1. In dulci jubilo (Piæ Cantiones)
2. O magnum mysterium
3. Quem vidistis pastores dicite
4. Videntes stellam
5. Hodie Christus natus est
6. A Christmas Carol, for chorus
7. All This Time, carol arrangement for chorus (Christmas Carols No. 4)
8. Nativity, for chorus
9. Dormi Jesu (The Virgin's Cradle Hymn)
10. The Shepherd's Carol, for chorus
11. The Three Kings, for chorus
12. Joys Seven (Joshua Himes's Millennial Harp, 1842)
13. Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night)
14. I Saw Three Ships
15. The Little Road to Bethlehem
16. Ave Rex angelorum
17. Alleluya, a new work is come on hand
18. There is no rose of such virtue
19. Sir Christèmas
20. Ave Rex angelorum

Robert Quinney - organ
Westminster Abbey Choir
James O'Donnell - conductor

Every holiday season brings with it a new batch of Christmas discs, and in 2008 it brought this Hyperion disc called A Christmas Caroll from Westminster Abbey with James O'Donnell directing the Choir of Westminster Abbey. It contains some familiar songs in unfamiliar arrangements like Christopher Bowers-Broadbent's take "Silent Night," Robert Pearsall's re-working of "In dulci jubilo" and James O'Donnell's own vision of "I Saw Three Ships." For the most part, however, the repertoire here is taken from modern and contemporary composers with Poulenc's Quatre motets pout le temps de Noël, Walton's "All This Time," Rutter's "Dormi, Jesu," and William Mathias' "Ave Rex." But despite the disparity of the selections in style and content, the performances are consistently appealing. The boys and men of the Westminster Choir sing with a warmly round tone and a smoothly polished ensemble and O'Donnell is a masterful leader who shapes the performances into sweetly attractive aesthetic wholes. While fans of old-fashioned choral Christmas discs may find that this one has a tad too much contemporary music for their taste, anyone looking for a new Christmas disc of modern and contemporary choral Christmas music will at least have to try this one. Hyperion's digital sound is deep and clear, with a strong feeling of place and time, though the manifest emptiness of the hall is perhaps less than ideally suited for the sound of the season. ---James Leonard, Rovi

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MARC-ANTOINE CHARPENTIER (1643-1704)
Nońls sur instruments, H 531, 534
1. Vous qui desirez sans fin
2. A la venue de Nońl
3. Or nous dites, Marie
4. Ou s'en vont ces gais bergers?

JOHANN MELCHIOR MOLTER (1695-1765)
Concerto pastorale in G major
5. Larghetto. Allegro e forte (Larghetto)
6. Aria 2: Lento e sempre piano

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741)
Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C major, RV 537
7. Allegro
8. Largo
9. [Allegro]

GIUSEPPE SAMMARTINI (1695-1750)
10. Pastorale in G major from Concerto grosso op. 6
Andante sostenuto

GEORG PHILIPP TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Concerto polonois in G major
11. Dolce
12. Allegro
13. Largo
14. Allegro

GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759)
Concerto a due cori in B flat major, HWV 332
15. Ouverture
16. Allegro ma non troppo
17. Allegro
18. Largo
19. A tempo ordinario
20. Alla breve moderato
21. Minuet

ARCANGELO CORELLI (1653-1713)
Concerto grosso in G major, op. 6 no. 8 ("Christmas Concerto")
22. Vivace Grave. Arcate, sostenuto e come sta
23. Allegro
24. Adagio - Allegro - Adagio
25. Vivace
26. Allegro
27. Largo. Pastorale ad libitum

The English Concert
Trevor Pinnock - conductor

For people who just can't bear to listen to another Christmas carol, this is the album. Completely instrumental, this is early music written with Christmas in mind, but it is in no way recognizable as Christmas music. These little heard pieces are brilliantly conducted and performed (as always) by Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert. I heard tracks 5 & 6 on the radio a few weeks before Christmas, when my spirits were suffering an uncharacteristic low, and found myself so completely moved by the beauty them, I had to have the CD. I didn't know what the other pieces would be like, but they all turned out to be perfection. Each selection is just the right amount of colour and flourish, moving from lovely largos to vivd vivaces without ever leaving the listener reaching to turn the volume down or off. I found the entire "1 hour plus" album thoroughly uplifting and easy to get lost in. And best of all, I finally have an album that expresses musically how I feel about Christmas, that doesn't irritate anyone (including me). All that and a great Amazon price. What more can you ask?! ---The Daily Prophet, amazon.com

