The Naxos Book of Carols
Traditional
O come, o come, Emmanuel
Of the Father's heart begotten
Antony PITTS
O quickly come
Traditional
Verbum Patris umanatur, O, O
M. MADAN / T. OLIVERS
Lo! He comes
Antony PITTS
The holly and the ivy
Michael PRAETORIUS
Lo, there a Rose is blooming
Traditional
Alleluya - a new work
Jehan TABOUROT
Ding! dong! merrily on high
G. KIRBYE / Christopher TYE
While shepherds watched
Orlando GIBBONS
The Song of Angels
Felix MENDELSSOHN
Hark! the herald angels sing
Franz GRUBER
Silent Night
William James KIRKPATRICK
Away in a manger
Traditional
Baby Jesus, hush! now sleep
John PITTS
O little town of Bethlehem
Traditional
Jesu, the very thought is sweet
John Francis WADE
O come, all ye faithful
Traditional
Personent hodie
Johann Sebastian BACH / Michael PRAETORIUS
/ John STAINER
In dulci jubilo
Traditional
Good King Wenceslas
John H. HOPKINS
We three kings of Orient are
Traditional
I saw three ships come sailing in
Antony PITTS
Hail to the Lord's Anointed
Tonus Peregrinus/Antony Pitts
Rec. Church of St-Jude-on-the-Hill,
Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, 28-29
July 2003
NAXOS 8.557330 [78.59]
Here’s an interesting
idea! Naxos and Faber Music have invited
Antony Pitts, the director of Tonus
Peregrinus, to revisit the traditional
carol repertoire and assemble a collection
of new arrangements or, in a couple
of cases, brand new settings. The music
for all the items can be downloaded
(via www.naxoscarols.com
) until January for £10 per carol, a
price that includes permission to make
a limited number of copies for choir
members. I’m bound to say, however,
that the CD probably arrived in the
shops after most choirs had chosen
their Christmas repertoire so Naxos
and Faber are more likely to achieve
maximum take-up if they offer the music
for sale again in early autumn 2004,
which I hope they will. If the music
appeals then this is a most imaginative
way of disseminating new Christmas music.
What of the music?
Well, the first thing to say is that,
without exception, the performances
by the eight voices of Tonus Peregrinus
are very fine. The voices blend beautifully,
balance is excellent and diction and
tuning are exemplary. The organ accompaniments,
where required, are also well done.
One snag perhaps is that a mere eight
voices, however expert, sound a bit
underpowered in big "set piece"
items such as Lo! He comes. No
such problems with the smaller scale
pieces, however.
The carols are divided
into four groups, The Hope; The Message;
The Baby; and The King of Kings. The
twenty-four items include some new settings
by Mr. Pitts. Of these I much prefer
O quickly come. This is an a
capella piece in which he ingeniously
uses the suppressed energy of jagged
rhythms to convey a sense of anxious
expectancy. He also provides a new tune
for Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.
I must say that the tune impressed me
but it is far from straightforward and
I can’t believe that congregations will
find it at all easy to pick up – it
is simply too difficult. This, I suspect,
will mean that the setting will end
up as a non-congregational anthem. If
I went to a carol service and found
this hymn on the programme I’d feel
cheated if I couldn’t take part because
such a complex tune had been chosen
in preference to the majestic one with
which we’re so familiar. In short, this
seems to me to be a miscalculation.
(Pity, too, the sopranos who have to
soar to what sounds like a top D as
part of the "big finish".)
However, amongst the
other items there is a good deal to
enjoy. Pitts’ arrangement of The
holly and the ivy is especially
ingenious for he combines the very familiar
tune with another much less well-known
(and very good) one, which, in fact,
was transcribed from a tape held by
the BBC. Pitts also provides a new tune
for O little town of Bethlehem.
It is suitably reflective and I fond
it grew on me though once again I’m
unsure that it will ever supplant the
more familiar tunes for congregational
/ audience use.
