The Sans Day Carol [3:36]
In Dulci Jubilo [2:59]
God Rest You Merry Gentlemen [4:35]
It Came Upon the Midnight Clear [3:41]
The Holly and the Ivy [3:15]
The Coventry Carol [3:25]
The Angel Gabriel [2:46]
Angels from the Realms of Glory [3:11]
Infant Holy [1:27]
A Virgin Most Pure [5:15]
Unto Us a Boy is Born [2:56]
Rejoice and Be Merry [2:05]
Joseph Dearest [3:53]
Personent Hodie [2:55]
Sussex Carol: On Christmas Night
[2:29]
As long as you’re not
looking for authenticity – a pretty
elusive commodity, anyway, when it comes
to Christmas music, much of which has
been rearranged and re-interpreted over
and over again – you should find this
CD enjoyable.
Many will have already
encountered Maddy Prior and the Carnival
Band, perhaps on their other Saydisc
recording of hymns in the style of the
gallery choirs whose demise Thomas Hardy
records in his novels (CD-SDL383). Prior
sings in the folk-like style which she
developed with Steeleye Span and the
band accompany her with a variety of
instruments ancient and modern, including
gittern, mandocello, cittern, tabors,
basel trammel, tambourin provençal,
Flemish bagpipes and shawm, to name
but a few, all well recorded.
This recording was
a follow-up to the recording of Christmas
carols for BBC 2 television which Maddy
Prior made with the Carnival Band in
1984, soon after their formation. If
you’re expecting to hear them in full-blown
style, you may be surprised that the
programme opens with a comparatively
restrained performance of the Sans
Day carol, a traditional Cornish
carol extolling the virtues of the holly,
‘the first tree in the greenwood.’ The
next piece, In dulci jubilo,
also receives a comparatively restrained
performance; in fact, I didn’t think
Maddy Prior’s voice particularly well
suited to this 14th-century
German piece.
The rhythmic performance
of God rest ye merry gentlemen
sees Prior and the band in something
closer to what we have come to expect
from them; though even here they don’t
exactly pull out all the stops, they’ll
almost certainly get your feet tapping.
It came upon the midnight clear,
a more reflective work, also lends itself
well to Prior’s voice and the rhythmic
accompaniment. The slight tinge of melancholy
of her voice is well suited to the world-weary
tone of the words, which contrast the
two thousand years of wrong with the
hopeful message of the Christmas angels
and the promised Age of Gold.
The recorder introduction
to The Holly and the Ivy, with
subtle percussion accompaniment, is
a minor work of art in itself; the rendition
of the carol itself is excellent – soloist
and accompaniment are well into their
stride by this point: another foot-tapper.
The Coventry Carol
(‘Bye, bye, lully, lullay’) lends itself
to a wide variety of performances. Some
stress the madness of ‘Herod the king
in his raging’, but the version here
emphasises the pathos of the event just
as effectively. The glockenspiel accompaniment
to the following Ding dong merrily
on high and Prior’s tone of restrained
exuberation lift the mood most effectively
out of pathos. My only reservation is
that I’m sure I’ve heard Prior render
the refrain Hosanna in excelsis
more unrestrainedly. Normally, I’d be
scratching like mad on my critical slate
when she adds an intrusive r to
hosanna-r-in excelsis, but, of
course, it’s absolutely in style here
– effectively, it’s Maddy Prior’s trade-mark.
The same is true of her less-than-clear
enunciation of the Latin in Personent
hodie. When she doesn’t repeat the
intrusive r in Gloria in excelsis,
the refrain of Angels from the realms
of glory, I’m slightly disappointed.
The Angel Gabriel,
with the instrumentalists joining in
a quiet vocal background, evokes a mood
of mystery, while the next piece, Angels
from the realms of glory, as the
notes explain, ‘somehow got changed
from a French folk tune into a mixture
of Cajun fiddle and New Orleans marching
band.’ Anyway, it’s fun – in many ways
this track is the highlight of the CD.
Infant Holy
and A Virgin most pure return
us to a more restrained style, though
in the latter in particular the performers
more than atone by the rhythmic quality
which they impart to the music.
The instrumental introduction
to Unto us a boy is born – recorders,
gittern and glockenspiel – has a mysterious
quality, leading into Prior’s almost
other-worldly singing. Joseph dearest
also receives a thoughtful performance,
miles removed from McCreechs’s lively
account of Prætorius’s setting
of its German analogue, Ein Kind
geborn zu Bethlehem on his superb
reconstruction of a Lutheran Christmas
Mass. I yield to none in my admiration
of that Archiv CD (439 250-2 – see review)
but Maddy Prior’s very different interpretation
is very fine in its own terms.
By contrast, Rejoice
and be merry and Personent hodie
are more foot-tappers. The accompaniment
and singing in Personent really
capture the spirit of the renaissance
dance-band in a manner reminiscent of
David Munrow’s classic recording of
Prætorius’s Dances from Terpsichore.
The Sussex Carol rounds off the programme
very effectively – another magical accompaniment
to a lilting performance.
These performances
may not be quite as lively as I had
expected from Maddy Prior and the Carnival
Band, but they are well worth acquiring
for something very different from the
usual Christmas Carol collection in
the cathedral tradition. I wouldn’t
ever want to be without the likes of
King’s for Christmas – their Essential
Carols on Decca 475 6655 offers
an excellent 2-CD bargain – but I like
this Saydisc recording, too. The inclusion
of the texts would have made my enjoyment
even greater.
Brian Wilson
Maddy Prior; The Carnival Band 
