As I wrote a few days ago, I've always enjoyed the traditional Christmas music of Britain. Today, I want to share a recording that takes in the traditions of Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Spain, Italy and more, and does it all in the way these songs would traditionally or originally have been sung.
This unique and fascinating 2-CD set is simply titled The Carol Albums: Seven Centuries of Christmas Music. It's full of familiar and unfamiliar tunes, familiar words set to unfamiliar tunes, and unfamiliar versions of familiar tunes! The music reaches clear back to mediaeval plainsong and forward into the nineteenth century.
The variety is endless, and there's not a boring moment throughout the two CDs. Boring, no, but certainly a bit provocative at times. An example is the reconstruction of the original version of Silent Night heard in that tiny Austrian village church in 1818 -- a duet of male voices accompanied by a guitar, with a small choir joining in on the refrains. The melody is familiar up to a point, but has a couple of clear differences from the version widely sung today. The performance here eschews the solemnity thought appropriate nowadays, and gives the tune a waltz-like lilt entirely appropriate to its original shape.
Another example is God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen, which is sung here to a folk tune different from the common one we know, but which was long associated with the words.
Contributing to the variety is a wide range of original instruments appropriate to all the different time periods and countries covered, and a judicious variation in choices and numbers of voices used, with a few instrumental numbers included to leaven the mixture.
A further cause of perk-up-your-ears moments is the use, where appropriate, of period pronunciation of English texts. This can sometimes seem far over the top, as for instance in the lusty singing of Glory to God on High which comes out as "Glawry ta Gawd ahn Highhhhnnn" with a distinct nasal twang. At first it sounds merely comical, but it does serve to remind us that our language is a living, evolving organism in both words and manner of speaking!
The recording ends grandly, in the nineteenth century manner, with a large-scale performance for full choir and organ, of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, the tune restored to its original (slightly different) form and the words restored to their original order, compared to the scrambled versions now heard.
The copy I own is a re-release from the Musical Heritage Society, which combines the contents of what were originally two separate recordings, made by EMI in 1989 and 1993. The enclosed booklet gives detailed historic notes and complete texts of every number.
Throughout the two discs, the singers of the Taverner Consort, Choir, and Players outdo themselves in finding the necessary variety of tones and textures for such a huge range of musical styles, and Andrew Parrott's crisp direction keeps the programme moving smoothly along without haste.
I found one of the two recordings available for download from Classics Online, and the rights may well be available elsewhere too. This is definitely worth your time and trouble to seek out, especially if you are interested in the Christmas musical traditions of times gone by in a variety of other lands.
Saturday 21 December 2013
Tuesday 17 December 2013
Christmas Delights # 1
Almost every country in the Christian world has its own traditional songs for Christmas. As a boy, I grew up singing in an Anglican church choir and later on shifted to United churches with British-trained organist-choirmasters, so I learned from an early age to love the old traditional carols and hymns of the British Isles. Last year I was writing about Christmas music based on old French noels, so going to Britain this year seems like a good idea.
Actually, the recording I want to share with you today consists of music by one composer, none other than my old friend Ralph Vaughan Williams. In earlier years of his career he edited for publication both the English Hymnal and the Oxford Book of Carols so it's not surprising that traditional hymns, folk tunes, carols, and folk dances formed one of the key elements of his musical personality.
Some time back, I wrote about his splendid cantata Hodie ("A Christmas Miracle in Music"), a concert work for choir, children's choir, soloists, organ and orchestra (written in 1954, the same year I was born). It's a magnificent masterpiece by any standards, but the folk element is notably in abeyance.
But just a few years later, in 1958, he was asked to compose music for a Christmas play to be performed at a charity matinee. Much to the surprise of the play's author, Simona Pakenham, he leaped at the chance and filled his score with all his favourite Christmas carols. Sadly, he died just 4 weeks later, but he had already completed a surprising amount of the music and orchestration, and had chosen all the carols to be used for the remaining sections. Roy Douglas completed the score, marking clearly the portions which he had contributed, and the premiere of The First Nowell duly took place on schedule.
It's presented on this Chandos recording, conducted by Richard Hickox, in full, warm sound and with the singers and players savouring to the full the skill which Vaughan Williams lavished on this final work. The full score lasts for half an hour, during which the ear is constantly beguiled by the arrangements, both vocal and orchestral, and the ease with which the composer leads us on from carol to carol. A real delight!
