Customer Reviews

Britten: A Ceremony of Carols

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This is the best version of the Ceremony of Carols available. It is sung completely by trebles and is accompanied only by harp, which is how it was written. Trebles = boys. I thought it was out of print and I am very happy to see that it is not. The only problem with this version is that it is very quiet, and needs to be turned up to double the usual volume, but it isn't a major problem. In case you're not familiar with this piece, it is a very beautiful set of carols written in old English (even though it was written in the 20th century). The songs are very complex, especially my favorite "This Little Babe" which has 3 sections of the choir singing the same lyrics a beat apart... very difficult, and very exciting. There is also the beautifully dissident "That Yonge Child", and practically everyone's favorite "Balulalow". The harp interlude is also very popular. I highly recommend this CD.

I have to agree with other reviewers that this is the best version of "A Ceremony of Carols" available. The piercing purity of the treble solo voice on "Balulalow" brings tears to my eyes nearly every time I listen to it, and the quality of the rest of the album matches that performance.

These are exceedingly well-trained children; I often get a little concerned when a choir approaches "This Little Babe," but this choir tosses off the difficult challenge with an ease that lets me forget the notes and instead be shaken by the poetry of young boys singing a fierce war-cry about the hero Christ-child who, in his naked, infinitely vulnerable infancy, is humanity's shield against all hell.

This is not "pretty" music - yes, it's just boys and a harp - but it's powerful, lulling, agressive, disarming. I can't stop talking about this recording to my friends and family.

There is a kind of effortlessness to the singing of the English cathedral choirboy (''at the highest levels of selection and training) ''which tends to produce a wistful, often plaintive sound. It is a timbre that is artless in the finest sense, and most perfect for the Anglo-Catholic liturgical repertoire. I think that even in today''s climate of social uniformity one cannot sensibly deny that there is a natural difference between the 'tendencies' of emotional expression between boys and girls. So the boy treble in the finest Anglican cathedral tradition is generally trained to demonstrate that kind of natural emotional detachment in his singing which, for me, profoundly expresses the ineffable nature of traditional cathedral music (if the expression of the ineffable is not a contradiction in terms).
Having said that, some English boy choirs have cultivated a subtly different style of expression, and the Choir of Westminster Cathedral is one of the foremost models for this. Some musicologists believe it began with George Malcolm, the Cathedral's music director in the 1950s and 60s (''it was for Malcolm and the choir that Britten composed the album's Missa Brevis in D, in 1959). Malcolm taught the boys to sing in a style that is sometimes referred to as the 'Continental' sound. It involves a more physical effort on the part of the young trebles, a full-throated singing; this in contrast to the lighter 'head' voice, traditionally cultivated in Anglican cathedral trebles. David Hill, the music director on this album, is another exponent of the larger continental sound. In recent years, he also directed the famed men and boys' choir of St. John's College Chapel, Cambridge, where this sound continues as a great legacy from the days of the brilliant choirmaster George Guest, who led St. John's around the same time that George Malcolm was with Westminster Cathedral. Incidentally, this Westminster is not to be confused with the more famous Westminster Abbey, the Anglican seat of English kings and queens. Westminster Cathedral is the English Roman Catholic mother church. For lovers of Anglican cathedral singing, that fact is a pleasant curiosity, as it is generally agreed that the Catholic cathedrals have not produced the quality of choral singing (especially with boys) as the Anglican tradition.
But with the Choir of Westminster Cathedral we have the one great exception, at least of which I am aware. Here we have treble singing (and treble and men singing) that is as superlative as any of the English cathedral choirs and the great Cambridge and Oxford collegiate choirs. Hearing the precise sonorities produced by the boys (listen especially to 'Wolcum Yole' and to the 'Sanctus' in the Missa Brevis) I am reminded of the tonal qualities of the finest St. John's boys over the years, and of the wonderful ensemble sound and crystal clear projection of the boys of the Temple Church Choir under the fabled choirmaster George Thalben-Ball.
All the work of the masterful Benjamin Britten is to be cherished, as is this album.

This collection of holiday choral music by Benjamin Britten and the fantastic choir of the Westminster Cathedral is a real treat. It is a nice change from the more popular holiday choral music. Chorus members will love listening to it and will appreciate the work that goes into creating such beautiful sounds.

This is a must-have on everyone's holiday music list. I purchased one for my family; upon receipt, quickly ordered two others for gifts. Heavenly!!

Having sung this work for years as a boy and being raised on it from the cradle, this may be my most cherished piece of music ever. Having heard and sung it literally thousands of times, I can still get teary listening to it.

This version is terrific - the clarity of the boy sopranos is excellent. The harp is also wonderful. My only complaint is that the tempo is a little fast for my taste - but I still have never, never found a better version for the quality and tone of the voices.

If this work is not part of your holiday tradition, add it! It's one of the under-appreciated wonders of the musical world. I just can't say enough good things about it - I feel bad for any of you who have never heard it.

If *anyone* knows of other good versions that use boy sopranos without false vibrato, please share!!!

I just purchased this CD, and the performance of Ceremony of Carols is absolutely ravishing.