Sacred Music: A Christmas History & A Choral Christmas: Presented by Simon Russell Beale

Together [Beale and Christophers] form a fascinating insight into the way Christmas music has developed over the millennia from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian... — Chris O'Reilly, Presto Music, 5th December 2011 More…

Release Date: 26th Sep 2011
Catalogue No: COR16094
Label: Coro
Series: BBC Sacred Music

Presto Recording of the Week

5th December 2011

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anon.: Make we joy

Medieval carol
The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Palestrina: Hodie Christus natus est

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Victoria: O magnum mysterium

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Bach, J S: In dulci jubilo, BWV368

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

anon.: There is no rose

Medieval carol
The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Walton: Make we joy now in this fest

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Mendelssohn: Hark! the herald angels sing

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Howells: A Spotless Rose

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Holst: In the Bleak Mid-winter (Cranham)

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Davies, Peter Maxwell: O magnum mysterium

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

Gruber, F: Stille Nacht

The Sixteen
Harry Christophers

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Recording of the Week, Christmas roundup

5th December 2011

Arthur Honegger’s Une Cantate de Noël from Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic, Vaughan Williams from Derek Welton and Iain Burnside, traditional carols from St. John’s College Cambridge, and an eclectic retelling of the Christmas story courtesy of Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices.

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen join Simon Russell Beale for two special Christmas programmes that look beyond the familiar carols and festive songs to reveal two millennia of music and texts from across Europe.

Bonus Features include:

· Sacred Music Series One and An Easter Celebration DVD trailers

· 7 Bonus Audio Tracks taken from a selection of The Sixteen’s celebrated Christmas CDs

· Related Recordings by The Sixteen

· Artist Biographies and Images

A CHRISTMAS HISTORY

Simon Russell Beale takes a journey through Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria as he explores how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity. His story takes us through two millennia of music, from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the stories behind Hark! The herald angels sing, Silent Night and In the bleak midwinter, and the work of popular Christmas composer, John Rutter all performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

Simon Russell Beale introduces a programme of choral music for Christmas from across the centuries, featuring performances of some of the works featured in the accompanying documentary. Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, perform music including J.S. Bach's harmonisation of the medieval carol In dulci jubilo, A spotless rose by Herbert Howells and the Christmas text O magnum mysterium, set as a motet by Tomás Luis de Victoria.

Reviews

5th December 2011

Together [Beale and Christophers] form a fascinating insight into the way Christmas music has developed over the millennia from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the music of the ever-popular John Rutter. En route they journey throughout Europe looking beyond the familiar carols and exploring the rich variety and range of Christmas-inspired music throughout history.

14th December 2011

it’s a worthy potted history of Christmas music. Simon Russell Beale is an engaging frontman, largely as he appears to know what he’s taking about rather than blankly reading from an autocue. And the musical extracts are well chosen, notably the third-century Oxyrhynchus hymn, the earliest known preserved piece of Christian music.

Offer,Sacred Music: A Christmas History & A Choral Christmas

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Recording of the Week, Christmas roundup

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