
  11. Let All The People Praise You
  12. This Miracle We Share
  13. Earthificat
  14. A New Sunrise

https://signumrecords.com/product/all-will-be-well/




French star trumpet player Lucienne Renaudin Vary releases Winter Gardens, a relaxed and laid-back winter album. 

Lucienne’s idea for Winter Gardens was to recreate a cozy atmosphere, as if she invites her fans to a hygge home concert with a selection of arrangements for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra which have been recorded with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, conducted by Sascha Goetzel. 

Repertoire includes Christmas classics like Blane Ralph, Martin Hugh, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," Antonin Dvořák: Slavonic Dance Op. 72, and Johann Sebastian Bach: Badinerie.

All tracks arranged for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra

https://www.warnerclassics.com/release/winter-gardens


Following her first album on Signum Classics, Winter Light is an album of works (complete with some world premiere recordings and new arrangements) celebrating the season of Winter, as well as Christmas and Advent by composer Joanna Forbes L’Estrange. The common themes linking all 18 tracks are of light triumphing over darkness, good overcoming evil and, ultimately, love conquering all. 

The first half of the album tells the Christmas story, and the second takes on a different tone; veering towards jazz and folk styles. Jo’s wish is to introduce choirs to some new Winter and Christmas-themed pieces which they might like to add to their own repertoire.


01 Advent ‘O’ Carol
02 Isaiah’s Prophecy
03 I Will Hold Him
04 O Virgo Virginum
05 Carol of the Crib
06 Winter Light
07 Jesus Christ is Born Today
08 In the Bleak Midwinter
09 Love Came Down
10 Song of the Shepherds
11 A Story of Light
12 A Present for the Future
13 The Three Wise Women
14 Hibernation (Winter Songs)
15 Reality Check (Winter Songs)
16 Presence (Winter Songs)
17 Green Christmas
18 Spring Will Come Again
19 Auld Lang Syne

Release: October 24, 2024

Winter Light - Signum Records


The UCI Chamber Singers, under the direction of Irene Messoloras, proudly present Winter Night, a heartwarming holiday compilation that beautifully weaves together timeless seasonal favourites and innovative new arrangements. Featuring composers such as Sir John Rutter (Wexford Carol), Cecilia McDowall (Now May We Singen), and Ola Gjeilo (The First Nowell), Winter Night Winter offers radiant and reflective holiday music that captures the spirit of the season.

1 Gabriel’s Message (arr. Jim Clements)
2 Wexford Carol (arr. John Rutter)
3 Now May We Singen (C. McDowall)
4 The First Nowell (arr. Ola Gjeilo)
5 We Toast the Days

Release date: November 29, 2024

Winter Night [Digital Only] - Signum Records


The latest addition to our ‘A Year at…’ series comes from Newcastle – England’s most northerly cathedral. This is the first recording of the re-vitalised Newcastle Cathedral Choir under their Director of Music, Ian Roberts, who was appointed in 2016, and has taken the choir to new heights.

Music is central to Newcastle Cathedral’s daily life of prayer, worship and witness, marking the church year and illuminating the Christian Story. This recording presents a flavour of the annual liturgical journey at Newcastle Cathedral, with music chosen to reflect the seasons of Advent, Christmas and Candlemas, and the observance of Lent, including the Feast of The Annunciation. We journey through Holy Week, the joy of Easter, and celebration of Pentecost; we mark Trinity Sunday, the Feast of Corpus Christi, the commemoration of All Souls, and conclude with the final Sunday of the year – the Feast of Christ the King. The repertoire for this recording is predominantly centred on the rich treasury of 20th century British music, along with some more recent compositions.

Editor's Note: Although not a Christmas album per se, the album does contain some seasonal works including a premiere recoding of Alan Gray’s “Leatabundus exultet” from Three Grace Anthems, “Nunc dimittus from The Wells Service by William Drakett, and “To the Queen of Heaven by Thomas F. Dunhill.

https://www.regent-records.co.uk/product/a-year-at-newcastle/


The latest addition to Regent’s popular ‘A Year at…’ series comes from St Edmundsbury and takes us on a journey through the church year from Advent to Christ the King.

The choir regularly commissions new music, and recent composers have included Philip Moore, Mark Blatchly, Ghislaine Reece-Trapp and Edward Picton-Turbervill. Three of these new works – together with a new piece by Timothy Parsons – are recorded here for the first time her.

Although not a Christmas album, it does contain several seasonal tracks including “People, look East” by Paul Trepte, “In the stillness,” by Sally Beamish, “Epiphany Star” by Ghislaine Reece-Trapp, “Fiat Luz” by Teodore Dubois (organ solo), and “Ave maria” by Robert Parsons.

https://www.regent-records.co.uk/product/a-year-at-st-edmundsbury/



Releases November 22, 2024.

The celebration of YULE in Northern Europe harks back to a transition from ancient Pagan Germanic culture to the more formal spirituality of the newer Christian rite. 

Christmas, as we mostly now call it, gave us hymns, processions and chants, and in between, silence in church. Yule meant a vibrant pre-Christian secularity, with feasting and dancing, the noise of instruments and decorating the house with holly, ivy and mistletoe as a tribute to the gods of earth and air. 

Much of the music on this album dates from an earlier time when in a throwback to Yule churches were decorated with Christmas greenery, and at home there would be carols sung round a burning Yule log, the two traditions side by side. But the songs on this album are contemporary performances, a matrix where acappella voices meet improvising instruments in a synthesis of secular and sacred.

Recording sessions Photo Gallery

Hailed as a "fascinating journey with music of timeless beauty", Trio Mediæval's acclaimed first disc "Words of the Angel" in 2001 launched the group into the elite circles of early music ensembles and introduced them to a broad international audience. 

Formed in 1997, the Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble consists of founder members Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Anna Maria Friman, and Jorunn Lovise Husan, who joined the group in 2018.

https://shop.2l.no/en-us/products/yule?pr_prod_strat=jac&pr_rec_id=4a60c2dd7&pr_rec_pid=7864880496823&pr_ref_pid=7864879120567&pr_seq=uniform


Yuletide is the mid-winter period from Hannuka, through Christmas, to the celebration of Twelfth Night. From the late 1950s through the 1970s it was seemingly obligatory for all artists from Jazz to Punk to make a Christmas album. With Yuletide Treats, Duo Pleyel joins that spirit and tradition, with some of the greatest classical hits for your festive delight. Comprising keyboardists Alexandra Nepomnyashchaya and Richard Egarr, Duo Pleyel begins with three beautiful, transcendental and intimate movements from Franz Liszt's 'Christmas Tree Suite'. 

Then follows 'For unto us a child is born' and 'Hallelujah' from Handel's Messiah. No New Year's celebration is complete without the Strauss family's 'Blue Danube' and 'Radetzky March'. Finally, they present Tchaikovsky's 'Nutcracker Suite'. All performed on a Chris Maene Straight Strung Concert Grand, this album is to be listened to at high volume with a large glass of something delicious.
Release October 2024.

https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/LN%200757


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