trad.: Ding dong! merrily on high

Jingle Wells offers an unusual and very festive collection of Christmas music from the choir of the famous thirteenth-century Cathedral of Wells.

There are offerings both sacred and secular, old and new, to suit all Christmas pallets sung by the highly acclaimed Wells Cathedral Choir, hailed by Gramophone in December 2010 as the highest ranking choir with children in the world.

With a TV and radio audience of millions, the annual broadcast of carols from King’s College, Cambridge is an essential Christmas tradition for families all over the world. The debut album from the choir’s own label features a specially recorded performance of their glorious 'Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols', and includes many of the most well-known Christmas carols as well as new commissions from some of today’s most popular composers.

The Choir of King’s College, Cambridge is one of the world’s foremost choirs and unquestionably among the most widely heard. It owes its existence to King Henry VI, who envisaged the daily singing of services in his magnificent chapel. This remains the Choir’s raison d’être, and is an important part of the lives of its 16 choristers, who are educated at King’s College School, and the 14 choral scholars and two organ scholars, who study a variety of subjects in the College. The Choir has been a breeding ground for numerous professional singers, many of whom will appear on forthcoming recordings from the new label.

The Choir has a rich recording heritage, having appeared on many albums for both Decca and EMI Classics. The Choir’s recording of Rutter’s 'Gloria' has sold in excess of 100,000 units globally and its previous albums of Christmas music have sold in millions.

This double album faithfully recreates the magic of the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, opening with a lone treble singing 'Once in royal David’s city' and closing with a rousing chorus of 'Hark! the herald angels sing'. Each year, the Choir’s Director of Music Stephen Cleobury commissions a new carol, several of which are included on the album, including carols by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Gabriel Jackson, Brett Dean, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Dominic Muldowney and Tansy Davies. In addition, John Rutter was commissioned to write the new carol 'All bells in paradise' especially for this album.

The Colours of Christmas is a collection of the greatest Christmas carols by the composer/conductor whose music has, for many, been so associated with Christmas. Featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and The Bach Choir, with guest artists Over the Bridge and conducted by Rutter himself.

The Colours of Christmas (track 2 from the album) is a newly composed carol by Rutter for this new album, and is testament to the very best of Rutter’s music. Newly orchestrated for this album are the carols Ding Dong Merrily On High and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing. All recordings on this album are brand new.

Norwegian tuba player Øystein Baadsvik, with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra under Torodd Wigum, and Cantus Women’s Choir here present an unique disc.

The programme consists of lavish arrangements of international and Nordic Christmas favourites, with a few surprises included,

On a previous disc from Baadsvik for BIS, The Daily Telegraph wrote "that anything a violin can do, a tuba can do too"

A rare, beautiful and unusual Christmas compilation: three 1960s Argo recordings of contemporary settings and arrangements of carols – Sir Cristemas, Sing Nowell and Carols Of Today – released collectively on Decca CD for the first time.

It is a worthy reissue of the many recordings made for Argo by The Elizabethan Singers and their long-time musical director Louis Halsey.

Recording producers: Michael Bremner, Andrew Raeburn

Recording engineers: Michael Mailes, Stanley Goodall

Recording locations: Holy Trinity Church, Kensington, London, UK, July 1963, April 1965, April 1966

A splendid selection of popular & less well-known carols performed by the mixed choir.