Composer: James Bassi, Luigi Bassi, William Billings, Robert Chilcott, Gustav Theodore Holst, Herbert Norman Howells, Charles Ives, Morten Johannes Lauridsen, Mykola Leontovich, Robert Lucas Pearsall, Hieronymous Praetorius, John Rutter, Ralph Vaughan Williams
Performer: Sonja DuToit Tengblad, Stefan Reed, Woodrow Bynum
Orchestra: Handel and Haydn Society
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Coro
Catalogue: COR16117
Release: 2013
Size: 254 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
01. trad.: I wonder as I wander
02. Lauridsen: O magnum mysterium
03. trad.: Joy to the World!
04. trad.: It came upon the midnight clear
05. Holst: In the Bleak Mid-winter (Cranham)
06. Billings: Shepherds, Rejoice!
07. trad., Bach: In Dulci Jubilo, BWV 729
08. Chilcott: Shepherd’s Carol
09. Ives: A Christmas Carol
10. Rutter: There is a flower
11. trad.: O little town of Bethlehem
12. trad.: Angels We Have Heard On High
13. Howells: A Spotless Rose
14. Praetorius: In dulci jubilo
15. Bassi J: Quem pastores laudavere
16. Billings: A virgin unspotted
17. Pearsall: In dulci jubilo
18. Vaughan Williams: O Little Town of Bethlehem
19. Leontovich: Carol of the Bells
CORO is delighted to announce the first ‘studio’ recording with the Handel and Haydn Society. The disc, which is a co-production with WGBH and was recorded at their studios in Boston in January, will feature an eclectic selection of Christmas music including traditional carols using American tunes and Christmas motets by Charles Ives and contemporary American composer, James Bassi. The disc also features two carols by the ‘father of American choral music’, Bostonian William Billings, and the popular Carol of the Bells by Ukranian composer Mykola Leontovich with its instantly recognisable four-note ostinato motif. Boston’s internationally acclaimed Handel and Haydn Society was founded in 1815 and is considered the oldest continuously performing arts organization in the U.S.
It has given the American premieres of major works by Handel, Bach and Haydn and has won a Grammy Award. It will celebrate its Bicentennial in 2015.
It has been interesting to observe the development of Boston’s time-honored Handel and Haydn Society since its engagement of Britain’s Harry Christophers as conductor. Christophers has certainly broadened his reach beyond the Renaissance music and British 20th century fare that have been his stock-in-trade with the British choir the Sixteen, but it’s also true that the Handel and Haydn Society has been pulled in a British direction. Those expecting a selection of American Christmas favorites will get a few of them, including “O little town of Bethlehem” and “Angels we have heard on high.” But you also get standard British carols by likes of Bob Chilcott, John Rutter, and Herbert Howells that are beautifully done but only glancingly American. The rest is an eclectic mix that includes Ives, Hieronymus Praetorius, and the ubiquitous Carol of the Bells. The varied quality may be very much to your liking, for indeed that is what defines American musical culture in the end, and if that’s what you’re looking for, proceed with confidence. You’ll be hearing sound that’s exceptional even by the high standards of Christophers’ catalog, recorded at the studios of Boston classical radio station WGBH. If you’re looking for familiar Christmas carols to sing along with, however, keep looking.