Old German
carol arr. Robert Lucas PEARSALL In
dulci jubilo [3:37]
Francis POULENC
(1899-1963) Quatre motets
pour le temps de Noël [11:07]
Kenneth LEIGHTON
(1929-1988) A Christmas Caroll*
[6:26]
William WALTON
(1902-1983) All this time
[1:56]
James LAVINO
(b. 1973) Nativity [3:39]
John RUTTER
(b. 1945) Dormi Jesu* [4:56]
Bob CHILCOTT
(b. 1955) The Shepherd’s
Carol [3:09]
Jonathan DOVE
(b. 1959) The Three Kings
[5:26]
Trad. arr Stephen
CLEOBURY Joys Seven* [3:16]
Franz GRÜBER
(1787-1863)
arr. Christopher BOWERS-BROADBENT Silent
Night [3:00]
Trad arr. James
O’DONNELL I saw three ships
[1:39]
Michael HEAD
(1900-1976) The little road
to Bethlehem [3:05]
William MATHIAS
(1934-1992) Ave Rex* [12:12]
The very fruitful partnership
between Hyperion and the Westminster
Abbey choir continues with this recital
of Christmas music. I suppose I was
favourably disposed towards it before
even starting to listen since the programme
that James O’Donnell has chosen is just
my sort of Christmas collection. That’s
not to say that I don’t like the familiar
seasonal favourites but some carols
seem almost omnipresent on disc and
it’s great to encounter a refreshing
and enterprising programme such as this.
A sub-theme in the
programme is the inclusion of recent
commissions for the Festival of Nine
Lessons and Carols at King’s College,
Cambridge. The earliest of these is
Rutter’s Dormi Jesu, written
for the 1999 Festival. This is a particularly
treasurable example of Rutter’s craft.
In his perceptive notes Robert Quinney
draws attention to "the memorable
melody, perfect choral writing, and
sensitivity to the text" but adds
"the harmony is more than usually
rich, straying some way into the blues-zone".
It receives a performance of great beauty
here. From the following year’s Festival,
I believe, comes Bob Chilcott’s The
Shepherd’s Carol. This, too, is
a lovely piece, aptly described by Quinney
as "an exquisite choral texture."
Completing the King’s triptych is Jonathan
Dove’s The Three Kings, first
heard at the 2000 Festival. This is
a little less easy to grasp at first
hearing, perhaps, but I’ve heard it
a good few times over the years and
it impresses me more with each hearing.
It’s a mysterious piece in many ways,
full of atmosphere. James O’Donnell
and his choir do it proud. Continuing
the King’s connection we’re also given
the winning arrangement of Joys Seven
by the long-serving Music Director
at the college, Stephen Cleobury, whose
enlightened policy towards the annual
Festival was responsible for commissioning
the three items I’ve just mentioned
as well as many others by a wide variety
of composers.
I was familiar with
nearly all the music on this disc but
there are two significant exceptions.
One is A Christmas Caroll by
Kenneth Leighton, the piece that gives
the disc its title. This is a setting
of the poem by Robert Herrick, which
many other composers have set, including
John Rutter and Richard Rodney Bennett.
Both of those composers set the text
in a quiet, reflective way but Leighton
responds to it with much more extrovert
music and his piece incorporates an
elaborate organ part. I can’t recall
hearing this work before but I think
it’s very fine. Julian Empett’s baritone
solos give particular pleasure in a
very fine overall performance.
I’m certain I’ve not
encountered previously Nativity
by the young American composer, James
Lavino. It’s a very recent composition,
dating from 2007, though that information
isn’t included in the booklet. Lavino
has chosen to set some lines by John
Donne. He’s produced a very beautiful
and thoughtful piece. The choral writing
is very skilful and Lavino generates
a compelling atmosphere. I would guess
that the piece requires great control
to sing well – and it’s certainly sung
very well indeed on this occasion.
The programme includes
two sets of Christmas pieces. Poulenc’s
magnificent Quatre motets
pour le temps de Noël rank
among his finest vocal works and are
surely classics of the genre. The Westminster
singers do them very well – I admired
the control of line in the gorgeous
‘O magnum mysterium’ for example and
their supple phrasing in ‘Quem vidistis
pastores’. If I have a criticism I don’t
think they let go quite enough in ‘Hodie
Christus natus est’. This is an exultant
piece and this performance sounds just
a trifle careful, even inhibited.
At the other end of
the programme comes Ave Rex,
the carol sequence by the Welsh composer,
William Mathias. Composed in 1969, it
has become one of his best-known works.
The Westminster choir is right on top
of it and Robert Quinney dispatches
the crucial organ part with élan.
The exuberant movements, ‘Alleluya,
a new work is come on hand’ and ‘Sir
Christèmas’ are done with verve
while the more contemplative ‘There
is no rose of such virtue’ is performed
most sensitively.
This is a first rate
Christmas compilation. I admire both
the enterprise of the programme selection
and the skill with which the programme
is executed. The engineers have done
a very fine job, using the resonance
of Westminster Abbey very intelligently
to produce sound that is both clear
and atmospheric. This is a disc that
I know will give me a great deal of
pleasure in the coming Christmas season
and I hope it will do the same for you.
John Quinn
HYPERION CDA67716 [63:34] 
