Holly & The Ivy

Deller Consort (Artist), Cantelo (Artist), English (Artist), Bevan (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 20, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Vanguard Classics
• ASIN: B0000023ES
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #350,781 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Pat-a-Pan (Burgundian)

2. We Three Kings of Orient Are

3. I Saw Three Ships

4. Coventry Carol (2): "Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child"

5. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

6. Good King Wenceslas (Piae Cantiones, 1582)

7. Once in Royal David's City

8. Rocking Carol (Czech)

9. The First Nowell (English)

10. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (English)

11. Wither's Rocking Hymn, carol

12. Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night)

13. Wassail Song ("Here We Come A-Wassailing"), carol

14. Dormi Jesu!

15. The Boar's Head Carol

16. Past Three O'clock, carol (English)

17. Lullay My Liking, carol (English)

18. Adam lay ybounden, carol (English)

19. Herrick's Carol (German)

20. Angelus ad virginem (English)

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rare seasonal treat, September 25, 1999

By 

F. Behrens "Frank Behrens" (Keene, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holly & The Ivy (Audio CD)

Although either a little late for the last or early for the next Christmas, the Vanguard reissue of The Holly and the Ivy (OVC 8023) is in my opinion the best Christmas recording ever made. With Alfred Deller and his Deller Consort, accompanied only by recorder and lute, this offering sounds (to me) the most authentic of all such programs. If you want to know what caroling probably sounded like Way Back Then, I believe this recording gets us closer than others, even down to the countertenor voice which was so in demand in the past. With two more tracks than the original 1956 LP, this is a definite Grabbit.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Authenticity, variety and musicianship., January 31, 2001

By 

John Austin "[e-mail]" (Kangaroo Ground, Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Holly & The Ivy (Audio CD)

"What sweeter music can we bring than a carol!" So sing the Deller Consort on Track 19 of this delightful CD. 25 carols are heard, dating in time from C14th Germany to C19th America. Four pioneering members of the Deller Consort are heard, and accompaniments are sometimes provided by recorder and lute. If you are old enough to have possessed these recordings in their original early stereo format, you'll notice that the sound is much cleaner, with most but not all background hum erased. Additional items have been poached from other Deller Consort LP releases to bring the duration of this CD to 60 minutes.

Concerns for authenticity, variety and musicianship are all met here. Liner notes include a history of the English carol by Russell Hope Robbins and a personal appreciation provided by Alfred Deller's son Mark.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful countertenor, traditional English carols, a cap., February 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Holly & The Ivy (Audio CD)

This is a record my father bought used in 1957 or 1958. We have worn out the grooves. It is one of our favorites and Christmas is not the same without this music. I am ECSTATIC that it has been reissued--I'm ordering 4, one for each household in my family.