Release Date: 10 January 2003
Label: Naxos - Bonuses (30%) / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313233021
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: THE NAXOS BOOK OF CAROLS
Description
Putting together a collection of carols at the beginning of the 21st Century is at once a daunting and a liberating task: tunes and words alike have acquired the privilege of tradition, but also its plasticity. Carols are part of a living ritual which grows and evolves every generation:composers, singers, and listeners have each added their interpretations and memories, which makes finding the 'authentic' version of a Christmas carol usually both hopeless and pointless. The melodies that have survived havemostly done so because they are great tunes, now indelibly associated with the events of Christmas re-enacted and celebrated each year in church, on the street, in the pub and at home. This collection is made up of 24 carols arranged in four sequences, each focusing on a different part of the Christmas story. The arrangements are all new, commissioned by Naxos specially for this recording,and tread a careful line between familiarity and novelty. The customary alternation of unaccompanied verses, descants and last-verse harmony has been followed in most of the best-known carols; but there are also plenty of surprises to be unwrapped. The arrangements are designed for widespread use: it should be possible to sing along with the tune in each verse, while the choral parts are almost never in more than the standard four: soprano, alto, tenor and bass.
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
