The Choir Of Christ's College, Cambridge, David Rowland - Christmas From Christ's
STYLE: Choral RATING OUR PRODUCT CODE: 159418- LABEL: Regent REGCD446 FORMAT: CD Album ITEMS: 1
Reviewed by Steven Whitehead
For many of us, listening to Carols From King's is one of the highlights of our Christmas celebrations but there are other Cambridge college choirs worth hearing. The Choir of Christ's College, Cambridge is currently directed by David Rowlands and have been favourably reviewed on this website on more than one occasion. This latest release is as accomplished as its predecessors, helped in no small part by the excellent audio quality in the Chapel of Queen's College, ably captured by producer/engineer Gary Cole. The featured composers are three of the giants of English carols and carol arrangements of the early years of the 20th century. In birth order, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), Gustav Holst (1874-1934) and Peter Warlock (1894-1930). Some pieces are well known, Warlock's "Bethlehem Down" and Holst's ever-popular "Lullay, My Liking" for example but others will probably be new to you, including Holst's "Four Old English Carols" from 1907 and the first recording of the choral version of Vaughan Williams' 1919 set of "Eight Traditional English Carols". Apart from "This Is The Truth Sent From Above", this wonderful set of carols is almost unknown to choirs today and includes Vaughan Williams' arrangements of tunes that have become well known because of later arrangers, including "The Sussex Carol" (also known as "On Christmas Night"), "Down In Yon Forest" and the concluding "Wassail Song". These carols shed light on the development of three popular composers but should not merely be filed away as of historical interest. As a member of a village choir there is nothing here that I would object to adding to our repertoire (although I fear that some would be beyond us) and as a listener there is nothing that I would not be glad to hear again. The choir is in splendid voice and appropriate accompaniment comes from organists Jonathan Ellse and Sidharth Prabhu-Naik. This is well worth hearing.
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