King039s College Choir Stephen Cleobury - A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols (32 tracks) +Album Reviews

A Shining Star

D. Ayars | Deerfield, IL USA | 11/20/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"To the other fine and informative reviews here, I would add the following. Though the Festival service and the recording are 80% musical, the "lessons", which are brief scripture passages given moving dramatic readings by college personnel, are the backbone of the Festival and the riverbed through which the carols flow. There is a chronological order to the lessons, beginning in Genesis, and each musical selection is tied to the reading which preceded it. This synthesis makes listening to this CD a very spiritual experience that transports one well beyond what is felt listening to other recorded compilations of carols.The music is primarily drawn from traditional British Christmas repertoire. Well-known British composers over centuries and King's College's organists and music directors over the past century wrote or arranged most of the selections. Several texts are in Olde English or Latin. Three recent compositions are here, too, but the first priority of the Festival director is clearly the tradition and the history of this service and of Christmas in England. There is nothing, however, "musty" about this CD. The tempi are modern and sprightly where indicated, and the performances are transcendent. The Choir of King's College, directed by Stephen Cleobury, consists of 35 young men chosen by highly competitive audition, and they are among the finest choral ensembles in the world. A superb pipe organ played by Benjamin Bayl is the only supplement to the voices. The sound of the recording is a major improvement from radio broadcasts and earlier (now out-of-print) releases of this service. For this CD, the four-and-a-half hymns in which the congregation sings with the choir were recorded during services in December 1998. The balance of the recording was made in the same chapel in July 1999, without the congregation present, so the coughing and shuffling heard during live broadcasts and earlier live recordings is happily absent. The only small problem is that the reverberating acoustics of the chapel, though gorgeous, make many lyrics difficult to discern. Keep the booklet handy. Highest recommendation."

The complete Festival of 9 Lessons & Carols is wonderful!

Dale Dickerson | 11/13/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Over the years, I have heard the service on the radio and heard many recorded versions. This CD is the best I have found. It is a joy from start to finish. I might not make it to Cambridge for Christmas, but I will enjoy the music for many years. So put the CD in the player, press play, and close your eyes. All is quiet. It is 5 PM on Christmas eve. Out of the silence a soft low song comes, "Once in royal David's city stood a lowly cattle shed..." A very special night has begun..."

At last,A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols on Disc

nicholasnash | White Bear Lake, MN USA | 12/08/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the first full recording of the complete Christmas Eve broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols ever to be made available. Previous recordings from as far back as 1949 have focussed on the music (because of the limitations of the recording media of the times), but here is the entire service, including opening and closing prayers and lessons drawn from the Old and New Testaments, read by the Dean of the Chapel, members of King's College, its choir, its related institution at Eton, and members of the community in Cambridge.The service has been heard on public radio stations throughout the United States since 1979 (I know; I produced the first and a number of subsequent broadcasts).The choir of men and boys traverses repertoire well known by those who have listened to the live broadcasts, and although that particular sound is still somewhat unfamiliar to American ears, for many of us the quality of the singing, along with the quality of the acoustic of the chapel make for an unforgettable experience.If the broadcast has become one of your holiday traditions, this recording will be a handsome addition to your collection of music of the season."

Tradition in the making

Mark Swinton | 04/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, has secured a definite place in history with the annual Ceremony of Nine Lessons and Carols on Christmas Eve, observed in a similar way by countless churches all over England and beyond but never in such a traditional manner. This is by no means the first recorded example of King's Choir singing carols- indeed, since Boris Ord was its director, the choir has frequently been on the record shelves during the Christmas season. This latest release from EMI presents us with the service as held at the turn of the new century- mostly recorded live at services in 1998 and 1999, it captures all the traditional Prayers and Lessons read by those appointed since the service was first composed over a century ago (and for fans of the choir in general, that means a rare chance to hear the speaking voices of choristers and choral scholars as well as that of Stephen Cleobury himself).As for the music... well, of course there are the old familiar strains of "Once in Royal David's City," "O Come, all ye faithful" and "Hark, the herald angels sing" with full organ and congregation joining in. There are certainly familiar and traditional carols from long ago ("Gabriel's Message") or from other lands (as in the mediaeval Spanish carol "Riu Riu Chiu"). We also get a sample of the more recent custom of having a brand new carol commissioned every year- the most famous of these are of course by former King's alumni Judith Weir ("Illuminare Jerusalem") and Thomas Ades ("The Fayrfax Carol") as well as the piece that kicked this custom off (John Tavener's incomparable "The Lamb"). Throughout all, the choir is on good form, although the trebles seem more robust and "reedy" than they have in other recent recordings. It's also a minor pity that the entire programme couldn't be fitted onto one CD, although the producers have obviously done their best to split the programme in two without overly disrupting its flow.New Christmas releases are always a bit of a hit-and-miss affair as there's bound to be something on them that's been done (and done to death) before. This release, however, stands apart from most others. One wonders, though- will we be treated to another version of this programme some years from now, so that we might see the service well into the new century?"

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