VA - Welcome, Yule | A Chorister’s Christmas (2024)

This celebration CD showcases the skills of the boys and girls choristers and the Schola of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. It starts with Tomorrow Shall
Be My Dancing Day by John Gardner, an energetic beginning with his wonderful rhythmic percussion and piano. The choirs perform this unchanging Christmas favorite
with perfect balance and tone. This CD is a welcome addition to the catalogues, offering a unique mix of rarely recorded Christmas music
for soprano voices, including William Mathias' Salvator mundi. ,
A delightful cycle of Christmas carols for the choir, and an inspiring piece. The organ is played by only two instrumentalist soloists. David
Lee plays the pleasant Toccata Giocosa by Mathias, a piece you'll get to know again this year.
Both organists are proficient with the instrument, using all its timbral
coloring to achieve a magnificent effect with particularly exciting crescendos. Sir John Rutter is no stranger to Christmas music, and here he has arranged
several traditional hymns for the upper voices with excellent harp accompaniment in a cycle called "Dance Day". They are grouped into two
cycles of three, each preceded by a harp solo. Rutter thoughtfully arranges each Christmas carol, creating an engaging suite. The trebles stand
out with beautifully expressed lyrical lines. Nicholson completes this CD with his own energetic arrangement of the song "I Saw Three Ships", which joyfully completes the program.
Throughout the piece, Nicholson demonstrates the mastery of his excellent chorus line-up, which is complemented by Tanya's charming playing.
Houghton plays the harp, which is a nice addition. In addition, the piano accompaniment by David Lee and Tom Little, harmoniously combined with the voices and
possessing dynamism, contributes to a pleasant and inspiring experience.
The program also includes two contrasting works for solo organ, demonstrating a magnificent instrument.
Father Willis, owned by the cathedral. The cathedral Choir conducts twelve weekly choral services in the cathedral, including daily matins – one of the few places
in the world where this is practiced. The choir consists of boys choristers, girls choristers, high school students, as well as eight professional lay vicars. Choristers
study at the choir school, and members of the schola study at the gymnasium at the cathedral. St. Patrick's Cathedral is the only cathedral in Ireland with a daily schedule of choral
services, as well as the only choral school in Ireland.