Christus Natus Est: Early English Christmas
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Composer: Sarum ChantComposer: Christmas Traditional
Composer: English Traditional
Composer: John [Composer] Sheppard
Composer: Thomas Ravenscroft
Composer: Richard Pygott
Composer: William [Composer] Byrd
Composer: Egerton Manuscript 3307 Anonymous
Composer: English Anonymous
Conductor: Harry Christophers
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-08-31
Music Label: Coro
Soundtracks:
- Verbum caro (chant)
- Salutation Carol
- Nowell sing we, both all and some
- Gaudete
- Hail Mary full of grace
- Gloria in excelsis (Sheppard)
- There is no rose
- Nowell, nowell: Out of your sleep
- Remember O thou man
- Quid petis, O fili? (Pygott)
- Sweet was the song
- Lullaby my sweet little baby (Byrd)
- Ave rex angelorum
- Drive the cold winter away
- Nowell, nowell: The boares head
- The old year now has passed away
- Angelus ad Virginem
- Nowell, nowell: Dieu vous garde
- Make we joy
- Verbum caro (Sheppard)
Music reviews of Christus Natus Est: Early English Christmas
Music Review: Superb renditions of Christmas music - (mainly) without the tinsel and tack...!
Rating: 5 Stars
Amongst the exhaustive catalogue of recordings devoted to Christmas music, this particular example - focusing on works written in England during the Middle Ages and Renaissance - can be warmly recommended indeed. The performances, as ever by this superb choir, are polished and beautifully executed, and the programme is varied both in terms of the selection of pieces (carols, motets, ballads, chant...) and also in the interpretations (usually choir or consort but sometimes 1 singer, occasionally accompanied by instruments - harp, lute, rebec/fiddle, drums). In fact, several tracks are arguably the best performances currently available of the pieces in question (especially tracks 4, 9, 11 and 12).
From a purely academic viewpoint, however, there are some musicological inaccuracies, amongst which the most apparent is probably the use of sopranos (although the Sixteen are by no means alone in this, and it's easy to see why - given the accuracy of intonation and ensemble achieved by mixed-voice choirs - so many of the best recordings of early choral music use women in favour of boy trebles). Texts and pronunciation are also modernised (e.g. in place of 'Swete was the Song the Virgine soong', etc.) which arguably removes something of the original character of the songs, particularly in cases where the intended rhyming structure of the poetry is distorted (as in 'Ther is no rose of swych vertu', where the words 'was' and 'space' [verse 2] were almost certainly pronounced using the same vowel sound in 15th-century English). Thirdly, some of the transcriptions are also problematic, either because they combine differing manuscript sources, with no indication of this in the notes (like tracks 4 and 17), or, as in the case of 'Gaudete!', because they do not consider problems associated with ficta (sources contemporaneous with Piae Cantiones [1582], including other extant versions of 'Gaudete!', indicate that use of accidentals was much more widespread than often acknowledged). Lastly, there are some philological anomalies, such as in the erroneous attribution of 'c.1600 Playford MS' for tracks 14 and 16 (John Playford [c.1623-86] was not even born...!!). Presumably (at least for track 14), the manuscript being referred to is the broadside ballad 'A pleasant Countrey new Ditty: Merrily shewing how To drive the cold Winter away' (printed by Henry Gosson, fl.1603-40), although as it happens, the performing editions for both these tracks seem to be based on the later versions printed by William Chappell ('The Popular Music of the Olden Time', 1853-9).
Of course, none of these issues are a real cause for concern, particularly given the exceptional standard of the Sixteen's performances. On the other hand, they perhaps exemplify - even more so than conventional recordings of early music - how issues of authenticity are so often secondary to an overall aesthetic result, particularly where there is a confrontation with 'tradition'...
Description of Christus Natus Est: Early English Christmas
The recordings of The Sixteen have been treasured by collectors of superb choral music Chrstus natus est An Early English Christmas is a beautifully programmed disc of seasonal music from England?s golden age of polyphony.Classical CDs
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