A Merry Christmas

To All Readers and Followers of

'The Land of Lost Content'

The Nativity Robert Campin (c.1375-1444)

The Adoration of the Shepherds in the Presence of the Midwives

The Snow in the Street

From far away we come to you.

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

To tell of great tidings, strange and true.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

From far away we come to you,

To tell of great tidings, strange and true.

For as we wandered far and wide,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

What hap do you deem there should us betide?

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

Under a bent when the night was deep,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

There lay three shepherds, tending their sheep.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

“O ye shepherds, what have ye seen,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

To stay your sorrow and heal your teen?”

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

“In an ox stall this night we saw,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

A Babe and a maid without a flaw.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

“There was an old man there beside;

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

His hair was white, and his hood was wide.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

“And as we gazed this thing upon,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

Those twain knelt down to the little one.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

“And a marvellous song we straight did hear,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

‘That slew our sorrow and healed our care.”

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

News of a fair and marvellous thing,

The snow in the street, and the wind on the door,

Nowell, Nowell, Nowell, we sing.

Minstrels and maids, stand forth on the floor.

From far away we come to you,

To tell of great tidings, strange and true.

William Morris (1834-96)

Hidden Holst VII: Symphony in F, op.8 ‘The Cotswolds’

For my final post about the lesser-known music of Gustav Holst, I decided on the ‘Cotswold Symphony.’ Two days later, I heard an early morning performance of the fourth movement of this work on Classic fM. So, it is not so hidden after all!

Since becoming interested in British Music, back in the early 1970s, this was a piece that I knew about and wanted to hear. It was not until the release of the Classico CD in 1999 that I was able to get to grips with it. At first, I was a little disappointed, in that it did not fulfil my naïve expectations of a pastoral evocation of that delightful part of England. Yet, over the past 25 years, my opinion of this work has increased dramatically.

It was composed around the turn of the century, between 1899 and 1900, with Holst completing it in Skegness, Lincolnshire on 24 July 1900. The symphony was premiered in the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth on 24 April 1902 by the innovative Sir Dan Godfrey and the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra.

The Symphony is written in four stylistically unbalanced movements, and for some, this may spoil its impact. The opening Allegro con brio does nod to the countryside - with allusions to, if not direct quotes from, English folk song. It is a ‘march’ that fairly romps along.

The second movement is the deeply moving Elegy (In Memoriam William Morris). This is a shadowy, unsmiling piece that is funereal in its exposition. It is conceived as a processional- with a massive climax in the middle section. I am not a huge fan of Morris’s escapism, however, there is nothing of the daydream about this music. It has been suggested that this was Holst’s response to the Boer War rather than the writer, artist, and utopian socialist activist. This ‘Wagnerian’ movement functions perfectly in a standalone performance.

The equilibrium is wrenched back to lighter matters with the Scherzo which balances the ‘will o’ the wisp’ with a little ‘clodhopping.’ It is a good essay in creating all the fun of the ‘fairground.’ There are a few moments of a more serious nature amongst the celebration.

The Finale is a joy. It is a fusion of the world of folksong once again and of Johannes Brahms and Holst’s teacher at the RCM, Charles Villiers Stanford. Yet, this is well-written, and Lewis Foreman (Liner notes, Classico CLASSCD 284) has suggested that it has all the trappings of “a harvest hymn, a celebration at the end of the country people’s annual cycle.”

Imogen Holst (The Music of Gustav Holst and Holst's Music Reconsidered, OUP, 1986) has intimated that: “[Holst’s] biggest work at this time was the ‘Cotswolds Symphony.’ It was meant to express his deep love of the Cotswold hills, but his feelings are scarcely recognizable. Searching for a symbol of the English countryside he found nothing to build on except the imitation Tudor heartiness of Edward German. It was a makeshift symbol, and having borrowed it, he hardly knew what to do with it, beyond placing it in the approved mould, and hoping it would turn out all right. The first movement makes all the correct gestures and travels in the appropriate directions, but it bears no resemblance to the journey of his mind while walking the stretch of hills between Wyck Rissington and Bourton-on-the-Water. The slow movement, an Elegy in memory of William Morris has moments in it where the intensity of his thought breaks through the inadequacies of his language. Here the words ‘senza espress’ make their first appearance, showing the beginnings of a line of thought that was to lead him through the ‘dead’ pp of Neptune to the mysterious monotony of Egdon Heath. It is by far the best movement in the work. There is nothing characteristic about the Scherzo except the fact that its tune is built on a structure of melodic fourths, while in the last movement he is back once again in a surge of chromatic modulations and striving sequences. There was to be no escape from their clutches for many years to come.”

