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.
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.
Uranienborg Vokalensemble Releases Fred over Joden
Editor's Note: Description below is that of the ensemble or label.
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!
German Baritone Benjamin Appl Releases "The Christmas Album" on Outhere Music
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 hometown 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."
Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea Releases "A Christmas Fantasia" on Albion
Editor's Note: Description below is that of the label.
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.
Gjermund Larsen Trio´s “Christmas Sessions” on Heilo
Editor's Note: Description below is that of the label.
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
Is there room at the inn for the Ambient Christmas Song?
by R. Rojas
I ask the question about the Ambient Christmas Song because I
believe this is a true genre of Christmas music. It is a needed genre in which more
composers and songwriters need to write/compose in.
The Ambient Christmas Songs are a few Christmas songs that
describe the present ambient of a “Christmas time and space.”
Unlike other Christmas songs, there is no dreaming or
telling someone they will be home. It is not a joy-luck song or carol.
It’s as if a person was sitting in a Lazy-Boy at the family Christmas
gathering and just observing. What he/she observes is described in poetic
detail filling the listener with warmth.
Of course, the king of these Ambient Christmas Songs, is the
appropriately named “The Christmas Song” written and composed by Mel Torme and Robert
Wells.
"The Christmas Song" sung by
its co-writer/composer Mel Torme
In “The Christmas Song,” the narrator is describing the “now,”
talking about “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” He describes the cold, the
sounds, the food, the décor, and the dress of people.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos
The narrator goes on to describe the children, “their eyes
all aglow,” and describes what is in the thoughts of these children. Again, it
is like one is sitting in the corner at your Christmas party observing.
Everybody
knows a turkey and some mistletoe
Help to make the season bright
Tiny tots with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight
“Christmas Walz” also does this, and deliberately. Frank
Sinatra asked Sammy Cahn for a song like “The Christmas Song,” one Sinatra
could make his own.
Again, the narrator is there -- in a certain time and space
-- observing:
Frosted windowpanes
Candles gleaming inside
Painted candy canes on the tree
Santa's on his way
He's filled his sleigh with things
Things for you and for me
Although that is the only descriptive part of the song, it
still works into describing the ambience of a solitary Christmas moment. “The
Christmas Waltz” is short. Just two stanzas, but it does its job.
"The Christmas Waltz" sung Tony Bennett
with the Count Basie Orchestra
“Christmas Eve” by Carleton Carpenter, most famously sung by
Billy Eckstine, is another:
There's a candle in the window
There's a legend we believe
Santa, here's our plea, you can bet that he
wouldn't miss a Christmas Eve
There's a stocking on the fireplace
There are presents to receive
And there's mistletoe, where is Romeo?
Steals a kiss on Christmas Eve
“Christmas Eve” should be more popular than it is. In this
song, Carpenter’s lyrics describes what the narrator is seeing in the now:
“candle in the window.”
Billy Eckstine performing "Christmas Eve"
He goes on to observe the décor, the presents, and the
mistletoe. Then, he gently moves on to describe the nativity scene in a refrain
which later repeats:
In the corner, on a table
Underneath a shining star
Is the holy Christmas stable
And three wise men from afar
There is always a final commentary and contemplations from the narrators to end
these songs. It’s like a “Merry Christmas” wish, a “Happy New Year,” something
more spiritual, saying it “many times, many ways.”
Torme and Wells say:
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to 92
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you
Sammy Cahn. in “Christmas Watz” give us:
It's that time of year when the world falls in love
Ev'ry song you hear seems to say "Merry Christmas,
"May your New Year dreams come true"
And this song of mine in three-quarter time
Wishes you and yours the same thing, too.
Carpenter closes “Christmas Eve” with a sort of peace on
earth, “wish Christmas can be everyday” request:
All this holiday contentment
All this love should never leave
We'd be doing right if we made each night
More like Christmas Eve
I do not put all songs in this category. I am sure there are
lesser-known Ambient Christmas Songs. These songs must be indoors. I do not
know why, but the Christmas party goer is observing. I know the chestnuts
roasting in “The Christmas Song” are roasting in an open fire. So maybe, it’s
outside, at least for that bit.
