Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

This collection ticks all the boxes needed for a worthwhile Christmas album. The choral singing is excellent, as befits a well-established choir with more than 600 years' worth of tradition undergirding it, the audio quality of the recording at Merton College, Oxford, is clear and, most importantly, the contents are a well-chosen balance of old favourites and the less familiar. However, what makes the album stand out in a very over-crowded market is the guest appearance of brass quintet Onyx Brass. The two instrumental pieces, Timothy Jackson's arrangement of Gustav Holst's tune for "In The Bleak Midwinter" and Roger Harvey's witty reimagining of the traditional "Past Three O'clock" are both well worth hearing. However, the album succeeds or fails on the back of the sung pieces. As already stated, the singing is uniformly good so we can sit back and enjoy what is on offer. We open with "I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing In" before the title piece, Celia McDowall's Christmas cantata "A Winter's Night". This gives us a new look at five popular tunes from "In Dulci Jubilo" to the "Sussex Carol" with good use being made of Onyx Brass along with an organ part played by Benjamin Cunningham and percussion from Sebastian Guard. The rest of the programme lives up to the high standard set, taking us from Philip Ledger's setting of "Adam Lay Y'bounden" through to Mack Wilberg's glorious arrangement of "Ding Dong! Merrily On High". While I cannot say whether or not your favourite Christmas carols are present there is certainly a good chance that some will be and of the less familiar there is nothing that disappoints. I particularly liked "See Amid The Winter's Snow" as arranged by David Willcocks and his son Jonathan's take on "The Holly And The Ivy" but there is nothing that is not worth hearing and Director Howard Ionescu is to be applauded for a splendid album.

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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