The Cambridge Singers - The Cambridge Singers Christmas Album (2003)

Tracklist

01. Wexford Carol
02. Jesus Child
03. There is a flower
04. Donkey Carol
05. Wild Wood Carol
06. Angel's Carol
07. Nativity Carol
08. Mary's Lullaby
09. Star Carol
10. Candlelight Carol
11. Shepherd's Pipe Carol
12. Christmas Lullaby
13. Dormi, Jesu
14. Love came down at Christmas
15. Sans Day carol
16. I wonder as I wander
17. What Sweeter Music
18. Joy to the World
19. I saw 3 ships (arr. J. Rutter)
20. Deck the Hall
21. The Very Best Time of Year
22. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (arr. J. Rutter)
23. Silent Night (Stille Nacht)



This is the holiday disc of the year, a slice of merry old English tradition at its best. Reversing the usual American glee club order of things, conductor John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers open with seasonal carols and then, when listeners' ears have been limbered up by Rutter's own arrangements and those by David Willcocks and other figures from the English choral world, moves on to Renaissance pieces and modern compositions by Warlock, Tavener, Britten, Kenneth Leighton, and Vaughan Williams (the Fantasia on Christmas Carols). Even those cool to Rutter's own choral music will concede his skills as a conductor; the Cambridge Singers, at a perfect size between chamber choir and distant, vast cathedral group, sound both beautifully precise and sweetly lyrical under his baton. Rutter also contributes another of the disc's most attractive features; his liner notes are packed with enjoyable information and trivia that illuminate something of the paths familiar carols took to public consciousness, of how today's corpus of Christmas carols resulted from the combined efforts of folklorists, choir leaders, and compiler/editors of years past. "[L]ike so much of the best Christmas music," writes Rutter, Vaughan Williams' Fantasia "seems to encompass both mystery and joy." Much the same might be said of this top-notch seasonal collection, accessible to all yet filled with subtleties for the discerning.

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