For me, although I understand that the Cotswold Symphony was a ‘prentice work, it is tuneful, engaging, often exuberant and occasionally deeply moving. It deserves more than an occasional outing in concert halls.

Discography:
Holst, Gustav, Symphony in F major, op. 8, H47, ‘The Cotswolds,’ Munich Symphony Orchestra/Douglas Bostock, Classico CLASSCD 284 (1999)

Holst, Gustav, Symphony in F major, op. 8, H47, ‘The Cotswolds,’ Ulster Orchestra JoAnn Falletta, Naxos 8.572914 (2011)

Gustav Holst’s Symphony in F, op.8 can be heard on YouTube, here. This is the Ulster Orchestra version.

Eric Coates: Cinderella - A Phantasy for Orchestra (1929)

One of the best loved (non-biblical) Christmas stories is Cinderella. It will be the focus of many pantomimes up and down the country as well as showings of the Disney film (1950) on TV. There may even be performances of Prokofiev’s eponymous ballet score or the opera La Cenerentola (1817) by Gioachino Rossini.

Eric Coates’s’ (1886-1957) Cinderella was the third work to have been inspired by his wife Phyl’s bedtimes stories told to their son Austin. The other two were The Selfish Giant (1925) and The Three Bears.

Cinderella was completed at Selsey House on 9 September 1929. The Daily Express, (1 July 1937) explains that some of the work’s orchestration was done during a bridge party. (cited Payne, 2012, p.81). It was premiered on 28 November during an Eastbourne Festival Concert. I was unable to find a review of this concert. However, Geoffrey Self explains that the composer conducted, and the “work was rapturously received by the audience and, with unqualified approbation by the critics.” (Self, 1986, p.45). Coates “held the Phantasy in the highest regard, informing the conductor Joseph Lewis: ‘I think it is really the best thing I have done...’”

The orchestral and piano scores were published in 1930 by Chappell. One significant feature are the notes included in the score explaining the events in his musical interpretation of the story. It carries the following note: “This Phantasy, dedicated to the "Cinderella" of our imagination, can be performed either as a concert piece or as a ballet.” The work is scored for a normal full orchestra with a wide range of percussion. The piece lasts about thirteen minutes.

The piano score of Cinderella gives a detailed synopsis of the Phantasy:

"Opening with a quiet unaccompanied melody (andante 4/4) Cinderella is discovered sitting sadly alone by the fire. A little four-note phrase, repeated several times, then gives us the keynote of the piece - the Fairy Godmother's call "Cinderella!" This is followed by an agitato 12/8, where the Fairy Godmother calls her attendants, who dress Cinderella for the ball. The fairy coach arrives, and she is driven away (allegro 2/ 4), the reiterated chords in the right hand representing the ponies' hoofs. A change in the character of the music (a descending chromatic phrase, aptly illustrating her sinking heart) shows a moment of anxiety for Cinderella, which soon disappears as she nears the Palace. Upon her arrival in the ballroom, we hear the music of the dance in full swing. She surveys the dancers, and the music broadens as the Prince sees her and enraptured by her beauty, approaches, asking her to dance. She hesitates shyly for a moment (rall.), and then she and the Prince dance together to the principal valse theme (valse lento). This works up to a climax, at the height of which the striking of the midnight hour is heard. Through this comes the Fairy Godmother's call of "Cinderella!" - a fully harmonised version of the original "Cinderella" call. A rapid ascending chromatic scale shows Cinderella running from the ballroom to her fairy coach, leaving one little slipper at the Prince's feet.

Two pause bars, tremolo dying down to a pp., mark the passing of time, and we find ourselves back once more with Cinderella at the fireside. The original melody of the introduction, now accompanied by quiet tremolo chords, denotes her loneliness. She fancies she hears her Fairy Godmother calling to her again, and dreams of the Prince. The Prince's drummers and trumpeters are heard in the distance. He is searching the town for the owner of the little slipper. This fanfare leads to a tempo di marcia, a humorous little march which, commencing p., as if in the distance, increases in power and fullness as the Prince and his retinue approach, reaching the climax as they enter Cinderella's house. A sudden diminuendo and we hear the Fairy Godmother's call of "Cinderella" while Cinderella's sisters are vainly trying on the slipper. We now return to the Valse theme, but this time in 4/4, broadly, and the final climax is reached as the shoe slips on to Cinderella's little foot. The phantasy finishes with a brief return to the march theme (allegro molto), and they all live happily ever after."