The Ambient Christmas Song remained largely an American
genre. This was at least until the 1980s when John Rutter, from across the pond
(UK), took a shot at it.
Take John Rutter’s “The Very Best Time of the Year” where he
starts with the ambient description and ends with the closing observance that
this is the “very best time of the year”:
Christmas trees and boughs of
holly,
Yuletide logs and mistletoe;
Candles burning bright, and
meadows frosty white,
And faces in the firelight′s glow;
Sounds of happy children's voices
Singing carols that you love to
hear;
Then the silence of the night
And the winter air so still and
clear.
Feels like you could reach and
touch the sky,
Or catch a star and fly away;
Feels like you could wish for
peace on earth,
And all at once it would come,
some day.
Families
and friends together
Feel
a special kind of love and cheer,
Sharing
all the joys of Christmas time,
The
very best time of year.
The
very best time,
That
strange, enchanted time,
That
shining, magic time of year.
In the John Rutter ChristmasAlbum (Collegium Records, 2002), Rutter states in
the liner notes, the American connections to this song.
"Best Time of the Year" performed by John Rutter, The Cambridge Singers, and the City of London Sinfonia
Written in 1984 as a gift
for two “noted American choral musicians who were among the first to welcome
the composer into the American choral community….” Rutter’s song is written for
chorus. The other Christmas Ambient Songs were written for solo voice but often
performed by choirs: “Christmas Walz,” more true for “The Christmas Song.” I
have only seen one choral performance of “Christmas Eve,” a video which I cannot find. However, the original recording by Eckstine has a chorus backing him.
"The Christmas Song " (arr. Arthur Harris) performed the Morman Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square)
"The Christmas Waltz" performed by the All-American Boy Choir.
"Best Time of the Year" (arrangement
by Owain Park and Anna Lapwood)
performed by Pembroke College Chapel Choir
I tried to find other examples. Malcolm Williamson’s “This
Christmas Night.” D. Fraser’s “This
Christmastide (Jessye’s Carol).” However, they do not match up.
The simple solitary observation of a room at Christmas makes a great Christmas song and more composers and song writers should give the Ambient Christmas Song a try.
Carpenter's "Christmas Eve" performed by Adam Swanson
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Vox Luminis Releases Heinrich Schütz' Christmas Story / Weihnachtshistorie on Ridercar
Editor's Note: Description below is of the label.
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.
Patmos Book of Carols Released by Tonus Peregrinus
THE PATMOS BOOK OF CAROLS
Twenty-one 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 up-tempo 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)
Harpist Cecily Beer Releases EP of Thomas Hewit Jones Christmas Arraignments
Descriptions are artists or label's own.
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.
Ukrainian Carols for Violin and Orchestra Released on Naxos
Editor's note: Description below is the label's own.
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)
Essential Voices USA Bring Joy with Three Large Christmas Works
Editor's Note: We missed this one in 2023. Descriptions are ensembles own.
Judith Clurman and Albany Records have released Christmas Joy (TROY1955), a collection of three works.
Illumination was written by composer Pierre Jalbert; the text is based on the poem “Illumination” by lyricist William Schermerhorn. The A Cappella work, for mixed voices, was commissioned by Essential Voices USA, in 2023, with funds from the Maury Newburger Foundation. The World Premiere will take place on December 16, 2023, with Judith Clurman conducting her Essential Voices USA.
In describing his piece, Pierre Jalbert comments: “The image of the solitary flame, giving light to the darkness, is at the heart of this new work for choir. Both text and music seek to convey the spirit of hope, goodwill, and fellowship among all people.”