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Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713)
Concerto grosso in G Minor, Op. 6, No. 8, Christmas Concerto
1 I. Vivace – Grave 01:24
2 II. Allegro 01:58
3 III. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio 03:03
4 IV. Vivace 00:59
5 V. Allegro – Pastorale (Largo) 06:01

Angelo Ragazzi (1680–1750)
Sonata à 4 for Violin, Strings and Continuo in G Major, Op. 1, No. 12
6 I. Apparizone. Recitativo 01:11
7 II. Andata. Allegro 01:58
8 III. Adorazione. Vivace 03:01
9 IV. Ritornata. Allegro 01:55

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
Violin Concerto in E Major, RV 270, Il riposo
10 I. Allegro 03:34
11 II. Adagio 01:08
12 III. Allegro 02:41

Lorenzo Gaetano Zavateri (1690–1764)
Concerto for 2 Violins, Strings and Continuo, Op. 1, No. 10, Pastorale
13 I. Grave. Adagio 01:06
14 II. Allegro 03:10
15 III. Largo 00:40
16 IV. Pastorale. Andante 05:09

Giovanni Valentini (1582–1649)
Sinfonia per Il Santissimo Natale, Op. 1, No. 12
17 I. Largo 01:27
18 II. Andante 01:22
19 III. Allegro 01:57
20 IV. Largo 02:09
21 V. Presto 01:59

Pietro Antonio Locatelli (1695–1764)
Concerto Grosso in F Minor, Op. 1, No. 8
22 I. Largo 00:52
23 II. Grave 01:31
24 III. Vivace 01:26
25 IV. Grave 01:44
26 V. Largo. Andante 03:34
27 VI. Andante 01:44
28 VII. Pastorale ad libitum. Largo andante 03:32

Cappella Gabetta
Andrés Gabetta - violin & direction

A must-have album for the upcoming Christmas season: "Christmas Concertos" - A stunning new recording of the famous Christmas concertos by Corelli and Locatelli, together with beautiful but lesser-known works presented by Cappella Gabetta. A Christmas album full of atmosphere featuring Christmas concertos by Italian composers. Famous concertos by Corelli, Vivaldi and Locatelli but also rarely heard works by Valentini, Zavateri and Ragazzi that are well worth discovering. A brilliant new recording by the distinguished Baroque ensemble Cappella Gabetta.A must-have album for the upcoming Christmas season: "Christmas Concertos" - A stunning new recording of the famous Christmas concertos by Corelli and Locatelli, together with beautiful but lesser-known works presented by Cappella Gabetta. A Christmas album full of atmosphere featuring Christmas concertos by Italian composers. Famous concertos by Corelli, Vivaldi and Locatelli but also rarely heard works by Valentini, Zavateri and Ragazzi that are well worth discovering. A brilliant new recording by the distinguished Baroque ensemble Cappella Gabetta. ---prestoclassical.co.uk

The Baroque ensemble Cappella Gabetta was founded by the cellist Sol Gabetta and her brother, the violinist and conductor Andrés Gabetta, and within only a short time has evolved into one of the finest ensembles currently before the public. Its members are friends and are drawn from such prestigious ensembles as Il Giardino Armonico, the Basel Chamber Orchestra and other existing groups. Their early recordings for Sony Classical and dhm have already been highly praised. For their new album they have recorded a particularly attractive collection of works for Advent and Christmas. Christmas Concertos showcases two of the best-loved Italian Christmas concertos by Corelli and Locatelli in new benchmark recordings skilfully combined with Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in E major (Il riposo) and three atmospheric Christmas works by lesser-known composers: Angelo Ragazzi’s Sonata a quattro op. 1 no. 12 (“Pastorale”), Lorenzo Gaetano Zavateri’s Concerto a pastorale and Giuseppe Valentini’s Sinfonia per il santissimo Natale. The result is an atmospheric “Italian” Christmas CD presented from an appealing angle. ---Product Description, amazon.com

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi zaprasza do wysłuchania kolejnej płyty Cappelli Gabetta, zespołu założonego przez słynną wiolonczelistkę Sol Gabetta i jej brata – wybitnego skrzypka, grającego na instrumencie historycznym – Andreasa Gabetta. Założony w 2010 roku zespół występował na wielu liczących się estradach Europy i Świata, m. in. w paryskiej Salle Gaveau, Musikhalle ( Hamburg), Prinzregententheater (Monachium), Tonhalle (,Zurich), Philharmonie (Berlin), a także na liczących się festiwalach: Bremen Music Festival, Festival Baroque de Lyon, Rheingau Music Festival i wielu innych.