The work opens with a nod to Debussy’s Prélude à l'aprés-midi d'un Faune, before a more typical Coates sound gets underway. The listener will note the little four-note phrase (E, Eb, D, G) that mimics the Fairy Godmother calling ‘Cin-der-ella.’ All the usual Coates fingerprints are present in this piece – gentle syncopation, good orchestration, and memorable tunes. Often waltzes and marches are the underlying formal principle. Two important waltzes emerge, firstly, the sweep of the ball in full progress and secondly a “slower sensuous” dance as the Prince and Cinders meet. The climax of the work is reached when the clock strikes midnight. It is interesting to note that at the conclusion of the Phantasy, the slow waltz is revisited, but this time in a forceful and romantic 4/4 time.

Although Coates’s work was conceived as a tone poem or Phantasy for the concert hall, there are many elements of this piece that will strike the listener as being ideal ballet music.

One last footnote. Cinderella was used in the British drama film, Symphony in Two Flats (1930). This starred Ivor Novello. Coates had previously agreed with the BBC to broadcast the work on 28 January 1930. However, the film’s directors were “anxious that the public did not hear Coates’ music before the release of the film.”  Coates asked for the piece to be excluded from the BBC concert. (Payne, 2012, p.81).

Listen to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra  conducted by Rumon Gamba on Chandos CHAN9869, 2002, here.

Bibliography:
Self, Geoffrey, In town tonight: A centenary study of the life and music of Eric Coates, Thames Publishing, 1986.
Payne, Michael, The Life and Music of Eric Coates, Farnham, Ashgate, 2012.

Ralph Vaughan Williams: An Oxford Christmas - Arrangements from The Oxford Book of Carols

In his October 2021 review, here, John Quinn gives a detailed background to, and assessment of, this exceptional recording. He comments on the carols and gives his opinion on performances. I do not intend to give a detailed commentary on each carol.

This disc majors on a selection from The Oxford Book of Carols (OBC) which was published in 1928. The volume was edited textually by the Anglican High Church priest, Christian socialist, and liturgist Percy Dearmer, and musically by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Martin Shaw. Four of the carols had original tunes by RVW, with numerous others arranged by him. Certainly, at that time, the book was seen as a crucial part of the revival of plainchant and folksong. Containing more than two hundred numbers, it was a companion to the exceptional English Hymnal.

Hidden among these carols lie many undiscovered gems, demanding a fresh audience. The advertising flyer suspects that ten out of the twenty-two tracks are making their debut recordings on this 2021 disc.

The OBC contains a valuable preface, running to more than twenty pages, with lore, the history of the carol as genre as well as a dissertation on their use. Footnotes are given to many numbers often giving details about text and tune. The overarching ethos of performance is laid out in the preface: “Variety in the method of singing is even more important than with hymns, and the verses should never be sung straight through all in the same way.’  To this end, William Vann and the choir perform these carols with a mixture of accompanied, unaccompanied and solo verses.

I found these a masterclass in sensitive performance, precise diction, and excellent balance. I agree with John Quinn that “there isn’t a dud among them.” 

The Choir of the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and their director William Vann are no strangers to Albion Records. Recent contributions have included Carols from Herefordshire (ALBCD064) and A Christmas Fantasia: Carols and Fantasies (ALBCD063). In 2019, A Vaughan Williams Christmas was released (ALBCD035, reviewed here)

The booklet includes a valuable introduction to the OBC written by Jeremy Summerley. John Francis has provided the detailed notes on each carol. All texts are included. The CD cover features a picture of the Coming of the Magi from the ceiling of St. Jude’s Church, painted by Walter Starmer between 1909 and 1935. Details of the choir and their director are given.

At first, I wondered why the four carols with original RVW tunes were not given here. However, I realised that they were included in the A Vaughan Williams Christmas. I have not examined this disc.

Two other carols, not in the OBC are included, O My Dear Heart God dating from 1943 and   Bless the Master of This House, published in 1946.It is fair to suggest that a significant percentage of these carols will never be sung by a congregation or by wassailers in the street. Most require a body of trained singers to give a fine rendition of each piece. And the organist, Joshua Ryan, should not be forgotten: he participates faithfully in about half of these carols.

