Album

Harry Christophers, founder and conductor of the Sixteen, writes that performances of A Ceremony of Carols have become so routine that practices alien to the composer's intent have become enshrined and unthinkingly repeated from performance to performance. Christophers' intent is to look freshly at the score and follow it faithfully and without preconceptions. His performance does, in fact, sound newly imagined, with some surprises in tempos, dynamics, and articulation that make good musical sense. Most noticeable is maintaining the same tempo throughout "This Little Babe," Britten's frighteningly close three-part canon, which when taken at the correct speed can inspire fear in both performers and audience, as well it should. At the end of the piece, in most performances, conductors allow the tempo to go slack, as if in relief at making it through the hard part. Christophers keeps precisely to the original tempo, allowing Britten's longer note values to provide the respite from the torrent preceded it, and it's highly effective. Christophers is a stickler, to good effect, for precision in articulation, giving the work more varied textures than some other performances. He also maintains a refreshingly strict adherence to the proper pronunciation of the Middle English. The ensemble, which includes female sopranos and altos and male altos, sings with such pure, straight tone that the listener is hardly aware that they are not treble voices. The album includes incisive performances of three of Britten's carols, his wonderfully quirky Missa Brevis, and his 30-minute set of choral variations, A Boy was Born.

© Stephen Eddins, All Music Guide

CD 1
Benjamin Britten Composer A Ceremony of Carols, Op.28 Work 21:42 Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Sioned Williams Harp, Libby Crabtree Soprano, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir, Sally Dunkley Vocals
1	1.Procession	1:39			$0.99
2	2.Wolcum Yole! (Anon.)	1:19			$0.99
3	3.There is no rose (Anon.)	2:16			$0.99
4	4a.That yonge child (Anon.)	1:40			$0.99
5	4b.Balulalow (James, John and Robert Wedderburn)	1:15			$0.99
6	5.As dew in Aprille (Anon.)	0:56			$0.99
7	6.This little Babe (Southwell)	1:24			$0.99
8	7.Interlude (for harp)	3:57			$0.99
9	8.In freezing winter night (Southwell)	3:09			$0.99
10	9.Spring Carol (Cornish)	1:03			$0.99
11	10.Deo Gracias (Anon.)	1:06			$0.99
12	11.Recession	1:58			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer A Shepherd's Carol, for chorus Work Carys-Anne Lane Soprano, Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Simon Birchall Bass, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir, Neil MacKenzie Tenor, Deborah Miles-Johnson Alto
13	A Shepherd's Carol, for chorus	3:35			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer The Sycamore Tree, carol Work Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir
14	The Sycamore Tree, carol	1:50			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer Sweet was the Song, carol for female chorus Work Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir
15	Sweet was the Song, carol for female chorus	2:34			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer Missa Brevis, for boys' chorus and organ in D, Op.63 Work 9:53 Carys-Anne Lane Soprano, Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Rebecca Outram Soprano, Margaret Philips Organ, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir, Deborah Miles-Johnson Alto
16	1.Kyrie	1:58			$0.99
17	2.Gloria	2:36			$0.99
18	3.Sanctus; 4.Benedictus	3:03			$0.99
19	5.Agnus Dei	2:16			$0.99
Benjamin Britten Composer A Boy Was Born, choral variations, Op.3 Work 29:49 Harry Christophers Choir Conductor, Jamie Hopkins Vocals, Sixteen Choir Chorus/Choir, St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers Chorus/Choir, John Scott Chorus/Choir Director
20	1.Theme: A Boy was Born (Anon. 16th Century)	2:21			$0.99
21	2.Variation 1: Lullay, Jesu (Anon. before 1536)	4:23			$0.99
22	3.Variation 2: Herod (Anon. 15th Century)	2:16			$0.99
23	4.Variation 3: Jesu, as Thou art our Saviour (Anon. 15th Century)	2:54			$0.99
24	5.Variation 4: The Three Kings (Anon. 15th Century)	3:34			$0.99
25	6.Variation 5: In the bleak mid-winter (Christina Rossetti - Anon. 15th Century)	5:11			$0.99
26	7.Variation 6 (Finale): Noel! (Anon. 15th Century, Thomas Tusser, Francis Quarles)	9:10			$0.99