Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

Alan Bullard's 'O Come, Emmanuel' is an Advent Celebration based on the Great 'O' Antiphons of which the title piece is best known. It is the second of three cantatas for broadly similar forces that Bullard wrote in successive years, the first being 'Wondrous Cross', recorded by Selwyn College Choir and reviewed elsewhere on this website. 'O Come, Emmanuel' is dedicated to Sarah MacDonald and the Chapel Choir of Selwyn College and was first performed in a service in the college chapel on Advent Sunday, 2013. Like 'Wondrous Cross' the piece contains a mix of choral and congregational singing. As a member of a choir I would like to think this would be within our capabilities (while I freely concede that we would not come close to being as proficient as Selwyn College Choir) and as a worshipper I would be pleased to join in the singing of the hymns. As a whole 'O Come, Emmanuel' comes in at just under 40 minutes and I enjoyed it very much. The remainder of this disc contains 10 new Christmas carols. The dates of the poems that Alan Bullard has chosen to set range from the present day to the distant past, but all tell the same story, beloved of Christians for centuries. Two that stood out for this reviewer were G K Chesterton's "And All The Stars Looked Down" and a jolly "Merrily Did The Shepherds Blow" based on an anonymous poem from the 15th century. However, competent though all 10 carols undoubtedly are, I doubt whether any will force their way into the repertoire of many choirs or congregations. They are good, in more than one meaning of the word, but not quite memorable enough to supplant the old favourites. However if any choir directors looking for new material are reading this then this is well worth investigating and all listeners who appreciate fine choral singing may wish to add this to their Christmas list.

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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