Ned ROREM
Shout the Glad Tidings [0:46]
Kansas City Chorale/Charles Bruffy
Anon/arr. WILLCOCKS
O Come, All ye Faithful
BBC Welsh Chorus/John Hugh Thomas
Fanfare Trumpeters of the Welsh Guards
Huw Tregelles Williams (organ)
J.S. BACH
In dulci jubilo BWV 751 [1:54]
Kevin Bowyer (organ)
John GARDNER
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
[2:00]
BBC Welsh Chorus/John Hugh Thomas
Huw Tregelles Williams (organ); Chris
Stock, Mark Walker (percussion)
Emile WALDTEUFEL
The Skater’s Waltz [9:05]
The Gulbenkian Orchestra/Michel Swierczewski
Leo SOWERBY
Love Came Down at Christmas [3:20]
Kansas City Chorale/Charles Bruffy
James Higdon (organ)
Arr. Edwin FISSINGER
I Saw Three Ships [1:50]
Kansas City Chorale/Charles Bruffy
Gustav HOLST
In the Bleak Mid-Winter [4:20]
Christ Church Cathedral Choir/Stephen
Darlington
J S BACH
Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme
BWV 645 [4:13]
Kevin Bowyer (organ)
Anon/arr. WILLCOCKS
The First Nowell [5:20]
BBC Welsh Chorus/John Hugh Thomas
Huw Tregelles Williams (organ)
Ralph VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Fantasia on Greensleeves [4:14]
English String Orchestra/William Boughton
Arr. Kevin OLDHAM
Silent Night from Three Carols
Op. 20 [3:47]
Pamela Williamson (soprano); Lyra Pringle
Pherigo (flute); Welsey Kelly (harp)
Howard BLAKE
Walking in the Air from The
Snowman [3:37]
Kevin Bowyer (organ)
Arr. WILLCOCKS
Once in Royal David’s City [5:10]
BBC Welsh Chorus/John Hugh Thomas
Fanfare Trumpeters of the Welsh Guards
Huw Tregelles Williams (organ)
Norman Dello JOIO
The Holy Infant’s Lullaby [4:44]
Kansas City Chorale/Charles Bruffy
James Higdon (organ)
MENDELSSOHN
arr. WILLCOCKS
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
[3:29]
With such a huge choice
of Christmas music available on disc,
the art of producing a Christmas CD
that works on every level is a difficult
one to perfect. A select handful of
discs remain self recommending - the
immortal Christmas Eve Festival of Lessons
and Carols from Kings College, Cambridge
for one. However, for many amongst the
dozens of discs that are newly thrust
onto the overflowing yuletide bandwagon
- or should I say sleigh - every year,
it proves impossible to avoid a rapid
descent into the abyss of mediocrity.
Sadly this 1996 compilation
from Nimbus falls into the latter category
and manages to miss the mark both in
terms of the quality of a good deal
of its production values and its musical
content.
Such familiar fare
as the Willcocks arrangements of Hark!
The Herald Angels Sing and
Once In Royal David’s City need
little or no introduction. On the other
hand the fact that there are no liner
notes whatsoever leaves disappointing
gaps in the knowledge of the listener.
This is a particularly grievous loss
when it comes to the less well known
offerings such as Leo Sowerby’s Love
Came Down at Christmas or Kevin
Oldham’s re-setting of the familiar
words of Silent Night.
It would be helpful
too if there was at least a brief introduction
to some of the performers. The BBC Welsh
Chorus and organist Huw Tregelles Williams
will be known to many. The less familiar
Kansas City Chorale and the three individual
musicians involved in the Oldham setting
are new names to this reviewer. All
of the music on the compilation is drawn
from four previously released CDs. Whilst
anyone who owns any of the four discs
is not likely to buy this compilation,
the possibility exists that someone
approaching the compilation first might
just be tempted by discs entirely devoted
to the Kansas City Chorale or organist
Kevin Bowyer. Surely this is adequate
reason for a modicum of background information
to be given here as a taster.
Couple this with the
fact that the flimsy liner has a home
photocopied feel to it and the presentation
simply does not reflect Nimbus at its
best.
The music itself proves
to be something of a mixed bag but it
doesn’t help that the running order
is not always comfortable. For instance,
Ned Rorem’s fleeting forty-six second
unaccompanied Shout the Glad Tidings
seems oddly placed to open the disc
when it is followed by the blazing brass
of George Willcocks and his familiar
version of O Come, All Ye Faithful.
Waldteufel’s Skater’s Waltz would
be a welcome touch of variety were it
not for the rather run-of-the-mill performance
by The Gulbenkian Orchestra. The Vaughan
Williams Greensleeves Fantasia,
not perhaps the most obvious choice
in the context of its surroundings,
receives a brisk reading from William
Boughton and the English String Orchestra.
Sadly this robs the music of a good
deal of its gentle grace and nobility.
Even the usually reliable BBC Welsh
Chorus and the Fanfare Trumpeters of
the Welsh Guards are not in the most
seasonally uplifting of spirits for
several of their contributions.
On the positive side
Kevin Bowyer’s In Dulci Jubilo
is a delight; Howard Blake’s Walking
in the Air less so, being far more
effective in its original setting for
voice and orchestra. The Kansas City
Chorale is enthusiastic in its commitment
with Norman Dello Joio’s The
Holy Infant’s Lullaby being a
particularly attractive addition. The
same goes for the sole contribution
from Stephen Darlington and his Christ
Church Cathedral Choir who sing Holst’s
setting of In the Bleak Mid-Winter
with delicate beauty.
Ultimately however,
the fact remains that there are far
superior Christmas discs to be had.
As such this is not a CD that is likely
to find its way to the top of many Christmas
shopping lists.
Christopher Thomas
BBC Welsh Chorus/John Hugh Thomas 
