11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christmas won't be Christmas without Winchester, February 3, 2003
This review is from: O Come Let Us Adore Him: Christmas Carols from Winchester Cathedral (Audio CD)
This recent Winchester carol album is in my ears one of the finest Christmas efforts that this choir has produced in recent years. Under the inspired direction of David Hill, is presents a varied programme that mixes favourite and not-so-familiar carols with well-known and new arrangements. Compared to the other previous Winchester carol albums under David Hill, I find that this is just about the best of them, with a rich choral sound and expansive recording. And I also think that perhaps the arrangements are better on this album.
This album is similar to King's in that it also begins with Once in Royal David's City. The solo choirboy has a beautiful tone, and paves the way for the rest of the choir to join in. This results in an ethereal sound, which is also achieved on Hark! the Herald Angels Sing and the closing O Come, All Ye Faithful, on which the Waynflete Singers and the Resounding Brass augment the forces of the choir in a resplendent way indeed, down to the descants that owe something to David Willcocks. But these and other congregationsl carols are not the only standout tracks on this carol album. The choir is also able to shine alone in new arrangements of Unto Us is born a Son, Away in a Manger and Ding Dong Merrily on High, which are as listenable as the traditional arrangements that are usually heard in the Christmas repertories of Anglican collegiate church and cathedral choirs. This is mixed in with winning performances of Silent Night and the Sussex Carol (both arranged by Philip Ledger), the Sans Day Carol as arranged by John Rutter and In the Bleak Midwinter (by Harold Darke), among others. The choir produces a beautifully rich, expansive and cogent sound throughout, and David Hill knows how to achieve a beautiful sound at the right tempo. The recording quality is rich, sumptuous, atmospheric and clear.
In short, this is one of the best Christmas offerings from the Winchester Cathedral Choir, and it proves to us that like King's, Christmas will not be Christmas without them.
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