Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Although the CD case is nicely presented there is a hint that all is not well when we read the title: 'British Christmas Music for Children Choir'. I know that apostrophes cause problems (I am a school teacher after all) but surely someone should have noticed this. Also the three featured composers, Benjamin Britten, John Rutter and David Willcocks are indeed British although musically at least all are first and foremost English composers. However, as is my usual practice, I listened to the disc before I studied the cover and it did not take long to hear that all was not as it should be. Benjamin Britten is not easy, even when writing for children's choirs, and in his "Ceremony Of Carols" and "Missa Brevis" the Artemusica Children Choir is clearly out of its depth. Things improve in the Rutter sequence but he gets 18 minutes compared to Britten's 41 so it is too little too late and David Willcocks' brief "The First Nowell" is almost an after-thought. I hate being critical, particularly of a children choir, but one wonders why an Italian choir decided to tackle these British pieces. In those long ago days before the Interweb there may have been a commercial case for an Italian record company releasing this material but surely nowadays it is easy enough to get hold of much better performances of this classic material from British choirs playing at home, so to speak.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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