Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Even those of us who know no Polish would guess that these are Christmas carols through the expressive music although a few bursts of "Gloria In Excellis" give another hint. Witold Lutoslawski (1913 - 1994) was looking back into the 19th century for texts and melodies and seems to have come up with a traditional Polish Christmas. Some of the tunes sound familiar and it is fun to try and guess the sources. It would need a better musical detective than me to trace them all but my guess is that medieval tunes have taken root and grown in different soils to give different results. I would not expect to sing any of these carols at our annual service but I may play this CD as background music as we eat mince pies afterwards and I would not be surprised if people said that they enjoyed the music, even if they have no idea what it is. The next track is "Lacrimosa", featuring the soprano Olga Pasichnyk; listeners who appreciated Górecki's 'Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs' may be interested in this. The final "Five Songs" show Lutoslawski's modernist side and did little for this reviewer.

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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