I have to say, though,
that to my ears the trouble with several
of the arrangements is that they are
overdone. Away in a manger, for
example, sounds suffocated by clever
harmonies and the central verse of Silent
night is sung as a solo in which
the traditional melody is elaborated,
to no good effect, I fear. (The outer
verses, sung to much more sympathetic
harmonies, sound fine, though.) The
final verse of Hark! The herald angels
sing includes a descant, of course,
but there’s a complex organ part as
well and the overall effect is something
of an aural mush as competing lines
vie for our attention.
I’m not saying for
one moment that one should just perform
the same tired arrangements year after
year but I think there can be a danger
of burying carols, which are, after
all, a fairly simple, direct form of
communication, beneath too many layers
of sophistication. I fear that in a
praiseworthy attempt to refresh the
repertoire and our musical palettes
this collection sometimes goes a bit
too far. I did wonder whether it would
have been preferable if more than one
arranger had been involved.
In summary, then, this
collection contains a few potential
"hits" and several "misses."
I’m sorry if I appear to have been harsh
on some of the arrangements but I think
this release must be judged as much
more than a simple CD of carols and
in listening I’ve tried to ask "what
would the choir I sing with, and our
audience, think of this?" I think
they would take to some of the items
but would not be so keen on quite a
few others.
However, as so often
with a Naxos release, we can’t get away
from the issue of price. Here is an
expertly performed, generously filled
CD recorded in good sound at a super
budget price. Full English texts are
provided. In addition, the musical downloads
are offered at what seems to me to be
a very reasonable price. So this is
not just "another" CD of carols.
It’s an inexpensive and enjoyable way
for singers to explore new repertoire
and for that all involved in the project
deserve congratulations.
Though I do have reservations
about some of the arrangements others
may well not share them and the collection
as a whole is stimulating and enjoyable.
I recommend this CD, especially to all
those who will be planning their 2004
carol concerts rather sooner than they
might wish!
John Quinn
Rob Barnett has
also listened to this disc
The Christmas season
is well within sight and the record
companies offer their wares to engage
another host of shoppers. This Naxos
disc stands out from the crowd.
Naxos offer something
distinctive as concept and in detail.
They offer 24 carols one for each day
of Advent. They group the carols thematically
under: The Hope; The Message; The Baby;
The King of Kings. Each is recorded
in a version arranged by the conductor
and composer Antony Pitts. His choir
Tonus Peregrinus comprise only eight
singers. Naxos commissioned these arrangement
especially for this recording and the
scores are downloadable from www.naxoscarols.com
in affiliation with Faber Music. The
disc is at bargain price and is exceptional
value at a playing time of 78.59.
A well judged blend
of new and old is to be found here.
Even the old is given freshness by Pitts’
touches and twists of harmony, texture
and tempo.
The chaste O come
O come is redolent of Dufay and
Busnois (tr. 1). Rocking celebration
is to be found in the Father’s Heart
begotten. The spiritual-Tippett
flavour resounds through O quickly
come. Lo he comes panders,
in rather treacly fashion, to the congealed
heavy tradition and has a strange clash
of dissonance at the end. Ding Dong
Merrily On High is bright and airy
… quite traditional really. Hark the
herald angels is by contrast rather
turgid although the orthodox organ and
choral line provides a tellingly dissonant
descant to the traditional tune. Silent
Night has a suitably sleepy poise
- all the trappings of tradition without
complete subjugation to the style. Many
of these tracks give the impression
of tracking the evolution of carols
fifty years from now. Away in a manger
is subject to harmonic diffraction
and strange juxtapositions. The Czech
Baby Jesus arrives in a lovingly
melismatic haze. O Little Town is
presented with chiming organ and has
the memorably quiet touch of the Mike
Sammes Singers - nothing wrong with
a caramel moment. Other tracks
offer am agreeable ‘wrong note’ aural
disorientation and strangeness - like
a vision of carols from some alternative
universe. Pitts defiantly refuses to
be thrall to tradition but bends it
to his will. Most of the time the ‘contest’
works out very well.
This collection will
suit anyone wanting a variant spin on
their seasonal musical fare. It is not
pop. There are traditional moments such
as in Lo He Comes but predominantly
this is an anthology for those jaded
by convention.
Rob Barnett
