J F WADE,
orch and descant
David WILLCOCKS O come, all
ye faithful [4:00]
From Piae Cantones (1582)
arr. Michael NEAUM
orch. Rutter Gaudete
[1:49]
Bob CHILCOTT
(b. 1955) The Shepherd’s
Carol [2:44]
Welsh trad. arr
Rutter Nos galan (New Year’s
Eve) [1:57]
Appalachian Carol collected by
J J NILES (1892-1980) arr. Rutter
I wonder as I wander [3:48]
John RUTTER
(b. 1945) Ave Maria [3:02]
English trad. arr. Rutter
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day [2:50]
John RUTTER
Rejoice and be merry [2:36]
Catalan trad. arr. Rutter
El Noi de la Mare (The Son
of the Virgin) [3:14]
Nigel HESS
(b. 1953) A Christmas Overture
[7:23]
John DAVID
(b. 1946) Born on a New Day
[2:43]
John RUTTER
Magical Kingdom [3:28]
Jester HAIRSTON
(1901-2000) arr. Rutter
Mary’s Boy Child [4:24]
Spanish trad. arr.
Rutter Esta noche (This night)
[2:02]
Frederick DELIUS
(1862-1934) Sleigh Ride [5:44]
Caribbean trad.
arr. Rutter The
Virgin Mary had a baby boy [4:08]
John RUTTER
New Year [4:17]
John RUTTER
I wish you Christmas [4:26]
Felix MENDELSSOHN
(1809-1847) orch and descant
David WILLCOCKS Hark! The
herald angels sing [4:05]
Hugh MARTIN
(b. 1914) & Ralph
BLANE (1914-1995) arr. Rutter
Have yourself a merry little
Christmas [3:01]
The name of John Rutter
has become synonymous with Christmas
music, especially in the UK and in the
USA, over the last three decades or
so. It comes as a slight surprise, therefore,
to learn that this is the first Christmas
recording that he’s made with his Cambridge
Singers for nearly twenty years. The
programme is based round the annual
Christmas Festival concerts that he’s
been conducting for the last few years
in London’s Royal Albert Hall.
I should preface my
comments by saying that I’m a great
admirer of John Rutter and not least
of his melodic gifts and his ability,
through his music, to communicate very
directly with audiences and performers.
Over the years I’ve enjoyed very much
singing a lot of his music – I’m just
in the midst of a series of performances
of his wonderful Requiem – and
I have several CDs of his Christmas
music in my collection. Rutter has produced
a number of fine Christmas CDs in the
past, most notably Christmas Night
(COLCD 106), so I approached this new
release with keen expectation.
In part the expectations
were fulfilled but I do have a problem
with this CD in that a number of Rutter’s
arrangements strike me as over-elaborate
and just a bit too clever. To be sure,
everything is skilfully done – one would
expect no less – but there were several
cases when I felt the arrangements drew
attention to themselves too much at
the expense of the music they’re designed
to enhance. I wonder if part of the
trouble may lie in the fact that at
least some of the arrangements were
designed for performance in the vast
spaces of the Royal Albert Hall and
in the presence of a substantial audience?
Rutter’s fanfares that usher in O
come, all ye faithful and Hark!
The herald angels sing are rather
grandiose. When, in each case, a relatively
small choir then takes up the hymn on
this CD it seems something of an anti-climax
but I’m sure both make an exciting effect
at Rutter’s Christmas Festivals, inspiring
an audience of thousands to join in
lustily. Incidentally, I’m delighted
to find that Rutter has stayed loyal
to the descants of his old mentor, Sir
David Willcocks. Descants come and go
but these by Sir David take an awful
lot of beating.
I may as well get the
rest of the "Bah! Humbug!"
portion of the review out of the way
at once. I really don’t care for Rutter’s
arrangement of Nos galan – the
melody is our old friend Deck the
Halls – it’s fussy almost from the
start and becomes more so as the piece
wears on. Another arrangement that’s
too pretty is Tomorrow shall be my
dancing day. Rutter has smoothed
out the original compound time rhythm
somewhat and, in so doing, he robs the
tune of some of its energy. One other
piece I didn’t like is the arrangement
of Gaudete. The arrangement,
for high voices only, is not by Rutter
but the orchestration is and his use
of faux-medieval harp, muted
brass and drums actually detracts from
the essential earthiness of the carol.
But let’s banish Mr
Scrooge and mention some of the things
that do work. I wonder as
I wander is set for solo voice and
it’s a gift for Melanie Marshall, who
sings it beautifully. The nut-brown
sound of the obbligato viola emphasises
the haunting quality of this arrangement.
Miss Marshall, as singer – and Rutter,
as arranger – are equally successful
in The Virgin Mary had a baby
boy. This put me very much in mind
of Rutter’s hugely enjoyable Spiritual
suite, Feel the Spirit. It’s
an engaging arrangement and Rutter adds
just enough of bongos and other Caribbean-sounding
percussion to add spice without over-egging
the pudding.
I also enjoyed the
contributions of Clara Sanabras, who
I believe is Spanish. She has two contrasting
solos to sing and does both excellently.
She sings the vivacious Esta noche
with relish and is most affecting in
the tender little Catalan lullaby, El
Noi de la Mare. Rutter’s orchestration
of the latter is sensitive and simple.
Inevitably, several
of Rutter’s own compositions are included
and they cover quite a range of styles.
Among them Rejoice and be merry
is ebullient and lively. Scored for
brass, percussion and chorus it reminded
me a bit of Sir David Willcocks’ Birthday
Carol. It’s a success. So too, in
a very different vein, is Ave Maria,
which taps Rutter’s gentle vein. Another
lyrical offering is New Year.
This was written in 2006 for the choir
of Sandringham Church to sing for Queen
Elizabeth II in her eightieth birthday
year. The sensitive words are by the
composer himself and he gives them a
winning, memorably melodic setting.
We hear it in a subsequent orchestration,
which is a nice one, but I’d like to
hear it sometime in the original version
with organ.
The whole programme
is rounded off by Melanie Marshall singing
that old standard Have yourself a
merry little Christmas with gentle
feeling. It’s a hugely sentimental song,
of course, but it’s also touching when
it’s well done, which it is here, and
Rutter, the Yuletide master, includes
a poignant oboe obbligato, which just
adds the right extra touch.
This CD is a bit like
a Christmas stocking. You don’t know
what you’re going to find inside it;
some of the contents you’ll love and
of some you may think "I wish I’d
been given something else". There
are several tracks that require a rather
sweet musical tooth but there are a
good few delights, which balance them
out. One thing’s for sure, you won’t
be able to fault the standard of performance.
If the programme appeals, then have
yourself a merry little Christmas with
John Rutter.
John Quinn