2013: Working List of New Classical and Choral Christmas Recording

2013: Working List of New Classical and Choral Christmas Recording

Compiled by R. Rojas

The descriptions below are those of record labels or the ensembles, and 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. Links to the ensemble or record label have been included to make purchasing easier. If we missed your new recording, email us at: christmascarolblog@gmail.com.

The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park has the distinction of being the third oldest, continuously operating, Bach Festival in the United States, as well as being Central Florida's oldest operating performing arts organization. 

The Bach Festival Society is well known internationally and has enjoyed a long tradition of bringing world-class talent to Central Florida. Since its inception, the Society has expanded its offerings beyond the annual Bach Festival to include Choral Masterworks and Visiting Artists performances, as well as a variety of educational and community outreach programs to encourage participation in music at all levels. 

The Christmas season represents a time for peace and hope, and through our music we express these sentiments. May this recording be part of what opens your heart to the joy of this special season and may it continue to resonate with you throughout the year. 

On the cusp of our 80th anniversary, the Bach Festival Society has a musical legacy in Winter Park and Central Florida, but our holiday traditions are much more recent. 

The Society has been associated with the Morse Museum of American Art through it's annual Christmas in the Park festivities for almost 30 years and has been producing it's own Christmas concerts for the past 10. Christmas may have come late to us, but we have embraced it in a grand fashion. 

 The Society proudly presents this holiday celebration featuring original versions of traditional favorites, with many arrangements written just for us. From all of us at the Bach Festival, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

The celebration of the Nativity has always been a source of inspiration for composers. The different elements of the evangelical narrative evoke numerous images: tender feelings before the Baby Jesus; the gentleness of his mother, the Virgin Mary; the procession of the three Wise Men; the angelic choirs in Heaven; and these shepherds gathered in the manger. All that appears in the musical repertoire linked to this holiday, as well as the presence of colourful instrumentations and themes connected to folk traditions. This set, released by Ricercar, brings together all these elements, drawn from the repertoires of the Renaissance and Baroque eras.

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

Welcome all Wonders: A Christmas Cantata is a large-scale work for choir, organ, and trumpet spanning 15 movements. It celebrates the Christmas story through an imaginative selection and juxtaposition of poetry and liturgical texts, and provides a multifaceted telling of the familiar narrative. 

The celebratory aspects of Christmas are tainted by darker themes that are inherent to the story but are easily overlooked, culminating in an enlightened and engaging work that explores the Christmas story in a profound manner.

The Choir of The Queen’s College, Oxford is among the finest and most active university choirs in the UK. Its wide-ranging repertory includes a rich array of Renaissance and Baroque music and contemporary works.


1. Prelude

2. Alleluia

3. A virgin shall conceive

4. Ye heavens! From high the dewy nectar pour

5. Today is the beginning of our salvation

6. Oh! little blades of grass

7. Journey to Bethlehem

8. I saw a stable

9. Shepherds, rejoice!

10. See how from far, upon the eastern road

11. Tribus miraculus ornatum

12. The Slaughter of the Innocents

13. But peaceful was the night

14. Ave maris stella

15. In the beginning

https://signumrecords.com/product/david-bednall-welcome-all-wonders/SIGCD335/

The Penalosa-Ensemble is an a cappella quartet consisting of four early vocal music experts: Susan Eitrich, Sebastian Mory, Joerg Deutschewitz and Klaus F. Mueller. The CD presents a cappella works by Hans Leo Hassler for advent and Christmas.

Carus-Verlag

Gary Schocker is best known as the most published composer for the flute, but also is a world-renowned flutist. He has turned his attention to composing for solo harp, an instrument he is now playing. 

For this disc he has arranged 21 favorite Christmas carols for harp, performed by the ever-popular harpist Emily Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell's 30-year career includes numerous recordings, as well as performing and teaching around the world. In the words of the Washington Post, "Mitchell commands a vivid palette of colors and uses them with imagination."

https://www.albanyrecords.com/catalog/troy1438/

An inspiring sequence of Christmas music ancient and modern, culminating in Britten’s virtuosic choral masterpiece, A Boy Was Born: Paul McCreesh leads the Gabrieli Consort (joined by the Trebles of Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir) in this evocative and contrasting collection of festive works that samples works from the 12th century to the present day.

1. Adam Lay Ybounden – Matthew Martin – 3.39
2. Veni, Veni Emanuel – Anonymous (13th century) – 3.30
3. Long, Long Ago – Herbert Howells – 6.00
4. Lullay, Lullay: Als I Lay on Yoolis Night – Anonymous (14th century) – 7.16
5. Balulalow – Francis Pott – 2.56
6. Qui Creavit Celum – Anonymous (13th/14th century) – 2.52
7. The Three Kings – Jonathan Dove – 4.37
8. This Endere Nyghth I Saw a Syghth – Anonymous (15th/16th century) – 7.06
9. A Hymn of The Nativity – Kenneth Leighton – 6.54
10. Letabundus – Anonymous (12th/13th century) – 3.23
11. A Boy Was Born: I. A Boy Was Born – Benjamin Britten – 2.15
12. A Boy Was Born: II. Lullay, Jesu – Benjamin Britten – 3.43
13. A Boy Was Born: III. Herod – Benjamin Britten – 2.03
14. A Boy Was Born: IV. Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour – Benjamin Britten – 3.08
15. A Boy Was Born: V. The Three Kings – Benjamin Britten – 3.42
16. A Boy Was Born: VI. In the bleak mid-winter – Benjamin Britten – 5.19
17. A Boy Was Born: VII. Noel! – Benjamin Britten – 9.00

https://signumrecords.com/product/incarnation/SIGCD346/#

Established in 2010, the semi-professional Chorale focuses on presenting sacred music from many different sacred traditions in the sacred space originally intended by the composer. This stunning live album combines recordings from the popular 'Candlelight Christmas' series held on Dec. 7, 2012 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in West Seattle and Dec 8, 2012 concert at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Seattle's University District ; with tracks from a recording session held at Holy Rosary on June 30, 2013.

1 In Silent Night
2 Unborn: A Processional Introit
3 O Come Emmanuel
4 Isaiah's Voice
5 Serenity (O Magnum Mysterium)
6 Ave Maria A4
7 Mary Had a Baby
8 Ave Maria
9 Gabriel's Message
10 Then Christmas Comes
11 Lux Aurumque
12 Silent Night
13 Dona Nobis Pacem

Disc: 2

1 Recorded Live
2 Digital Recording
3 Includes a 12 Page Booklet with Lyrics, Program Notes and Graphics

The program provides an equally prayerful as joyous Christmas spirit. The performance of the ensemble under Professor Wolfgang Helbich was honored with numerous awards over the years. 

Many concerts at major festivals at home and abroad, and numerous CD and radio productions have made the Alsfelder Vokalensemble's beautiful sound known across the borders of Germany.

‎ Carus-Verlag

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