Tym razem uwaga wykonawców skierowana została ku Świętom Bożego Narodzenia. Usłyszymy utwory kompozytorów włoskiego baroku… ---sonymusic.pl

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1. Romanos the Melodist, Kontakion: Today the Virgin
2. Petros Bereketis, 3 Heirmoi: Odes 1,5,9
3. Iakevos Protopsaltis, Doxastikon for the Sunday preceding Christmas: Glory Be To The Father
4. Kathisma: Come, O Ye Faithful and Let Us Behold
5. Heirmoi for the 1st Canon of Christmas: Odes 1,3,4,5,6,7,8,9
6. Petros Lambadarios: Glory to God in the Highest
7. Petros Lambadarios & Verses from the Great Doxology: Today Christ is Born
8. Chant for Communion: The Lord Hath Sent Deliverence Unto His People
9. Petros Lambadarios, Troparion: Thou Wast Born Secretly in the Cave
10. Petros Lambadarios, Exapostilarion: Our Savior Has Descended Unto us From on High
11. Petros Lambadarios, Doxastikon: Glory to the Father, to the Son & to the Holy Spirit (The Magi, Kings of Persia)
12. Petros Lambadarios, Sticheron: All the Angels in Heaven
13. Petros Lambadarios, Apolytikion: Thy Nativity, O Christ Our God
14. Balasios The Priest, Calophonic Heirmoi: A Star Has Already Risen
15. Ioannis Trapezountios: Kratima  

Greek Byzantine Choir
Lycourgos Angelopoulos - conductor

These are hundreds to over a thousand year old Byzantine hymns, of ancient beauty and devotion. Features one of the best chanters (Psalti) and choruses, Angelopoulis, who also appears on several CD's of ancient Roman chant (was Byzantine in style) done by Harmonia Mundi label's Marcel Peres, who brings to life ancient church music. The melodies are often in a minor key, are of great beauty and the words are from or paraphrased from the Bible. Entrancing. Getting an English translation would make it easier to appreciate if you don't know Greek; see the booklet. One of the best. ---Karl Schulte, PMA,, amazon.com

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CD1

Marcin Józef Zebrowski (c. 1702–1770) - Sacred choral works

1. Rorate Coeli (c. 1758)

2. Magificat
I. Magnificat
II. Quia respexit
III. Quia fecit
IV. Et misericordia
V. Fecit potentiam
VI. Deposuit
VII. Esurientes
VIII. Suscepit Israel
IX. Sicut Iocutus
X. Gloria Parti

Wroclaw Vocal Consort
Wroclawska Orkiestra Barokowa
Jaroslaw Thiel – director

Witold Lutoslawski Concert Studio, Warsaw 17.12.2013

CD2

Giovanni A. Rigatti (1613-1648)
1. Magnificat

Capricornus (1628-1665)
2. Adesto mulitudo coelestis (Motette)

Missa Nativitatis Domini (first performed in our time)
3. Kyrie
4. Gloria
5. Judica Domine (Intonation of a psalm)
6. Credo
7. Sanctus - Benedictus
8. Agnus Dei
9. Applause

Gabriela Eibenová, soprán
Alena Hellerová, soprán
Davida Erler, alt
Václav Cížek, tenor
Romana Hoza, baryton
Marián Krejcík, bas 

Ensemble Inégal
Adam Viktora – director

Prague, Church of St. Martin in the Wall, 10.12.2013

Marcin Józef Żebrowski belongs among those 18th century Polish composers whose work is only now being discovered. Żebrowski was a member of the musical establishment of the Paulite Fathers at Jasna Góra in Częstochowa, in which he was active during 1748-65 and around 1780 as composer, violinist, bass vocalist and teacher.

