Most countries have their own traditions around Advent and Christmas.
Part of the tradition in Britain is the carol. Originally the
carol was not specifically related to Advent or Christmas. New
Grove has this definition: "During the Middle Ages,
an English or Latin song of uniform stanzas beginning with a
refrain called a 'burden' that is repeated after each stanza."
It is added that medieval carols could be on any subject, but
were "mostly about the Virgin or the Saints of Christmas".
So the phenomenon of the Chrismas carol has a long history.
Today the songs which are ranked among the Christmas carols
have little in common with their medieval predecessors. The
latter were monophonic, and the text - a mixture of Latin and
English - focused on the Blessed Virgin. The form of the medieval
carol has also changed. Today every song with a Christmas subject
can be called 'carol'. The track-list of this disc bears witness
to that.
The singing of Christmas carols not only has a long history,
it is also a living tradition. Today many choirs like to sing
carols, and many people like to listen to them. Many carols
are sung all over the world. Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht
may be of Austrian origin but it is much better known with the
English text Silent night, holy night. The same has happened
with other carols. Not many people know that Ding dong! merrily
on high is originally French. But original English carols
have also found their way all over the world. Examples are Once
in royal David's city, The holly and the ivy and O come
all ye faithful. The tradition is kept alive by modern composers
who wrote their own carols - think of Richard Rodney Bennett
and John Joubert - or arranged existing material in their own
idiom, like Harold Darke.
One of the attractions of this disc is the variety of the repertoire,
ranging from the most traditional carols to pieces from the
20th century. Both traditional tunes in arrangements and original
compositions are represented, and the texts - not printed in
the booklet - are either from the past (There is no rose)
or new (Torches). The danger of performing very popular
pieces is that they are played to death. Often attempts to make
them sound fresh lead to vulgarisation. There is no danger of
that here. The Choir of New College Oxford is one of Britain's
best ensembles of its kind. It delivers highly differentiated
and often subtle interpretations of music most of you will have
heard umpteen times.
Logical phrasing and clear articulation are among the virtues
of this choir, and these serve the repertoire on this disc well,
whether old or new. Some of the best-known carols for full choir
are sung with vigour, but never exaggerated. This disc begins
and ends beautifully with Once in royal David's city
and Hark the herald angels sing respectively. The refrain
of Ding dong! merrily on high is an example of the differentiated
treatment of dynamics. The evergreen Silent night, holy night
is given a refreshingly tasteful performance. The traditional
Sing lullaby, a piece of Basque origin, is performed
here with great subtlety. The pieces by Bennett and Joubert
have little appeal for me, but are nicely sung. I was more pleased
by the four carols by Gustav Holst, written for a variety of
scorings, some of them with harp accompaniment - beautifully
played by Frances Kelly. Some of these feature solo episodes.
The Holst items are excellently sung by various members of the
choir. These are not mentioned in the track-list which is a
regrettable omission. These contributions serve to only emphasize
the impressive quality of the singing.
This disc is a compilation drawn from three previous CRD discs.
It is well worth trying to purchase the set. If you don't need
that many carols or you cannot track down the set then this
disc is a good alternative. It will be hard to find better performances
of Christmas carols. The programme guarantees almost 80 minutes
of exquisite singing.
It needs to be added that the 'booklet' - which is hardly the
appropriate word for a sheet of just four pages – gives no information
about individual items. The track-list identifies various carols
as 'traditional', whereas the original discs have the names
of the composers. I have corrected the track-list on the basis
of the data in the three-disc set which can be found here (http://www.newcollegechoir.com/christmastide-recordings.html).
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Full track listing
Henry John GAUNTLETT (1805-1876)
Once in royal David's city [4:24]
William BYRD (c1543-1623)
O magnum mysterium [2:49]
trad, arr Charles WOOD
(1866-1926)
Ding dong! merrily on high [2:16]
Gustav HOLST (1874-1934)
A babe is born [2:33]
Now let us sing [2:17]
Jesu, thou the virgin-born [3:15]
The Saviour of the world is born [2:14]
John Francis WADE
(1711/12-1786) (attr)
O come all ye faithful [4:00]
Herbert HOWELLS (1892-1983)
Long, long ago [5:25]
trad, arr David WILLCOCKS (b
1919)
Sussex Carol (On Christmas night) [2:05]
Richard Rodney BENNETT (b 1936)
Out of your sleep [2:10]
Henry Walford DAVIES (1869-1941)
The holly and the ivy [3:33]
Kenneth LEIGHTON (1929-1988)
Lully, lulla, thou little child [3:30]
John JOUBERT (b 1927)
Torches [1:44]
trad, arr Andrew CARTER (b 1939)
Angelus ad virginem [3:12]
trad, arr Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
(1872-1958)
This is the truth sent from above [3:18]
trad, arr Edgar PETTMAN (1866-1943)
Sing lullaby [3:56]
trad, arr Robert Lucas PEARSALL
(1795-1856)
In dulci jubilo [3:19]
Herbert Kennedy ANDREWS (1904-1965)
Before dawn [2:46]
Harold DARKE (1888-1976)
In the bleak midwinter [4:49]
John JOUBERT
There is no rose [2:47]
Franz Xaver GRUBER
(1787-1863)
Silent night, holy night [3:13]
Richard Rodney BENNETT
What sweeter music can we bring [3:54]
Herbert HOWELLS
A spotless rose [3:14]
Felix MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY
(1809-1847), arr David WILLCOCKS
Hark the herald angels sing [3:07]
Choir of New College Oxford/Edward Higginbottom 