This is an enjoyable account of many (mainly) Christmas carols, old favourites in new guises and some hidden gems.

Track Listing:
Sussex Mummers’ Carol
Hereford Carol
Solo: Tom Castle
A Virgin Most Pure
Solo: Eloise Irving
Sussex Carol (Second Tune)
Solo: Angus McPhee
Gloucestershire Wassail
Solos: Leah Jackson, Jonathan Hanley
The Salutation Carol
Solos: Eloise Irving, Jonathan Beatty
The Bellman’s Song (Third Tune)
Solo: Angus McPhee
Job (Come All You Worthy Christian Men – Third Tune)
This Endris Night
Solo: Angus McPhee
Sussex Carol (First Tune)
Coverdale’s Carol
Song of the Crib
Solos: Katy Hill, Jonathan Hanley, Adrian Horsewood
Children’s Song of the Nativity
Solo: Katy Hill
If Ye Would Hear the Angels Sing
Solo: Katy Hill
Quem Pastores - Shepherds Left Their Flocks A-Straying
The Bellman’s Song (Second Tune)
Solo: Eleanor Minney
Joseph and Mary
Solo: Thomas Stoddart
Job (Come All You Worthy Christian Men – Fourth Tune)
The Seven Virgins
Solos: Jenni Harper and Jonathan Hanley
Psalm of Sion
Solo: Katy Hill
O My Dear Heart
God Bless the Master of This House
Choir of the Chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea/William Vann
Joshua Ryan (organ)
rec. 22-23 October 2020 and 17 June 2021, St. Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London
Texts included
ALBION RECORDS ALBCD050

William Alwyn: Three Winter Poems (1948)

As winter gets into full swing, readers will have mixed views on the weather. On the one hand it is romantic to have a “traditional” White Christmas: I can only recall enjoying about three in the past sixty-odd years. On the other hand, travel by car, train and foot will be much easier without snow and ice. Yet, there will be chilly days ahead. William Alwyn’s (1905-85) Three Winter Poems for string quartet give us a perfect musical evocation of the season.

These miniatures were composed during the early months of 1948 but were not heard until the premiere by the Maraini String Quartet at Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall on 1 June 2005. Alwyn produced sixteen works for string quartet, many written before the Second World War. There are three numbered examples, with the first being completed in 1953. At the same time, Alwyn was employed on the short score of his Symphony No.1, as well as finishing the Sonata for flute and piano and the Concerto Grosso No.2.

Three Winter Poems were dedicated to the Scottish composer and educator John Blackwood McEwen who died on 14 June 1948. He served as professor of harmony and composition at the Royal Academy of Music from 1898 to 1924, and as principal from 1924 to 1936. McEwen was a prolific composer, though his music remains little appreciated, even in his native country. He was known for his exacting teaching style and his contributions to British music education. McEwen was knighted in 1931 and left a legacy through his students and compositions. One of these pupils was William Alwyn.

Three Winter Poems thoughtfully explore several moods: Winter Landscape, Elegy – Frozen Waters and Serenade – Snow Shower. There is no suggestion that there was a literary inspiration behind these miniatures. Andrew Knowles (SOMMCD 0194) has stated that these Poems are “self-explanatory and vividly portray the wintry mood most tellingly. No doubt Alwyn’s experience in writing evocative scores for the cinema (he had written about one hundred soundtracks by this time) played its part in the creation of this charming work.”

Ewan McCormick, reviewing Naxos 8.570340, for MusicWeb International (9 September 2007) has suggested that the “music eloquently captures the coldness and desolation implied by the title. It is not dissimilar to Delius’s North Country Sketches in that respect. This does not however preclude an element of passion in the central Elegy.”

Evaluating the same CD, William Kreindler (MusicWeb International 7 December 2007) has stated that “The ‘Winter Landscape’ is exactly that - a perfect recollection of what one feels in the winter. The second piece is full of suppressed turbulence - waiting for the ice to crack. The instruments are beautifully used here. There is a more elegiac tone at the end. In the last piece a little of the tension is dissipated.”

Discography:

Alwyn, William, Three Winter Poems, with String Quartet, No.1, No.2 and No.3, Razumovsky Quartet, Dutton Epoch CDLX 7168, 2006.

