A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols

King's College Choir (Artist), Stephen Cleobury (Artist)

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 2, 1999)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: EMI Classics
• ASIN: B00002CF12
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #41,727 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This disc could be more succinctly titled Christmas for Anglophiles. Few sounds are more British than the boy soprano-dominated Choir of King's College in Cambridge. And the group is heard--in some sections recorded live--in an actual Christmastide service amid the generous reverberation of a cathedral acoustic with little more than a tasteful though austere organ accompaniment. The repertoire isn't just conservative, traditional hymns and carols. One is harmonized by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and there are a number of contributions by contemporary composers Thomas Adès, Judith Weir, and John Tavener, all of which are probing, sincere, even personal examples of their art (and some are daringly liberated, harmonically speaking). The downside for some listeners--at least on repeated hearings--is that the entire service is heard, sermons and all. Others may take this in the spirit of a Paul McCreesh liturgical reconstruction, with congregational singing included. --David Patrick Stearns

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Shining Star, November 20, 2000

By	D. Ayars "dayars" (Deerfield, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

To the other fine and informative reviews here, I would add the following. Though the Festival service and the recording are 80% musical, the "lessons", which are brief scripture passages given moving dramatic readings by college personnel, are the backbone of the Festival and the riverbed through which the carols flow. There is a chronological order to the lessons, beginning in Genesis, and each musical selection is tied to the reading which preceded it. This synthesis makes listening to this CD a very spiritual experience that transports one well beyond what is felt listening to other recorded compilations of carols.

The music is primarily drawn from traditional British Christmas repertoire. Well-known British composers over centuries and King's College's organists and music directors over the past century wrote or arranged most of the selections. Several texts are in Olde English or Latin. Three recent compositions are here, too, but the first priority of the Festival director is clearly the tradition and the history of this service and of Christmas in England. There is nothing, however, "musty" about this CD. The tempi are modern and sprightly where indicated, and the performances are transcendent. The Choir of King's College, directed by Stephen Cleobury, consists of 35 young men chosen by highly competitive audition, and they are among the finest choral ensembles in the world. A superb pipe organ played by Benjamin Bayl is the only supplement to the voices.

The sound of the recording is a major improvement from radio broadcasts and earlier (now out-of-print) releases of this service. For this CD, the four-and-a-half hymns in which the congregation sings with the choir were recorded during services in December 1998. The balance of the recording was made in the same chapel in July 1999, without the congregation present, so the coughing and shuffling heard during live broadcasts and earlier live recordings is happily absent. The only small problem is that the reverberating acoustics of the chapel, though gorgeous, make many lyrics difficult to discern. Keep the booklet handy. Highest recommendation.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The complete Festival of 9 Lessons & Carols is wonderful!, November 13, 1999

By	Dale Dickerson (Upstate New York) - See all my reviews

Over the years, I have heard the service on the radio and heard many recorded versions. This CD is the best I have found. It is a joy from start to finish. I might not make it to Cambridge for Christmas, but I will enjoy the music for many years.

So put the CD in the player, press play, and close your eyes. All is quiet. It is 5 PM on Christmas eve. Out of the silence a soft low song comes, "Once in royal David's city stood a lowly cattle shed..." A very special night has begun...

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At last,A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols on Disc, December 8, 1999

By	"nicholasnash" (White Bear Lake, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This is the first full recording of the complete Christmas Eve broadcast of A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols ever to be made available. Previous recordings from as far back as 1949 have focussed on the music (because of the limitations of the recording media of the times), but here is the entire service, including opening and closing prayers and lessons drawn from the Old and New Testaments, read by the Dean of the Chapel, members of King's College, its choir, its related institution at Eton, and members of the community in Cambridge.

The service has been heard on public radio stations throughout the United States since 1979 (I know; I produced the first and a number of subsequent broadcasts).

The choir of men and boys traverses repertoire well known by those who have listened to the live broadcasts, and although that particular sound is still somewhat unfamiliar to American ears, for many of us the quality of the singing, along with the quality of the acoustic of the chapel make for an unforgettable experience.

If the broadcast has become one of your holiday traditions, this recording will be a handsome addition to your collection of music of the season.