The work of the composer which has come down to us represents a richer output, of which the greatest part is kept in the archives of the Paulite Fathers at Jasna Góra in Częstochowa: thirty entries under twenty one catalogue numbers. Moreover, fragments of Żebrowski's work are to be found in the collections of the following chapel music establishments: the parish musical establishment in Szalowa and the musical establishment of the Dominican Fathers in Gidle.

In respect of the volume of preserved works Żebrowski belongs thus among the foremost l8th century Polish composers known today. This applies not only to vocal-instrumental, but also to purely instrumental music: his Sonatae pro processione are an exceptionally valuable part of the heritage of Polish instrumental music of the pre-classical period. Among the vocal-instrumental works, which form the main current of Żebrowski's output, his Mass compositions deserve particular attention. At present there are five known manuscripts containing his Masses, out of which four, kept at Jasna Góra, are complete, and one - belonging to the collection of the parish musical establishment in Szalowa - incomplete. All the Jasna Góra manuscripts have been preserved in very good condition. These are: Missa ex D, Missa Pastoralis, Missa Pastoritia, Missa in B. These compositions were still part of the repertoire of the Kapelle in 1819. Comparing Żebrowski's work with the preserved output of other contemporary composers we can see that he is superior to them in his mastery of compository technique, and above all in inventiveness and creativity in shaping the melodic line. --- pwm.com.pl

Giovanni Rigatti - italian composer. Rigatti was choirmaster at Udine Cathedral in 1635-7, and later a priest in Venice, singing at St Mark's and teaching singing at one of the Venetian conservatories; in 1646 he directed music for the Patriarch of Venice. Highly esteemed by the age of only 20, Rigatti was an outstanding church composer in the Venice of Monteverdi's last years. He published nine volumes of sacred music (five of solo and concertato motets, four of psalms also including three Masses) and two books of secular music (monodies and concertato madrigals). His music is distinguished by charming yet forceful melodies, imaginative structures and dramatic word painting. --- hoasm.org

Samuel Capricornus was born in Žerčice at Mladá Boleslav (East Bohemia). He was one of the few Czech composers in the 17th century who were a major influence on European contemporaneous music culture. This ambitious composer earned in his short life (he died when only 37 years old) acknowledgement from such contemporaries as Heinrich Schütz and Giacomo Carissimi. He was active around the court in Vienna, and worked for a few years as a music director in the prominent churches of Presburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia) and finally fulfilled his career at the court of Elector in Stuttgart, as maestro di capella. Despite the fact that most of his work has not survived (his theatre music, ballets and operas are lost), a number of archives preserve his church music. --- motusharmonicus.cz

Each year on the Sunday before Christmas, European Broadcasting Union - EBU (Euroradio) brings its listeners a dozen hours of programming from throughout Europe and beyond, featuring Christmas music, sacred and popular, traditional and contemporary, produced by its Members and Associates.

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1 - 5 	G.P.Telemann (1681-1767). Machet die Tore weit. Kantate zum 1. Advent
6 - 22  J.Schelle (1648-1701). Vom Himmel hoch. Actus musicus auf Weyh-Nachten
23. 	Ph.H.Erlebach (1657-1714). Siehe, ich verkündige eich große Freude
24 - 38 A.M.Bruckhorst (ca. 1670-1725). Die Weihnachtsgeschischte. "Die Weihnachsgeschichte"

Anne Krabbe, Christine Alexander, Mechthild Jaskulsky - soprano
Jan Kullmann - alto
Markus Francke, Jorg Nitschke - tenor
Joachim Hochbauer, Erik Sohn - bass
Collegium Vocale und Collegium Instrumentale Bochum
Hans Jaskulsky - conductor