It's accompanied by not one but two world premieres! The first is an arrangement for strings and organ of the early and well-loved Fantasia on Christmas Carols, written in 1912. Hitherto, this piece has always been recorded either with full orchestra or with organ accompaniment. This third option does not notably change the impact of the work, since the string writing was always very much to the fore in any case, but it counts as one of the finest recordings of the Fantasia that I have ever heard -- and I have three or four others in my collection!
The other premiere is a ballet score, On Christmas Night, loosely based on the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Vaughan Williams and his friend, Gustav Holst, made a number of attempts to develop a uniquely English style of "ballet" by using traditional folk dances, and this is one of several examples which he wrote.
This score too makes use of several carol tunes -- a few of which are actually heard in all three works, not that I'm complaining. What makes this work stand out is that the music is definitely dramatic, intended as it was for staged storytelling through dance. The other two works tend more to the contemplative in tone.
On Christmas Night derives much of its energy from the traditional folk dance tunes woven into the score, eight of which are identified by name in the detailed synopsis in the recording booklet. The music takes on a special air of get-up-and-go from these lively dances, and the carols act as suitable foils during alternate quieter scenes. There are two vocal soloists, and a small choral part, but as befits a ballet this music is mainly orchestral.
On the Chandos CD recorded in 2005, the Fantasia comes first, and The First Nowell ends the record, framing the more rumbustious On Christmas Night between them. All three works are expertly performed, with splendid sound from both singers and players. Even conductor Richard Hickox, renowned for his choral-orchestral recordings and performances, rarely produced a warmer, more loving presentation than he achieved here. This is a Christmas treasure that is not to be missed!
Actually, the recording I want to share with you today consists of music by one composer, none other than my old friend Ralph Vaughan Williams. In earlier years of his career he edited for publication both the English Hymnal and the Oxford Book of Carols so it's not surprising that traditional hymns, folk tunes, carols, and folk dances formed one of the key elements of his musical personality.
Some time back, I wrote about his splendid cantata Hodie ("A Christmas Miracle in Music"), a concert work for choir, children's choir, soloists, organ and orchestra (written in 1954, the same year I was born). It's a magnificent masterpiece by any standards, but the folk element is notably in abeyance.
But just a few years later, in 1958, he was asked to compose music for a Christmas play to be performed at a charity matinee. Much to the surprise of the play's author, Simona Pakenham, he leaped at the chance and filled his score with all his favourite Christmas carols. Sadly, he died just 4 weeks later, but he had already completed a surprising amount of the music and orchestration, and had chosen all the carols to be used for the remaining sections. Roy Douglas completed the score, marking clearly the portions which he had contributed, and the premiere of The First Nowell duly took place on schedule.
It's presented on this Chandos recording, conducted by Richard Hickox, in full, warm sound and with the singers and players savouring to the full the skill which Vaughan Williams lavished on this final work. The full score lasts for half an hour, during which the ear is constantly beguiled by the arrangements, both vocal and orchestral, and the ease with which the composer leads us on from carol to carol. A real delight!
It's accompanied by not one but two world premieres! The first is an arrangement for strings and organ of the early and well-loved Fantasia on Christmas Carols, written in 1912. Hitherto, this piece has always been recorded either with full orchestra or with organ accompaniment. This third option does not notably change the impact of the work, since the string writing was always very much to the fore in any case, but it counts as one of the finest recordings of the Fantasia that I have ever heard -- and I have three or four others in my collection!
The other premiere is a ballet score, On Christmas Night, loosely based on the story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Vaughan Williams and his friend, Gustav Holst, made a number of attempts to develop a uniquely English style of "ballet" by using traditional folk dances, and this is one of several examples which he wrote.
This score too makes use of several carol tunes -- a few of which are actually heard in all three works, not that I'm complaining. What makes this work stand out is that the music is definitely dramatic, intended as it was for staged storytelling through dance. The other two works tend more to the contemplative in tone.
On Christmas Night derives much of its energy from the traditional folk dance tunes woven into the score, eight of which are identified by name in the detailed synopsis in the recording booklet. The music takes on a special air of get-up-and-go from these lively dances, and the carols act as suitable foils during alternate quieter scenes. There are two vocal soloists, and a small choral part, but as befits a ballet this music is mainly orchestral.
On the Chandos CD recorded in 2005, the Fantasia comes first, and The First Nowell ends the record, framing the more rumbustious On Christmas Night between them. All three works are expertly performed, with splendid sound from both singers and players. Even conductor Richard Hickox, renowned for his choral-orchestral recordings and performances, rarely produced a warmer, more loving presentation than he achieved here. This is a Christmas treasure that is not to be missed!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)