Most Vaughan Williams enthusiasts are aware of his passion for folk music and his seemingly endless arrangements of hymns. But included in, or straddling both, genres are his efforts in arranging and using carols. Among his many efforts, for example, are the Twelve Traditional Carols from Hereford, dating from 1921. Unlike that collection, his Fantasia on Christmas Carols does not involve arranging carols but using their music and text in a fantasy form.

All of the carol tunes and texts here are traditional and rooted in the British Isles. Vaughan Williams used four carol tunes and the words to the first three, supplying other traditional text to the last. "The Truth Sent From Above" is the first we hear, and while it is somber and somewhat gloomy (the baritone soloist sings the beautiful but lonely melody over the drone of a mournful cello), the rest of the carols are at least a bit brighter: there follow "Come All You Worthy Gentlemen," "On Christmas Night," and "There is a Fountain." The choral and orchestral writing is brilliant and adds colorfully to the generally intimate and fervent atmosphere here. This is an attractive short choral work—around eight minutes in performance—that should have broad appeal.

© All Music Guide

Portions of Content Provided by All Music Guide.
© 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. All Music Guide is a registered trademark of All Media Guide, LLC.