Lyricist William Schermerhorn says: “Through the ages, people of all creeds have sought both survival and solace in the near-mystical power of the flame. Whether gathering with others around a massive bonfire or reading, in solitary enjoyment, by the light of a single candle, we embrace the light that draws us for its practical uses and to its symbolic powers of hope and triumph.
Light sustains both body and spirit; With ‘Illumination’ it’s my wish for the many sparks amongst us to unite in a renewal of goodwill and kindness, and, with the kindred spirit of music, to fill this world with the beauty and promise of a rising, glorious sun.”
Alban Voices and Royal Ballet Sinfonia on Single "Light of the World"
Editor's note: Single released in 2022. Description is artist's, ensembles, or label's own.
New Single from the Alban Voices and Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
A special digital single featuring a new carol by established British composer and conductor Robin White.
"Light of the World" is unashamedly aimed at bringing joy and thoughts of peace, reconciliation and understanding in our highly troubled world. Written In a sparkling Viennese waltz time, this carol should be in everyone’s seasonal playlist. With its simple, yet effective melody, it is also perfect for church or school choirs.
Robin White is an important figure in the world of contemporary light music, having made many recordings since his debut in 1992. He appeared with his choir in an episode of the BBC TV series EastEnders and his work has been broadcast by BBC orchestras many times.
Royal Ballet Sinfonia and City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra give Christmas Orchestral Music in 2023 Recording Off Heritage
Editors Note: Description is label's description.
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.
Victor Hely-Hutchinson (1901-47): Overture to a Pantomime (1946)
Gordon Thornett (b.1942): A Child's Christmas (2016) *
Adam Saunders (b.1968): The Magical Kingdom (2003) *
Thomas Hewitt Jones (b.1984): Christmas Party (2016) *Solo Violin: Simon Hewitt Jones
Roy Moore (b.1948): Santa's Sleigh Ride (2019)
Bryan Kelly (b.1934): A Song of Sixpence (2020)
Adam Saunders (b.1968): Journey to Lapland (2020)
John Lanchbery (1923-2003): Tales of Beatrix Potter – excerpts
Introduction
Tale of Jemima Puddleduck
The Picnic The Picnic (continued) & Finale
Thomas Hewitt Jones (b. 1984): Overture: The Age of Optimism (2023)
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 **
"A Year at St. Edmundsbury" has some Seasonal Gems
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
Editor's Note: 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.
"Year at Newcastle" Recording with some Seasonal Pieces
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
John Rutter goes Brass with the Black Dyke Band and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
Gabriel Jackson and Merton College Tell "The Christmas Story" on New Album off Delphian
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
Rutter and Mathias Taken on for Christmas in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin Recording on Regent Records
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day – John Gardner (1917–2011)
Salvator mundi – William Mathias (1934–92)
i Make we merry
ii Mirabile mysterium
iii Be we merry in this Feast
iv Lullay
v Susanni
vi Christe, redemptor omnium
vii Welcome, Yule
Toccata giocosa – William Mathias David Leigh, organ
Dancing Day: Prelude - J. Rutter
Dancing Day: Angelus ad virginemǂ
Dancing Day: A virgin most pureǂ
Dancing Day: Personent hodie
Dancing Day: nterlude
Dancing Day: There is no rose
Dancing Day: Coventry Carol
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)
RIAS Kammerchor Berlin Releases "Weihnachts-Magnificat" on Harmonia Mundi
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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)
"News of Great Joy" from the Choir of St. John's College, Oxford
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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.
"Christmas Tree Suite" included in New Liszt Weihnachtsbaum Album
Editor's Note: Description is label's description.
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).
A Few Christmas Works included in Choir of Christ's College, Cambridge Recording of Annabel Rooney Choral Music
‘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 and 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.
Editor's note: Though not a Christmas album, this recording contains the winter piece "'Tis winter now," and the Christmas piece "Love Came Down at Christmas."
RIAS Kammerchor Celebrates Christmas Night with Album Reissues on Deutsche Harm Mundi
Editor's note: Description is that of the label.
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