Alwyn, William, Three Winter Poems, with Rhapsody for piano quartet, Sonata-Impromptu for violin and viola, Ballade for viola and piano, Two Songs for voice, violin and piano, Three Songs to Poems by Trevor Blakemore, Sonatina for viola and piano, Various artists, Naxos 8.570340, 2007

Alwyn, William, Three Winter Poems, with String Quartet No.3; Doreen Carwithen String Quartets No.1 and No.2, Tippett Quartet, SOMMCD 0194, 2019

Carols from Herefordshire

This remarkable new recording closes an important gap in Ralph Vaughan Williams discography. For the first time, the complete score of the Carols from Herefordshire has been recorded. Let me explain.

During July 1908, RVW met the folklorist Ella Mary Leather (1874-1928) in the quaint Herefordshire village of Weobley. Ella had used a phonograph to record local worthies singing folksongs. The composer’s job was to transcribe these cylinders. He would make further visits in 1912 and 1913.

In 1920 the score of Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire was published by Stainer and Bell. Unusually, it contained two versions: the original for voice and piano and RVW’s arrangement for SATB (four-part choir). The score is prefaced by an explanatory note: “The object of this volume is not scientific but artistic; it is simply to preserve these carols in a form in which they can be sung by those who value our traditional songs and melodies. The Editors have therefore not hesitated (while keeping as much of the original text as possible) to emend corruptions in the words, to correct grammatical errors and to supply missing lines and verses from other sources.” On the other hand, the tunes were transcribed exactly as heard.

The first half of the disc is devoted to the choral version of these carols, whilst the second features the same carols sung by Derek Welton, accompanied on the piano by Iain Burnside.

What of the carols themselves? They fall into various thematic groupings. To be sure, the greater number are concerned with Christmas. In other cases, their theology can be a little stretched, for not only are biblical sources used, but apocryphal lore and a degree of native moralising. Look at The Holy Well, which is heard in two versions. Here, in the underlying legend, the young Jesus drowned his snobbish playmates. Not so in the carol, the story has been bowdlerised, but it is still a treatise of class consciousness. Then there is the poor farmer forced to work On Christmas Day and is struck down by Jesus. Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand presents much theological moralising. More traditional fare is found in The Angel Gabriel, New Year’s Carol and Joseph and Mary. The Miraculous Harvest (or The Carnal and the Crane) is based on “mediaeval poems and on apocryphal gospels going back to the first millennium.” The Carnal probably refers to a crow. Of interest is God Rest You Merry Gentlemen, with a vastly different tune to that which we are used to.

Other carols that are not associated with the Season include Dives and Lazarus, The Saviour’s Love and The Seven Virgins.

The present recording has wisely omitted some verses in a few of these carols. This is especially so when they would become a burden for singers and audience alike.

The excellent booklet notes have been assembled by John Francis. They provide a detailed account of the work’s genesis, a biography of Mary Leather, notes on each carol and the texts. Resumes of the performers are included. The CD cover is Vittore Carpaccio’s sumptuous painting, The Flight into Egypt, c. 1515 currently on display in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA.

In 2011, Derek Welton and Iain Burnside recorded the voice and piano edition for Albion Records. It was issued on On Christmas Day – Folk-Carols and Folksongs: Arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams (ALBCD013, short review here).

William Vann and the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea have already made an important contribution to RWW’s legacy. This includes three Christmas albums: A Vaughan Williams Christmas (ALBCD035, reviewed here), An Oxford Christmas (ALBCD050, reviewed here) and A Christmas Fantasia: Carols and Fantasies (ALBCD063).

The performances by the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea under their director William Vann are exquisite. Equally delightful is Derek Welton’s and Iain Burnside’s rendition of the arrangement for voice and piano.

Despite not all the carols being concerned with the Yuletide Season, this lovely CD makes an ideal Christmas present for all enthusiasts of RVW’s music as well as those who have an ear to the ground for traditional English folksongs.

