Search - John Barrow, John Shirley-Quirk, Ralph Vaughan Williams :: Hodie / Fantasia on Christmas Carols

An old friend

Rodney Gavin Bullock | Winchester, Hampshire Angleterre | 02/09/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is always a wonderful thing to find a beloved recording transfered to CD. My old LP is still on my shelves and has been there since 1973, though the recording dates from 1965. It is a fine performance of an unjustly neglected Christmas work.Vaughan Williams was 81 when he wrote this. It is a portmanteau piece, a form pioneered by Britten, with narrations alternating with chorals, hyms and songs enclosed within a prologue and epilogue. The words set range from the biblical to Thomas Hardy. The narrations, sung by a boys' choir accompanied by a chamber organ, tell the story of the Nativity, and are often followed by a short tenor solo with full orchestral accompaniment. These brief, melismatic sections are of extraordinary emotional power. They still make me go all funny after 30 years. Set in this regular framework go the assorted numbers which vary in character from a gentle lullaby to the glittering March of the Three Kings (the words of which were written by the composer's wife). The work has been criticised for the disparate styles of the settings - some songs like early RVW, others set to the glassy, late orchestral style of Sinfonia Antartica. To me it adds variety as well as demonstrating the sheer breadth of his music. This is a gorgeous piece to play on Christmas day and it will refresh your spirit no end.The performance is first rate, with a trio of distinguished soloists. The recording is remarkably good for its age.The Fantasia on Christmas Carols is a much earlier work and its title is self- explanatory. It is a very attractive work which is given a perfectly acceptable performance here. A mystery is the name of the band : "String Orchestra", which sounds alarmingly generic. Guildford, a town to the west of London, does have a semi-professional orchestra so maybe the players are from this.The insert notes are by Michael Kennedy, who was a close friend of the composer and is the leading authority on his music. Full texts are included for Hodie."

Some of the loveliest Christmas music ever written

Steven Eldredge | New York, NY USA | 12/24/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have played this recording every Christmas for the past 28 years at least, first in the original LP from Angel, and then the first CD release, which for a while was out of print. I am so happy to see that it is again available.If you do not know the Vaughan Williams Hodie, you are missing some of the loveliest Christmas music ever composed. A brilliant mosaic of musical styles serving to set poetry of the most diverse sources,the various parts are all bound together by the Gospel narration of the Nativity story sung by boy's choir. The result, far from being a hodge-podge, is instead deeply felt, organic, and filled with that pastoral, mystical and intensely affecting quality of the best of RVW's work. The soloists are terrific, especially the young Janet Baker at her most radiant. The sound is still quite fresh and beautifully recorded.I cannot imagine Christmas Eve without this heavenly music!"

Buy it before it is deleted again!

altoman | Springfield, VA | 06/14/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This recording, on a rather scratched LP borrowed from the local library, was my introduction to the music of Vaughan Williams, back when I was in high school. It made me a Vaughan Williams fan for life. It is one of the great mysteries that Vaughan Williams, who called himself a "Christian agnostic" could write music of such profound spiritual depth. There are moments here that only the hardest of heart could not find deeply affecting. The music itself is virtually a survey of every style in which RVW wrote, yet there is no sense that the piece is a cut-and-paste affair. Despite the variety of musical styles, Hodie is very subtly organized--so much so that on the 100th hearing it seemed as if I were still discovering internal references. If I absolutely had to choose a favorite part, I think it would be the opening section of the final chorus, setting the famous opening words from St. John's Gospel. The soloists are all magnificent. John Shirley-Quirk's singing of "The Shepherds Sing" is wonderful, and won me over to George Herbert's poetry. Richard Lewis's "Bright Portals of the Sky" is an astonishing performance of extraordinarily demanding music. And every note from Janet Baker's throat is a miracle. When the three join for the March of the Three Kings and the final movement, wow! Where some recordings become less wonderful on repeated hearing, this one only gets better. I looked for it for years--resisting the temptation to purchase other recordings of this work--knowing that a recording this great would have to be reissued. However, knowing the record companies, that could change at any time, so if you love Vaughan Williams buy now."