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On Yoolis Night: Medieval Carols & Motets
(more) »rank: 1549by: Anonymous 4, Marsha Genensky, Susan Hellauer, Johanna Rose
: essential recording:This follow-up to Anonymous 4's debut 'hit,' An English Ladymass, is even better. From the choice of repertoire to the proficiency of the singing to the recorded sound, this is a standard-setting production. The 23 works--plainchants, carols, songs, and motets--invoke various aspects of the Christmas story: the visitation of the angel Gabriel, tributes to the Virgin Mary, gifts of the Magi, and hymns of praise for the birth of Christ. The sound is stunning: resonant yet intimate, warm yet vibrant. And while you can hear the individual character of each voice, together these four women make a sound of uncommon purity ...
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Christmas Adagios
(more) »rank: 3116from: Decca
: essential recording:This follow-up to Anonymous 4's debut 'hit,' An English Ladymass, is even better. From the choice of repertoire to the proficiency of the singing to the recorded sound, this is a standard-setting production. The 23 works--plainchants, carols, songs, and motets--invoke various aspects of the Christmas story: the visitation of the angel Gabriel, tributes to the Virgin Mary, gifts of the Magi, and hymns of praise for the birth of Christ. The sound is stunning: resonant yet intimate, warm yet vibrant. And while you can hear the individual character of each voice, together these four women make a sound of uncommon purity ...
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Essential Mozart: 32 Of His Greatest Masterpieces
(more) »rank: 3602from: Decca
: essential recording:This follow-up to Anonymous 4's debut 'hit,' An English Ladymass, is even better. From the choice of repertoire to the proficiency of the singing to the recorded sound, this is a standard-setting production. The 23 works--plainchants, carols, songs, and motets--invoke various aspects of the Christmas story: the visitation of the angel Gabriel, tributes to the Virgin Mary, gifts of the Magi, and hymns of praise for the birth of Christ. The sound is stunning: resonant yet intimate, warm yet vibrant. And while you can hear the individual character of each voice, together these four women make a sound of uncommon purity ...
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Voice of the Violin
(more) »rank: 4871by: Joshua Bell
: : Constantly exhorted to 'sing,' string players naturally try to emulate that most beautiful musical instrument, the human voice; no wonder they literally want to get their fingers on the treasures of the vocal repertoire. Joshua Bell has appropriated some of its best-loved songs and operatic arias, from Mozart through the romantics to Orff. Slow, sustained, lovely and yes, singing, these beguiling melodies and wide emotional range are eminently well suited to the violin. Credit for most of the arrangements is given to J.A.C. Redford, a well-known film and television composer, and indeed the throbbing strings and jarring modulations typical of sound-tracks invade ...
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A Robert Shaw Christmas - Angels on High
(more) »rank: 2396from: Telarc
: :In this beautifully chosen program of mostly a cappella arrangements, Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers deliver the Christmas story in tones of gentle and moving splendor. The carols and sacred settings recorded here are all of an intimate sort, and the rapturous, gently expressive realizations Shaw and his singers give them prove unfailingly appealing. Particularly moving is the newest work on the disc, a setting of 'O magnum mysterium' by the American composer Morten Lauridsen. Franz Biebl's 'Ave Maria' is another gem, as is the arrangement by Healy Willan of the French carol 'What Is This Lovely Fragrance?' The offering ...
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The Christmas Album
(more) »rank: 3135by: The Canadian Brass, Franz Xaver Gruber, George Frideric Handel, Jr. Hopkins John Henry, William James Kirkpatrick, Mykola Dmytrovich Leontovych, Felix Mendelssohn, James Pierpont, Michael Praetorius, Ward Swingle, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Christmas Traditional, John Francis Wade, Anonymous, Lydia Adams
: :In this beautifully chosen program of mostly a cappella arrangements, Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers deliver the Christmas story in tones of gentle and moving splendor. The carols and sacred settings recorded here are all of an intimate sort, and the rapturous, gently expressive realizations Shaw and his singers give them prove unfailingly appealing. Particularly moving is the newest work on the disc, a setting of 'O magnum mysterium' by the American composer Morten Lauridsen. Franz Biebl's 'Ave Maria' is another gem, as is the arrangement by Healy Willan of the French carol 'What Is This Lovely Fragrance?' The offering ...
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A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
(more) »rank: 1811by: King's College Choir, Stephen Cleobury
: :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 ...
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The Mystery Of Santo Domingo De Silos Gregorian Chant From Spain
(more) »rank: 7218from: Deutsche Grammophon
: :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 ...
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Wolcum Yule: Celtic and British Songs and Carols - Anonymous 4 with Andrew Lawrence-King
(more) »rank: 5721by: John Tavener, Richard Rodney Bennett, Peter Maxwell Davies, Geoffrey Burgon, Henry VIII, Benjamin Britten, Anonymous 4, Andrew Lawrence-King
: :This offbeat disc of seasonal songs and carols by the Anonymous 4 will delight their fans and please everyone else. The 19 selections include traditional folk melodies and texts, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, interspersed with fitting selections by contemporary composers including John Taverner, Benjamin Britten, and Peter Maxwell Davies, whose ethereal a cappella A Calender of Kings gets its first recording. Andrew Lawrence-King, playing Irish harp, Baroque harp, and psaltery with his accustomed finesse, is a major reason for the disc's success, accompanying most of the vocals and contributing three lovely solos. The disc is crammed with highlight ...
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Noel, Noel!: Noels Francais/French Christmas Music (1200-1600)
(more) »rank: 4221from: Erato
: :This offbeat disc of seasonal songs and carols by the Anonymous 4 will delight their fans and please everyone else. The 19 selections include traditional folk melodies and texts, some of which date back to the Middle Ages, interspersed with fitting selections by contemporary composers including John Taverner, Benjamin Britten, and Peter Maxwell Davies, whose ethereal a cappella A Calender of Kings gets its first recording. Andrew Lawrence-King, playing Irish harp, Baroque harp, and psaltery with his accustomed finesse, is a major reason for the disc's success, accompanying most of the vocals and contributing three lovely solos. The disc is crammed with highlight ...