Track Listing:
Carols from Herefordshire (1920)
For unaccompanied SATB
The Holy Well (First Version)
Solo: Helen Ashby
The Holy Well (Second Version)
Christmas Now Is Drawing Near at Hand
Solo: Jonathan Hanley
Joseph and Mary
Solo: Edward Hughes
The Angel Gabriel
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
New Year’s Carol
Solo: Katy Hill
On Christmas Day
Solo: Eloise Irving
Dives and Lazarus
The Miraculous Harvest
Solos: Eloise Irving, Samuel Jenkins
The Saviour’s Love
The Seven Virgins

For voice and piano
The Holy Well (First Version)
The Holy Well (Second Version)
Christmas Now Is Drawing Near at Hand
Joseph and Mary
The Angel Gabriel
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen
New Year’s Carol
On Christmas Day
Dives and Lazarus
The Miraculous Harvest
The Saviour’s Love
The Seven Virgins
Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea/William Vann
Derek Welton (bass-baritone), Iain Burnside (piano)
rec. 12-13 February 2024, Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, London (SATB); 19-21 May 2011 Potton Hall, Suffolk (Voice and piano)
Texts included.
Albion ALBCD064

Keep In with The Accompanist: A Handelian Tale

This story may not be true, but it is a bit of fun! It is typical of Handel’s wit, and his inability to suffer fools gladly. I apologise in advance for the replication of the composer’s pidgin English.

"It is good policy for a singer to keep "on the good side of" his accompanist. A really fine accompanist is a rare bird. Besides the technical skill necessary to a soloist, an accompanist must have the finest musical feeling and discrimination, and at the same time sacrifice himself to the interests of the singer. And oftentimes the accompanist must shoulder the sins of the singer. It is an easy way to relieve oneself from the blame of a "bad break" by charging the fault to the accompanist. A singer once tried this with Handel, and declared that if Handel didn't accompany him better, he should jump over onto the harpsichord where the player sat and smash it.

Said Handel: " Let me know ven you vill do dot, and I vill adverdise id. I am sure more beoble will come to see you shump as vill come to hear you sing." He didn't jump."

From Anecdotes of Great Musicians by W. Francis Gates (1896), with minor edits.

A Christmas Fantasia: Carols and Fantasies

The publicity flyer for this CD reminds the listener that this is the third Christmas album issued by William Vann and the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. (ALBCD035, A Vaughan Williams Christmas and ALBCD050, An Oxford Christmas). In this present disc, they explore several carols and fantasias by Ralph Vaughan Williams, his friends, and former pupils. The one exception is the new Carol by the choir’s current director of music.

There is a Little Door by Herbert Howells is a perennial favourite. This sets a text by Francis Chesterton, the wife of the poet and writer G.K. Chesterton. This carol was composed in 1918 at the end of the First World War. In the closing stanza, this seemingly pastoral verse undergoes a transformation - a shift from an idyllic countryside to the battlefield. The poet reimagines the Magi’s gifts not as symbols of peace but as offerings to the fallen.

No collection of carols would be complete without John Ireland’s The Holy Boy. Originally the third of Four Preludes for piano (pub.1917) it has been “dished up” in quite a few arrangements, including orchestral, chamber and brass ensemble. In 1941, Ireland set words by solicitor and gifted amateur musician, Herbert Sydney Brown, to the tune. It is always a pleasure to hear.

Two carols by Rebecca Clarke are included. The first, a vivid realisation of verses from the anonymous fifteenth-century English carol, There is no Rose (1928). The equilibrium between the solo baritone and the soprano-less choir is ideal. This is followed by a gratefully contrapuntal Ave Maria (c.1937) for sopranos and altos only, nodding to Palestrina.

The current director of the Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, William Vann contributes the simply titled Carol. This is a setting of the poet/composer Ivor Gurney’s poem “Winter now has bared the trees” from the volume Severn & Somme (1917). The liner notes admit that this is a pastiche of Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells and RVW. Whatever its antecedents, this is a perfectly well-wrought and effective fusion of text and music, creating a perfect balance between the cold season and the “warmth and joy of Christian camaraderie.” No date of composition is given.

I guess few people will have heard Cecil Armstrong Gibbs Christmas cantata, A Saviour Born, however, many singers who use the ubiquitous Carols for Choirs I (1961) will be familiar with his While the shepherds were watching. Rhythmically vital and modally tinged this unaccompanied carol should be an indispensable part of the Yuletide playlist.

Gerald Finzi’s motet for baritone, double chorus and organ is a powerful meditation on Henry Vaughan’s poem The Brightness of this Day (1923) with its emphasis on simplicity and denial of excessive revelry, and concentration on the spiritual core of the Season. It offers echoes of the “grand choral works of Parry and his [Finzi’s] teacher Edward Bairstow.”