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01. Michel Corrette – Noel Symphony No. 6, Tous les bourgeois de châtre
02. Jean de Brébeuf – Jesous ahatonhia
03. André Raison – Noël Poitevin “Au saint Nau”
04. Louis-Claude Daquin – Nouveau livre de Noël, Op. 2: No. 2, Noël en Dialogue
05. Michel Corrette – Quand Dieu naquit à Noël
06. Traditional – C’est une fille muette
07-12. Arcangelo Corelli – Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op. 6 No. 8
	7. I. Vivace – GraVe 1’13
	8.II. Allegro 2’19
	9.III. Adagio – Allegro – Adagio 2’42
	10.IV. Vivace 0’57
	11.V. Allegro 2’06
	12.VI. Largo. Pastorale ad Libitum 3’22
13. Marc-Antoine Charpentier – 3 Noëls, H. 531: A la venue de Noel
14. Pierre Guédron – Si cést pour oster la vie
15. Nouveau livre de Noël, Op. 2: No. 11, Noël en Recit en Taille: Une jeune Pucelle
16. Jean-François Dandrieu – Noël bressan, ‘Nos alins raconté l’histoaire’
17. Michel Corrette – Nouveau livre de Noëls pour le clavecin, Suite No. 3: Noël suisse, ‘Il est un petit ange’
18. Michel-Richard de Lalande – 23 Symphonies des Noëls, S. 130 (excerpt)
19. Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Noël sur les instruments, H. 534: Joseph est bien marié

Les Musiciens De Saint-Julien
François Lazarevitch - flute, musette, direction 
Maîtrise De Radio France
Sofi Jeannin ‎- direction

Since the dawn of Christianity, Christmas has been celebrated with festive singing. In the Baroque era numerous composers such as Charpentier, Delalande, Balbastre, Dandrieu and Daquin created masterpieces out of these simple tunes. When Sofi Jeannin told me of her wish to get her ‘Maîtrise’ choir to sing Christmas music, I was delighted. For a long time I had been gathering French sources of the 17th and 18th centuries with the intention of working on baroque carol arrangements with Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien. I wanted to create something quite different from what had been done before, by treating this repertoire with proper respect: being faithful to the old sources, yet re-working the musical material to make our own personal version. The different languages, regional dialects and accents illustrate the extraordinary diversity and cultural richness of France – as well as of ‘New France’ – at that historical period. ---François Lazarevitch, outhere-music.com

Les noëls étaient autrefois des chansons populaires susceptibles d'inspirer des compositeurs « sérieux » (dont Marc Antoine Charpentier), le même texte pouvant connaître plusieurs destins aimables. Un exemple éclairant en est Or nous dites Marie, évoqué ci-dessus, joué ici dans la version de Louis Claude Daquin. On trouve bien d'autres perles dans ce délicieux recueil de noëls multilingues conçu par François Lazarevitch, fondateur des Musiciens de Saint-Julien, pour répondre au désir qu'avait Sofi Jeannin, directrice musicale de la Maîtrise de Radio France, de faire chanter Noël à ses ouailles.

A partir de sources disparates, François Lazarevitch a effectué tout un travail de recomposition instrumentale et polyphonique. Avec succès : à la simplicité originelle des mélodies répond l'inventivité des arrangements, où cordes, bois, musette, percussion se répartissent les rôles pour mieux servir le texte. Dans une version pour flûtes à bec et basson, le Concerto fatto per la notte di Natale, de Corelli, constitue le coeur instrumental de ce qui reste avant tout une fête vocale grâce aux voix des maîtrisiens, remarquables par la clarté des timbres et la précision de la diction. Et si ces noëls naïfs et chaleureux, au charme débordant, détrônaient enfin le sempiternel Il est né le divin enfant ? ---S.Bo., telerama.fr

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Claudio Monteverdi
1.Litanie alla vergine a 6 voci	12:01 	

Pietro Paolo Bencini
2.Magnificat	2:15 	
3.Quia respexit		1:16 	
4.Quia fecit mihi magna	3:28 	
5.Et misericordia ejus (Cantabile)	1:57 	
6.Fecit potentiam	0:56 	
7.Deposuit potentes	1:46 	
8.Esurientes	1:30 	
9.Suscepit Israel	1:07 	
10.Sicut locutus est	1:58 	

Alessandro Melani
11.Salve regina a 9 voci		6:15 	

Antonio Soler
12.Magnificat (Largo majestuoso)	1:00 	
13.Et exultavit (Andante)	1:27 	
14.Et misericordia (Largo)	1:26 	
15.Fecit potentiam (Andante)	1:55 	
16.Gloria Patri (Largo)	0:40 	
17.Sicut erat (andante)		0:44 	

