Hodie: A Christmas Cantata, Fantasia on Christmas Carols

Vaughan Williams (Artist), Hickox (Artist), Gale (Artist), Tear (Artist), Roberts (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 4, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI Classics Imports
• ASIN: B000005GJK
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #291,515 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Fan On Christmas Carols - Stephen Roberts

2. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: I. Prologue: Nowell! Nowell!

3. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: II. Narration: Now The Bith Of Jesus Christ

4. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: III. Song: It Was The Winter Wild

5. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: IV. Narration: And It Came To Pass In Those Days

6. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: V. Choral: The Blessed Son Of God

7. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: VI. Narration: And There Were In The Same Country

8. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: VII. Song: The Oxen (Christmas Eve, And Twelve Of The Clock)

9. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: VIII. Narration: And The Shepherds Returned

10. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: IX. Pastoral: The Shepherds Sing

11. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: X. Narration: But Mary Kept All These Things

12. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XI. Lullaby: Sweet Was The Song The Virgin Sang

13. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XII. Hymn: Bright Portals Of The Sky

14. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XIII. Narration: Now When Jesus Was Born

15. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XIV. The March Of The Three Kings: From Kingdoms Of Wisdom

16. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XV. Choral: No Sad Thought His Soul Affright

17. Hodie: A Christmas Cantata: XVI. Epilogue: In The Beginning Was The Word

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Searched for Years to Find This CD!!!, December 17, 2001

By 

Paul W. Patterson, Jr. (Evanston, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hodie: A Christmas Cantata, Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

The final movement of Hodie captures perfectly Vaughan Williams' gripping blend of mysticism, regal glory, and human hope. The treatment of Fantasia on Christmas Carols comes right to the true bittersweet feeling of Christmas--family vs misunderstanding; hope vs trouble. My wife and I were decorating our Christmas tree during a major snow storm in our beautiful, old Chicago suburb of Evanston when I heard Fantasia on Christmas Carols for the first time, and the classical music station was playing this version. I had lost my father in October, and by the end of this piece which seems so ordinary at the start, I was completely taken over with tears. When I tried to get this CD, I was told that it was no longer available. After several years, I found this wonderful CD and it is better than any other recorded treatment of these two pieces that I have ever heard. Attention Amazon.Com Shoppers! If it is available, even during a summer heat wave, GET IT NOW! It may disappear again, and this time forever. (...)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Yuletide Gift to everyone, February 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hodie: A Christmas Cantata, Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

This is one of those few works that are as much fun to perform as to listen to. Ralph Vaughn Williams Hodie is one of the few "Modern" works that have lived up to the "Classic" title. Hodie is demanding to perform and to listen to without becoming cumbersome. At times, the mixture of small (usually a boys choir) and Large choir combined with a full orchestra and Soloists is so diverse and at the same time seemless, tells the Christmas story with a flow and direction that is reminicent of the Great Bach Cantatas. One can only hope that the entire collection of Ralph Vaugn Williams works (as well as all the other Angel records titles) will soon become available on CD.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Christmas Music with Backbone, December 13, 1999

By 

John F Walters - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hodie: A Christmas Cantata, Fantasia on Christmas Carols (Audio CD)

After the nth recording of "Messiah," it's great to have these underappreciated works available on CD. Vaughan Williams' music is wonderfully melodic, but it always has a hard edge to it. A reviewer I read many years ago described the quality of "fierce caring" that marks all RVW's music. "Hodie" has lovely carols like "It Was the Winter Wild" and "The Blessed Son of God Only" that will please the most casual listener. But the Jesus of this cantata isn't just "Gentle Jesus, Meek & Mild," he is also "King of Kings and Lord of Lords," and there is a tragic as well as a triumphant quality to some of the music--see the "March of the Three Kings," for instance. I still get very emotional every time I listen to this music, even after all these years.

The quality of the performance is excellent, but I prefer the old recording from the 60s on Angel, especially the balance between organ and orchestra in the final movement, and I wish it were available on CD.