Darke: In the Bleak Midwinter

The Vasari Singers’ annual carol concerts always provide a warming blend of traditional favourites and less well-known music from all periods and styles. Here, joyous and masterful 16th-century polyphony sits alongside eternally popular Victorian carols, and exquisitely crafted settings by Howells and Walford Davies join works as recent as Gabriel Jackson’s The Christ-child. Bob Chilcott magically superimposes traditional carols with entrancing new material, and no Vasari Christmas would be complete without some close harmony Swingle singing. The Vasari Singers have also recorded Gabriel Jackson’s Requiem (8573049).

The Vasari Singers’ Great British Anthems [8572102] was described as “essential listening” by Gramophone. The mixture of moving beauty and entertaining good humour in this programme makes it a disc which is sure to appeal to a very wide audience this and every festive season.

Founded in 1980, Vasari Singers is among the leading chamber choirs in Britain, performing music ranging from Renaissance to contemporary. The choir performs regularly in London as well as visiting many of England’s cathedrals to sing services, with recent trips to Canterbury, Salisbury, Bath and Ripon. The choir and Jeremy Backhouse are deeply committed to contemporary music and have commissioned over twenty works since 2000, including works by Francis Pott and Gabriel Jackson.

A new festive release from the Choir of Jesus College Cambridge under their director Mark Williams – with additional performances from organists Robert Dixon and Timothy Lambourn, and trumpeter Rebecca Crawshaw. The programme is drawn from pieces for the festivals of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and Candlemas: "Of the annual Christian seasons, it is surely that from Advent to Epiphany which inspires believer and non-believer alike the most: the believer celebrates Christ’s birth whilst the non-believer considers hopes for rebirth and renewal as a New Year approaches … If aspirations surrounding the arrival of a new born child are universal, the Christmas music chosen here reflects the season’s inspiration through quite recent compositions, alongside music from the early part of the 20th century." Mark Williams

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.

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

Volume I of Traditional Christmas Carols broke iTunes’ record for the most downloads of a classical album and remains one of The Sixteen’s most popular discs. This brand new recording contains more festive delights.

There is such an abundance of festive music available to us that sometimes one wishes Christmas did not come but once a year! The Sixteen’s first volume of traditional Christmas carols contains some of our most favourite pieces but there is so much more wonderful festive music that deserves to be better known. So we decided to make a second volume. On this disc you will discover familiar seasonal favourites such as ‘Unto us a boy is born’ and ‘It came upon the midnight clear’ but we have also included some less well-know gems like ‘Cherry Tree Carol’ and ‘Gloucestershire Wassail’.

“The best choir of its kind in Britain? Very possibly…” (Michael White)

For their second release on Orchid Classics, Ex Cathedra present a brand new recording of Christmas repertoire based upon their highly successful “Christmas by Candlelight” Concert series.

Christmas has always been a special time for Ex Cathedra and their roots are firmly established in the wonderful repertoire associated with this joyful time of year. This is the first recording which features both the Choir, Consort, and their Academy of Vocal Music.

Featuring compositions and/or arrangements by Alec Roth, Benjamin Britten, John Gardner, John Joubert, Harold Darke, Naji hakim, Kenneth Leighton, Tomas Pascual, Felix Mendelssohn, Giovanni Gabrielli, Franz Xavier Gruber, Martin Bates, David Willcocks and Jeffrey Skidmore. The booklet contains full texts.

From its home in Birmingham, Ex Cathedra has established an international reputation as a leading UK choir and Early Music ensemble. Under founder and Artistic Director Jeffrey Skidmore, Ex Cathedra is known for its vibrant performances and a passion for seeking out not only the best but the unfamiliar and the unexpected in the choral repertoire. Ex Cathedra celebrate their 40th Anniversary in 2009 and this will be highlighted in articles about them and interviews with Jeffrey Skidmore, in the music press

Christmas resonates with the sound of familiar seasonal music - music that is evocative, uplifting, cheerful, and above all, comfortable. There can surely be no other body of choral repertoire that has such immediate appeal, and this comes about largely through widespread familiarity and love of the tried and true favourites. The Graduate Choir, NZ needs little excuse to break out the tinsel or to indulge in the beauty of some of the most enduring pieces of seasonal music.