Alessandro Scarlatti
18.Salve regina a 4 voci		9:16 	

Giacomo Carissimi
19.Magnificat a 8 voci	10:48 	

Igor Stravinsky
20.Ave maria a 4 voci	1:34

Concerto Italiano
Rinaldo Alessandrini - conductor

Italian conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini, having revolutionized the performance of Italian Baroque instrumental music, has been doing the same with sacred music. His efforts and those of his Concerto Italiano ensemble in this case have been a bit more oriented toward the discovery of obscure material than in the instrumental realm, where his high-octane readings made you hear familiar Vivaldi pieces in a whole new way. Here he focuses on antiphonal choral music, most of it from late 17th-century Rome; the inclusion of Stravinsky's Ave Maria at the end is a nice try, but despite its neo-Baroque idiom it breaks the mood. Many of these Magnificats and Salve Regina settings were written for small chapels, and the mostly one-to-a-part choir (11 singers in all) works fine; more imposing forces would also be possible, but Alessandrini's technique is to extract maximum expressiveness from the interplay between the dual choirs in these six-, eight-, and nine-voice pieces, accompanied only by organ and theorbo, and this is more effective with a small group. The best news here is the rediscovery of an unknown masterwork: the Salve Regina a 9 voci of Alessandro Melani (1639-1703), whose music Alessandrini has covered in more depth on another release. This work opens with an absolutely bewitching long, sinuous line for soprano solo, intersecting later in the work with the two four-voice choirs. The large Magnificats by Pietro Paolo Bencini and Padre Antonio Soler also have a fascinating combination of gravity and intimacy here, and even listeners unfamiliar with the polychoral tradition of the 17th century (extending well into the 18th in Soler's case) will find variety and dramatic interest in Alessandrini's presentation. Strongly recommended, and sample the Melani (track 11); the first couple minutes will amaze you. --- James Manheim, AllMusic Review

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1.Henry GAUNTLETT arr. Thomas HEWITT JONES Once in Royal David’s City [3:09]
2.Trad. Basque Carol arr. Jim CLEMENTS Gabriel’s Message [3:01]
3.Hieronymus PRAETORIUS Magnificat Quinti Toni [6:23]
4.Francis POULENC O Magnum Mysterium [2:57]
5.Anon arr. Jim CLEMENTS Away in a Manger [2:58]
6.Anon arr. Charles WOOD Ding Dong Merrily on High [1:35]
7.Trad. Appalachian Carol arr. Jim CLEMENTS I Wonder as I Wander [3:34]
8.Henryk GÓRECKI Totus Tuus [8:42]
9.Trad. Arr. Barnaby SMITH Coventry Carol [3:23]
10.Graham LACK Jesu, Swete Sone Dear [2:11]
11.Graham LACK At the Manger Mary Sings 2:30]
12.Francis POULENC Videntes Stellam [2:51]
13.Trad. German Carol arr. Hieronymus PRAETORIUS In Dulci Jubilo [2:46]
14.Peter WARLOCK Bethlehem Down [4:34]
15.Anon There is no Rose [3:26]
16.Jean MOUTON Nesciens Mater [5:10]
17.Peter CORNELIUS The Three Kings 2:30]
18.William WALTON What Cheer [1:31]

Voces8 (Ensemble)

For its album of Christmas music, British vocal octet Voces8 has put together an exceptionally attractive collection of classic carols and anthems mixed with less familiar works. The most striking aspects of the performances are a rare level of tonal clarity and a focused unanimity in the singers' vowels that produce a ringing, almost startling purity, which is enhanced by the crystalline, ideally resonant sound of Signum's CD. The focused tone allows the group to sound much larger than an octet, so the dynamic range of their performances is unusually broad and expressive, from the hushed opening of Coventry Carol to the rhapsodic fullness of In dulci jubilo. The sound has plenty of warmth, too, and the voices, which can blend so beautifully, have distinctive and colorful character when given solos lines. "Radiant" and "luminous" are adjectives that are perhaps overused in describing choral sound, but in this case they are fully deserved.