Christmas Day by Gustav Holst is a Choral Fantasy on Old Carols, written in 1910. These include old favourites Good Christian Men, Rejoice, God Rest You Merry Gentlemen and Come, Ye Lofty, Come, Ye Lowly. The liner notes point out that The First Nowell “was woven throughout as a counterpoint.” Despite Holst dismissing it as “poor stuff anyway and not worth doing” it has become a favourite. Well worth having on this CD in Holst’s sesquicentennial anniversary.

A new carol to me is Elizabeth Maconchy’s Nowell, Nowell, Nowell (1967) which sets an old English text dating from the fifteenth century. It is “light, joyful and elegant.”

About half of the CD playing time is given over to Ralph Vaughan Williams’s contribution to the Christmas Season.

Three numbers from the Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire published in 1920 are heard. These were “collected, edited and arranged for voice and piano, or to be sung unaccompanied by Mrs E.M. Leather and R. Vaughan Williams.” The fieldwork was done during 1912-1913.

The first carol is Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand which contains a lot of theological moralising. It presents a lovely melody. God Rest You Merry, Gentleman, has a quite different tune to that popularly sung today. The final offering from this collection is On Christmas Day. The sentiment of this carol seems lacking charity, with Jesus striking down the ploughman who was working on Christmas Day to make ends meet. It is truly melancholy. The liner notes promise that a subsequent “companion album, Carols from Herefordshire, (ALBCD064) contrasts all twelve carols in both settings.” Most of the choral versions have never been recorded before.

I remember as a teenager listening spellbound to a wireless broadcast of RVW’s Hodie (1954). (It was on 24 December 1972). I accept that the complete cantata has been judged as a little uneven, yet for me it was (and still is) full of Christmas magic. Two of the Carols from that cantata are heard here, The Blessed Son of God and No Sad Thought His Soul Afright. The latter musically presents a chilly, frost-bound landscape.

RVW’s Christmas Hymn from the Three Choral Hymns (1929) presents a text after Martin Luther, by Miles Coverdale. This longish piece begins quietly, as a lullaby as it meditates on the crib in Bethlehem, but soon builds intensity as the poet meditates on the theological significance of the Incarnation. The Wassail Song was the last of the Five English Folk Songs completed in 1913. There is little theology here, just encouragement to enjoy a good drink.

Another work that epitomises the Season is the Fantasia on Christmas Carols composed in 1912 and premiered that year during the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford Cathedral. It is scored for baritone soloist, choir and either orchestra or organ. (A piano and solo cello edition exists). During the progress of this single movement, RVW weaves together English folk carols, including The truth sent from above, Come all you worthy gentlemen, and On Christmas Night. Fragments of other carols are heard. The choir is instructed to use “extended techniques” such as “humming” and singing ‘Ah.’  There are delicious harmonies throughout.

The liner notes are devised by John Francis with additional material from William Vann. They are helpful and provide information about each piece and its background. The texts are included. I would have liked the dates for all the composers to be given. Details of the choir, musical director, organist, and baritone solo are included. The booklet is well-illustrated with pictures of the composers and performers. The beautiful cover is based on stained glass in Holy Trinity, Sloane Square, designed and made by Christopher Whall in 1900.

It is redundant to comment on the faultless singing and organ accompaniment. The sound recording is excellent. This is a valuable Christmas offering that explores much lesser-known repertoire, with a few old favourites for good measure.

Track Listing:
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Christmas Now is Drawing Near at Hand from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire (1920)
Herbert Howells (1892-1983)
Here Is the Little Door from Three Carol Anthems (1918)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The Blessed Son of God from Hodie (1954)
John Ireland (1879-1962)
The Holy Boy (1913)
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979)
There Is No Rose (1928)
Ave Maria (c.1937; pub.1998)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Christmas Hymn from Three Choral Hymns (1929)
William Vann (?)
Carol
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960)
While the Shepherds Were Watching from the cantata A Saviour Born (1952)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Wassail Song from Five English Folk Songs (1913)
Gerald Finzi (1901-56)
The Brightness of this Day (1922/23)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
No Sad Thought from Hodie (1954)
Gustav Holst (1874-1934)
Christmas Day: A Choral Fantasy on Old Carols (1910)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire (1920)
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-94)
Nowell, Nowell, Nowell (1967)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
On Christmas Day from Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire (1920)
Fantasia on Christmas Carols (1912)
Chapel Choir of the Royal Hospital Chelsea/William Vann; Jamie Andrews organ; Ashley Riches bass-baritone.
rec. 12-13 February 2024, Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Square, London.
Albion ALBCD063