Customer Reviews

Hodie: A Christmas Cantata, Fantasia on Christmas Carols

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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. (...)

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.

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.

Composed in the early 1950s, Vaughan Williams' Christmas cantata "Hodie" sounds in many spots like background music for "Star Wars" or some widescreen "Son of Cleopatra" epic. This is because Hollywood has made a cliche of practically every melodic and harmonic device known to humankind, though the altered pentatonic scale of "Bright portals of the sky" must have sounded pretty new at the time, to say nothing of Vaughan Williams' other adventures in creative chromaticism. But suffice it to say that this is no background music for a Steven Spielberg epic. It is a deeply moving and deeply serious work of enormous merit, filled with life-affirming melodies that never lose their welcome with each reuse and retransformation throughout the piece. In keeping with the title, "Hodie," the music assumes the character of an event with no beginning or end. The overall effect is overwhelming, and I'm happy to say that after numerous listenings, I am no longer reminded of science-fiction movie cues; Vaughan Williams' music is infinitely more than that. The perfect Christmas CD!

I agree with everything said by the reviewer below. The "Hodie" is such awesome, exciting (almost theatrical) Christmas music...and nobody knows about it! Vaughan Williams really knows how to lay it on for the listener with a constant ebb and flow of drama. Normally I drift off during cantatas, but this had me riveted from beginning to end!

This is an excellent piece of music and the performance is marvelous. Too bad it is not performed more widely. After 25 years of playing the old vinyl LP, I am delighted to have the CD version !

The Fantasia on Christmas Carols was composed in 1912 and was first performed at the Three Choirs Festival. The music takes fours carols: The truth sent from above, Come all you worthy gentlemen, On Christmas night and The First Nowell. Vaughan Williams masterfully arranged the melodies for choir and baritone.

Hodie: A Christmas Cantata was written in 1952 when the composer was 80 years old. The music is a large scale setting of the events of the Nativity drawn from the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer. The narration of events is intersperced with poetry from various sources from Milton, Martin Luther, Thomas Hardy and others. The energetic beginning is passionate and bold, the trumpet fanfare announcing the rejoicing that follows. A huge orchestra is demanded by the score including harp, piano, organ, celesta and a variety of percussion with two choirs, mezzo, baritone and tenor. The music is shows the influence of the Seventh and Eighth in the use of the glittery sound of the celesta, extended percussion and the bold mixing of the brass. The soprano sings the Milton poem "It was the winter wild" sung beautifully on this recording by Elizabeth Gale. The Hardy poem "The Oxen" is tinged with regret for lost faith the youth does not question, and receives a very sensitive performance here. The March of the Three Kings is the longest section of the work and sets words by Ursula Vaughan Williams; there is a long, marvelous orchestral introduction with the words sung by a chorus (joined later by the soloists) announcing the kings and their gifts.

Rather than close the cantata with words from the Bible, Vaughan Williams turned to Milton, once again, with Ring out, ye celestial spheres; the verses bring the hope of new beginnings and healing. This brings together all of the various forces in a glorious conclusion.

This is a splendid recording of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Christmas music which I don't think has been surpassed. The London Symphony Orchestra and the soloists and choirs make magnificent music under Richard Hickox's direction.

Without a doubt the finest version of Fantasia On Christmas Carols is found on 1993 Hyperion recording conducted by Mathew Best. And the Wilcox version of Hodie done in the 60s, while sonically inferior is still the gold standard for this lovely and underrated piece. There are also numerous other versions of the Fantasy out there which are good and can be had for a low price. The treatment of both pieces here is solid, but I think there are better ones to be found.

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS LOVED "the lilt of the chorus at the music hall...children dancing to a barrel organ, the rousing fervor of a Salvation Army hymn, St. Paul's and a great choir singing in one of its festivals..." In fact the two compositions of Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) on this disc were written for The Three Choirs Festival at Hereford, the 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols' sung in 1912 and 'Hodie' in 1954.

The Fantasia was written for solo voice (baritone), full Orchestra (on this disc only string orch. is used, but V.W. had many alternate scores to be used depending on the size of the group)), mixed chorus and organ. The work is founded on four traditional English carols: 'This is the truth sent from above', 'Come all ye worthy gentlemen', 'On Christmas night all Christians sing', and 'God Bless the ruler of this house'. I think many will find these carols familiar, and if not, will nonetheless enjoy them; they are upbeat and well-sung by baritone Stephen Roberts, who has a pleasing resonant tone quality and excellent command of the words. Though this work is not quite in the same league as 'Hodie', it is a charming and moving work, the performance of this on the part of the participants somewhat better than the 'Hodie'.

'Hodie'(This Day) is referred intermittantly as a 'cantata' or 'oratorio'; it matters not. Suffice it to say that it is a very clever mosaic of musical styles, and most definitely an 'anthology work', the texts taken from the Bible, Milton and Thomas Hardy, skillfully selected to mirror the Christmas theme and the varied aspects of V.W's personal style. It is a gripping blend of mysticism, celestial joy and human expectation and desire, the result of which imbues 'Hodie' with a flowing vitality and creativity. The 'oratorio' is linked together by narration of the Nativity from the Gospels by boy choristers, accompanied by organ - a compositional device used by Bach, for which V.W. had a great love.

The Choristers of St. Paul's Cathedral sang the narrations with a pure, crystalline tone and as is usual with British cathedral choirsters, displayed a musical maturity beyond their years. For me, personally, they were the highpoint in my listening enjoyment. The London Symphony Chorus and Orchestra were more than adequate to the task but Richard Hickox, one of my all-time favorite conductors, let me down somewhat. I felt that much orchestral detail was lacking or even slipshod at times, and his totally romantic approach to this, although not unattractive, did not always seem to fit the action. But the hardest thing for me to deal with (and it may be ONLY ME) is the singing of Elizabeth Gale (mezzo-soprano); her voice quality was 'edgy', diction at times 'muddy' and overall just plain annoying.

I have had this recording in my library in one form or another for several years, and for the most part enjoyed it. But having recently purchased the remastered Willcocks-Rose 1965 disc, I doubt will play the Hickox as much as before, for I like the Willcocks better. I did review that recently if you are interested in a comparison. I am wondering if the sound production of the Hickox was well-done????Not being a sound engineer I can't tell, but the sound of it was bland, gray, dull etc, compared to the sound of the willcocks.
By no means am I 'trashing' this disc; it's worth listening to many times over! This is a lovely work for Christmas season.

I was not at all familiar with this work and had an opportunity to attend a live performance, so I purchased the CD in order to become familiar with it. After listening to the CD I decided I did not care for the work. The CD was perfect -- I just did not care for the music.