Felix MENDELSSOHN
arr. Darius BATTIWALLA
"Hark! the herald angels sing"
[3:21]; Trad
arr. Joseph CULLEN "Gaudete"
[1:25]; "O come, all ye faithful"
[3:59]; "The holly and the ivy"
[2:33]; Basque
arr. Edgar PETTMAN Gabriel’s
Message [2:39]; Trad
arr. Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS & Cullen
"O little town of Bethlehem"
[3:30]; Trad
arr. Martin SHAW Coventry
Carol [2:37]; "Angels from the
realms of glory" [3:41 "Unto
us a boy is born" [1:48]; Joseph
CULLEN "In excelsis
gloria" [2:44]; Franz
GRUBER arr. CULLEN "Silent
Night" Trad
arr. Graham BARBER "Whence
is this goodly fragrance" [4:02];
Simon LINDLEY
Ave Maria [2:13]; W
HOLFORD arr. CULLEN "Joy
to the world" [1:49]; Trad
arr. Battiwalla "Little
Jesus, sweetly sleep" [2:34]; "I
saw three ships" [1:47]; Sidney
HANN arr. Graham BARBER "Love
came down at Christmas" [1:42];
Adolphe ADAM
arr. John RUTTER "O
holy night" [5:34]; Harold
DARKE "In the bleak
midwinter" [4:19]; Trad
arr. Sir David WILLCOCKS "Ding,
dong! merrily on high" [2:04];
Sussex Carol [1:38]; "Of the Father’s
heart begotten" [3:16]; Trad
arr. Sir Arthur SULLIVAN & BATTIWALLA
"It came upon the midnight clear"
[3:20]; Reginald
SPOFFORTH "Hail! smiling
morn" [2:10]; W
Kirkpatrick arr. CULLEN "Away
in a manger" [2:33]; John
WAINWRIGHT arr. BATTIWALLA
"Christians awake" [2:39];
There are a few surprises
right from the start of this disc. First,
an introduction to the carol "Hark
the herald angels sing" by an unnamed
brass group, second the use of a new
(to me) arrangement, and finally the
sound of a well trained and well recorded
choir but singing with polished Southern
vowels. Whilst I regret the loss of
some of the individuality which a more
characteristically Yorkshire sound used
to give this splendid choir, it is by
no means a serious defect, and the other
surprises I have mentioned are positive
gains. The brass group are used sparingly
in a small number of carols, but there
they do add a distinctive colour of
a kind familiar to devotees of Songs
of Praise. The new arrangements (again,
to me) of many of the carols are generally
welcome, especially most of those by
the excellent organist, Darius Battiwalla.
The contrasting "Little Jesus,
sweetly sleep" and "I saw
three ships" show him able to grasp
the essence of a tune and embellish
it without swamping or contradicting
that essence. Unfortunately this does
not apply in the final item – "Christians
awake" – which loses its wonderful
rough dignity in gaining a regrettable
Broadway Musicals sound.
Many of the other arrangements
are by the conductor, Joseph Cullen,
who shows a similarly approach and skill
to Darius Battiwalla. Older arrangements
are by no means completely neglected,
and "Gabriel’s message" in
Edgar Pettman’s lovely arrangement and
Harold Darke’s "In the bleak midwinter"
are highlights for me. Less so are John
Rutter’s perversion of Adophe Adam’s
delightful song or the pleasant but
by now hackneyed arrangements by David
Willcocks. One surprise is the inclusion
of Reginald Spofforth’s Glee, "Hail!
smiling morn". Even if it does
sound better with single voices to a
part, it makes a delightful effect here,
and I hope that other choirs may be
tempted to include it in carol concerts,
even if the words have absolutely nothing
to do with Christmas.
The problem of the
order in which to perform carols to
ensure a good variety of character is
solved very well, so that the disc can
be enjoyed when listened through as
a whole. All in all, if you want a recording
of most of your favourite carols (but
no "Good King Wenceslas" or
"While shepherds") in varied
and mainly attractive arrangements,
well sung and recorded, this may well
be exactly what you are after.
John Sheppard
Huddersfield Choral Society/Joseph
Cullen 
