This, I have to say,
is just my kind of Christmas record.
It combines familiar fare with very
worthwhile novelties performed by a
moderate-sized and expert choir.
The Boston-based Handel
and Haydn Society, founded as long ago
as 1815, is one of America’s most venerable
musical organisations, with a proud
and enviable history. Among the pieces
that it introduced to the USA are Messiah
(1818), Creation (1819), Verdi’s
Requiem, and Bach’s B Minor
Mass (1887) and St. Matthew Passion
(1889). Here it performs under its current
Music Director, the Welsh conductor,
Grant Llewellyn, who has been in post
since the 2001-2 season.
The word "venerable"
may apply to the Handel and Haydn Society
as an institution but it’s the last
word I’d use to describe the choir on
the evidence of this recording. I don’t
know if the forces employed here represent
the full strength of the choir but there
are 10 sopranos, 7 female altos, 7 tenors
and 8 basses listed, all professional
singers. They sound superb. Ensemble
and attack are crisp and precise throughout
the programme and it seemed to me that
blend and tuning were flawless. In addition,
the singers make a most pleasing sound.
The singing is consistently fresh, light
and full of life and the rhythms are
articulated very well indeed, which
is crucial in some of the items chosen
by Mr. Llewellyn.
The music has been
shrewdly chosen to show off the choir’s
skills and to offer a pleasing, satisfying
and well-balanced programme. Many of
the items are from the Old World, including
a couple that evidence Grant Llewellyn’s
Welsh roots, but there’s a good sprinkling
of items from New World composers too.
The programme opens
with Sweelinck’s Hodie Christus natus
est, the singing of which is delightfully
buoyant. The piece makes a really joyful
start to the proceedings and I relished
the clear singing, which means that
each part tells, as it should. In Buxtehude’s
extrovert version of In dulci Jubilo
the singers are joined by a small ensemble,
consisting of organ, cello and two violins.
The instrumentalists match the lightness
and brightness of the singers most appealingly.
Praetorius’s Lo,
how a Rose e’er blooming is, of
course, Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.
It’s beautifully sung but here, for
once, I had a reservation about Grant
Llewellyn’s conducting. It seemed to
me that at his chosen tempo the piece
sounded a trifle sleepy. A smooth, moderately
paced approach is, of course, entirely
valid but I felt the music needed more
inner life than is apparent in this
rather suave rendition. I was also a
trifle surprised to find the piece sung
in English rather than the original
German.
The involvement of
baritone Christòpheren Nomura
in Cornelius’s The
Three Kings is luxury
casting indeed. He’s a noble soloist,
producing a splendidly round sound.
This is as fine a performance of the
piece as I’ve heard. With Nomura on
hand I suppose the inclusion of Howells’
lovely if slightly too ubiquitous A
Spotless Rose was logical. He makes
a mellifluous contribution to an excellently
prepared account of this carol. I thought
the choral backing to his solo verse
was quite exceptionally balanced and
sung.
English music gets
quite a good look-in on this CD. In
addition to the Howells piece no less
than three carols by Walton are included
and they make a satisfying group within
the main programme. Each is very well
done. The choir’s clarity and rhythmic
vitality serve Walton’s pieces very
well, perhaps most of all in their performance
of What cheer?
Most of the pieces
discussed so far are relatively familiar.
I was delighted, however, to see that
several pieces that were new to me had
been included. However, if I have one
criticism of this CD it lies in the
documentation. The sung texts, and,
where appropriate, English translations
are provided and there is information
about the performers. However, there’s
not a word about the music itself. That
may be fair enough in respect of Stille
Nacht, for example. However, I’d
have liked to know a bit about the unfamiliar
music. For instance, I don’t know if
the piece by Ned Rorem is a recent one
or comes from earlier in his career;
as I suspect it may do. I happen to
think such things matter. Again, the
notes tell us nothing at all about Eric
Whitacre. I was sufficiently impressed
with his Lux Aurumque to want
to know a bit more about him. Fortunately
Google came to the rescue and I discovered
that he is a graduate of the Juilliard
School of Music where his teachers included
John Corigliano and the late David Diamond.
As I say, Lux Aurumque
made an impression on me. It’s a quite
lovely piece, scored for a capella choir,
within which a solo soprano weaves a
beautiful line – the soloist here has
a lovely pure voice. The choral textures
and wonderfully luminous and Whitacre
spices up the setting with judicious
use of gentle dissonance.
I’ve already come across
and been impressed by the orchestral
music of Jennifer Higdon and what I
imagine is a fairly recent setting of
O magnum mysterium is also impressive.
The text that she sets is very familiar
but the treatment here is novel. Higdon
chooses to accompany the choir most
imaginatively with a pair of flutes
and she also employs a percussionist
who, at various times, plays either
chimes or glasses. This novel combination
imparts to the opening in particular
a sound that is powerfully suggestive
of an aura of golden light. It’s quite
magical. After the text has been sung
in Latin, the words are sung, to different
music, in English and this section moves
from the quiet awe of the opening to
illustrate the powerful wonder of the
Incarnation. A couple of descriptive
sentences can’t adequately convey the
nature of this memorable and beautiful
contemporary setting. Hear it for yourself.
If you don’t know Charles
Ives’s little gem of a setting, that’s
another reason for acquiring this disc
though I have to say I wish Grant Llewellyn
had adopted a slightly more relaxed
speed for this piece – I much prefer
the more easeful speed of Paul Hillier
conducting the Theatre of Voices (Harmonia
Mundi HMU 907079). The piece by New
England composer Daniel Pinkham is interesting,
not least in its resourceful use of
a pair of solo sopranos. The Ned Rorem
item is a typically sensitive setting.
I loved the gentle radiance of this
short piece. Virgil Thomson is represented
by a lyrical, innocent piece and I also
enjoyed the effective arrangement of
the Coventry Carol in which handbells
decorate and colour the refrain very
atmospherically.
The disc ends as it
began with a setting of Hodie Christus
natus est, this time by Tom Vignieri,
who is American, I believe. This piece
was commissioned by Grant Llewellyn
for the choir and here receives its
first recording. There’s an important
part for solo baritone, which suggests
to me that it may have been commissioned
specifically with this CD and the participation
of Nomura in mind. He sings splendidly
once again and the most effective organ
part is played extremely well by John
Finney. Vignieri has produced an exciting,
exuberant and joyful piece, which is
built round a fine melodic idea. It
makes a splendid conclusion to this
programme and I hope the exposure of
this recording will lead to other choirs
taking it up.
Leaving aside one or
two very minor and subjective reservations
about tempo this is a most impressive
and highly enjoyable disc. The standard
of performance is excellent throughout
and the musical programme is enterprising,
interesting and well balanced. The recorded
sound is excellent. This is as fine
a Christmas disc as I’ve heard in a
long time. If you’re looking for a seasonal
gift for a musical friend this year
then this could be the perfect solution.
But one word of warning. Don’t sample
it first or you may be tempted to keep
it instead as a treat for yourself.
I’m certain that this
excellent CD will be in my player this
Christmas Eve!
John Quinn
Christòpheren Nomura (baritone); John
Finney (organ) 