Jim Clements provides three new arrangements of traditional carols. They are notable for the way they capture and intensify the essential meaning of each carol. This is especially evident in his version of I Wonder As I Wander, which concludes with a wonderful, ecstatically wandering canon and which has the additional virtue of subtly and cleverly correcting the grammatical awkwardness of the first verse. The program is marvelously varied, but all of the pieces, whether written in the middle ages or the 21st century, are gorgeous examples of sumptuous choral writing, and these performance do them full justice. Highly recommended. ---Stephen Eddins, AllMusic Review

Voces8 is a group of young singers, comprising two sopranos, two counter-tenors, two tenors, a baritone and a bass. The ensemble was founded as long ago as 2003 and has several previous recordings to its credit but this is the first time I’ve heard them. On the evidence of this disc I think I’d describe them, for ease of reference, as akin to a mixed-voice version of The King’s Singers. Certainly, like that ensemble, they offer polished and well-nigh flawless singing. The tone, however, seems rather ‘white’; frequently I found myself longing for a bit less studied technical perfection and a bit more by way of grit and feeling; much of this disc seems too smooth and effortless.

Once in Royal David’s City opens the proceedings. To my ears the chosen speed is desperately slow – only three verses are sung – and the singing seems self-consciously moulded. The close harmonies of Thomas Hewitt Jones’ arrangement in the final verse seem a bit overdone to me. There are three arrangements by Jim Clements. His way with Away in a Manger is too sweet and sentimental, I feel. The arrangement of I Wonder as I Wander is nice though I do wonder if it’s too sophisticated for such a simple piece; the arrangement rather over-wraps the music.

On the other hand the Magnificat by Praetorius comes off rather well. The music is nicely paced and the parts are flawlessly balanced. We hear more Praetorius later in the programme. Voces8 inject some welcome vigour into his setting of In Dulci Jubilo and I couldn’t help but note that they managed this without sacrificing any of their perfection of ensemble; if only they had ‘let go’ like this in a few more items – including some of the slower ones. Eventually I decided to make a comparison and played their performance of Mouton’s exquisite, timeless Nesciens Mater, following it up with a recent recording of the same piece by The Tallis Scholars (review). The Voces8 performance hasn’t a hair out of place and their singing is expertly controlled. Heard in isolation it’s pretty good, if a little soulless. However, turn to The Tallis Scholars and it’s easy to hear what’s missing from Voces8. For one thing The Tallis Scholars, also fielding eight singers, produce a richer sound. More than that, however, there’s more warmth and expression in their performance; you feel the phrases are leading somewhere and not just being delivered as perfectly as possible. For me, the choice is clear. In fairness, however, I ought to say that I played both recordings ‘blind’ to my wife and she preferred the Voces8 performance.

There are a few pieces that one usually hears sung by larger ensembles. One such is the Górecki. This is taken at a fairly fleet speed and I have to say that hearing it at this pace and sung by just eight singers rather diminishes the piece despite the technically flawless singing. To be sure, the small forces and perfect balance mean that every detail of Górecki’s piece can be heard clearly but I feel one pays a price for this clarity. The two Poulenc Christmas motets also benefit from the clarity in that every strand of Poulenc’s textures and every little harmonic quirk emerge probably more clearly than one has ever heard before. However, I’m not sure that the spirit of the music is properly conveyed.

In summary, these performances offer expert singing. However, in the booklet we are told that the programme “was conceived as a heart-warming selection of the ensemble’s favourite seasonal music.” With the best will in the world I struggle to discern much in the singing that is “heart-warming”, despite its polish and technical accomplishment. The booklet itself I would describe as a “Designer product”. In particular, while I welcome the provision of texts these are printed in blue on a black background, which doesn’t make it very easy to read them. This disc may well appeal to some collectors but not to me, I’m afraid. ---John Quinn, musicweb-international.com

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Johann Sebastian Bach
1.„Jauchzet frohlocket"

Trad.
2.O du fröhliche / O sanctissima

Giacomo Puccini
3.Sogno d'or

S. Coleridge Taylor
4.Christmas Ouvertüre

Adolphe Adam
5.„Cantique de Noël"

Gustaf Nordqvist
6.Jul, jul

Trad.
7.Adorar al nino

Morten Lauridsen
8.„Magnun mysterium"

Howard Arman
9.Gospel-Medley "It's a Birthday" & "Wasn't that a mighty day"

Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks    
Münchner Rundfunkorchester
Dirigent  -  Howard Arman 

2016, Hilpoltstein, Stadtpfarrkirche St. Johannes der Täufer

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