Search - Stephen Varcoe, Christmas Traditional, Hector Berlioz :: Cambridge Singers Christmas Album

Stephen Varcoe, Christmas Traditional, Hector Berlioz
Cambridge Singers Christmas Album
Genres: Special Interest, Classical

Track Listings (23) - Disc #1
1. The holly and the ivy (arr. H. Walford Davies)*
2. Blessed be that maid Mary (arr. David Willcocks)
3. Somerset Wassail (arr. John Rutter)
4. Shepherds, in the fields abiding (French, arr. Willcocks)*
5. The Infant King (Basque, arr. Willcocks)
6. What is this lovely fragrance? (French, arr. Healey Willan)
7. Gabriel's message (Basque, arr. Willcocks)*
8. Still, still, still (German, arr. Rutter)
9. Quittez, pasteurs (French, arr. Rutter)
10. Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle (French, arr. Rutter)
11. Personent hodie (German, arr. Rutter)
12. The shepherds' farewell (Hector Berlioz)
13. O holy night (Adolphe Adam)
14. O magnum mysterium (T. L. de Victoria)
15. Hodie Christus natus est (J. P. Sweelinck)
16. For unto us a child is born (G. F. Handel)
17. In dulci jubilo (Samuel Scheidt)
18. Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child (Kenneth Leighton)*
19. A New Year Carol (Benjamin Britten)
20. Balulalow (Peter Warlock)
21. I saw a fair maiden (Peter Warlock)
22. The Lamb (John Tavener)
23. Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Ralph Vaughan Williams)

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CD Details

All Artists: Stephen Varcoe, Christmas Traditional, Hector Berlioz, Adolphe Adam, Tomas Luis de Victoria, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck, George Frederick Handel, Samuel Scheidt, Kenneth Leighton, Benjamin Britten, Peter Warlock, John Tavener, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Rutter, City of London Sinfonia, John Scott, Caroline Ashton, Ruth Holton, Karen Kerslake
Title: Cambridge Singers Christmas Album
Members Wishing: 1
Total Copies: 0
Label: Collegium
Original Release Date: 1/1/2000
Re-Release Date: 10/7/2003
Genres: Special Interest, Classical
Styles: Holiday & Wedding, Opera & Classical Vocal, Historical Periods, Baroque (c.1600-1750), Modern, 20th, & 21st Century, Sacred & Religious
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPC: 040888051220

Synopsis

Album Description

Christmas Never Sounded So Good! For more than a decade, John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers have shared the Joy of Christmas with the world. The ethereal sound of perfectly blended voices, singing the most beautiful seasonal music ever composed never fails to touch the heart or lift the spirit. This year, John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers have assembled a NEW collection ? compiled from the archives, including FOUR NEVER BEFORE RELEASED TRACKS! This is a holiday feast you will NOT want to miss!

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CD Reviews

Great choir, but mostly recycled material

David A. Beamer | Clawson, MI United States | 12/15/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have the utmost respect for John Rutter and his Cambridge Singers, probably the best choir in the world (at least, the English-speaking world). I have almost all their CDs. Two of their Christmas CDs are "desert-island" class for this listener.

Unfortunately, I cannot give this otherwise excellent CD the same high marks. If they wanted to release a "best of Cambridge Christmas" CD, this would not be it. It does a few of the absolute best Christmas selections, including Sweelinck's "Hodie", Willcocks's breathtaking arrangement of "The Infant King", and Rutter's own quirky reading of "Personent Hodie". And it does contain a few tracks not previously released.

However, if you want the best of Cambridge and Christmas, start with "Christmas Night", which is always the first CD I pull out the day after Thanksgiving. The sound of the famliar Persall setting of "In Dulci Jubilo" sets my holiday in motion. And that CD also has Rutter's own magical "There is a flower". After that CD, get "Christmas with the Cambridge Singers", which has "The Infant King" and some other treasures.

So, you can't really go wrong with this CD, especially if you just want an introduction to how this fine ensemble addresses the most choir-friendly holiday of all. But if you're serious about getting all the good stuff, start with the other two mentioned above, then add "Christmas Day in the Morning" and the early "Christmas Star"."

Glittering Chrismas Music

John | 11/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I own virtually all of the CD's of John Rutter (whom I greatly admire) and the Cambridge Singers, and I am a fan of English Choral music in general. If I were asked to recommend only one of the many Cambridge Singers Christmas albums, or indeed one of any English Christmas album, a hard choice, this would be it. As others have noted, this CD is a compilation of songs from previous cds with four new releases. It is, I believe, longer playing than the other Cambridge albums. In style, it is a mostly quiet sounding collection--in fact several carols are sung a cappella-- with pieces ranging from carols such as "The Holly and the Ivy" to the more robust "Fantasia on Christmas Carols". In sum, this is a sensitively arranged and performed collection of beautiful Christmas music.

"

Almost angelic

flakey | 01/18/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Choral music by the Cambridge Singers is always top-notch. An older album that might have sounded better with newer technology but no complaints. Has great vocals and orchestral support."