See program notes for the show for more information.
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Voices take the sackbut parts in this a capella performance by the Hilliard Ensemble of of Dufay’s “Gloria ad modum tubae”.
Coro Ultreia perform the Gregorion “Intruit: Puer Natus Est Nobis” in the Monastery of Poio in Pontevedra, northwestern Spain.
For a wonderful Greek take on the chant, Ensemble Organum, with Marcel Pérès directing, perform “Puer natus est nobis’.
Stile Antico has a new recording of the Tallis Puer Natus Est Nobis mass. Members of the group talk about it on this video.
The opening Gloria of Tallis’s Puer Natus Mass by the Choir of King’s College.
The medieval tune “Resonet in Laudibus” has been popular for centuries. Many know the melody from the English carol, “Christ Was Born on Christmas Day”.
Orlando di Lasso’s setting of “Resonet in Laudibus” by Quire Cleveland , conducted by Peter Bennett
A Chinese recorder ensemble plays Corelli. I’ve never seen recorders that look like this. They sound great! The Canon Recorder Ensemble, Taiwan.
J.S. Bach’s complete Missa Brevis in F Major, BWV 233, Pro Arte Choir, Lausanne; Pro Arte Orchestra of Much; Kurt Redel, conductor; Agnes Giebel, soprano; Gisele Litz, contralto; Hermann Prey, bass-baritone, same recording heard on the show.
Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols” by way of YouTube cobbling:
1. Procession, 2. Wolcum Yole!, San Francisco Girl’s Chorus; Sharon J. Paul, conductor
4. That yongë child, SolEnsemble, Grazia Abbà, conductor, Padua
5. Balulalow. St. Pauls Cathedral Boys Choir, England , boy soprano soloist, Edward Burrowes
6. As Dew In Aprille, Cantus Vocal Ensemble, Minneapolis
8. Interlude (Frances Kelly, harp solo)
9. In Freezing Winter Night, Uncredited Performers
10. Spring Carol, SolEnsemble, Grazia Abbà, conductor, Padua
12. Recession, Mary Tatchell, conductor, Liena Lacey, harp
Anonymous 4 perform The Cherry Tree Carol, with Andrew Lawrence-King, harp.
The Pentangle – The Cherry Tree Carol
“Coventry Carol”, the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers, from the Telarc release Songs of Angels. This collection of hymns and carols was recorded in 1993 and released in 1994. The arrangements were done with Alice Parker, mostly in the early 1950′s.
Here now are four clips from Robert Shaw’s earliest recording of Christmas Hymns and Carols, from 1946, with the Victor Chorale. This is before his collaboration with Alice Parker. Notice a difference?
Part I. “Methinks I See A Heav’nly Host”, “Coventry Carol”, “Touro-louro-louro!”, Victor Chorale, conducted by Robert Shaw, ca. 1941
Franco Battiato performs “L’ombra della luce” live in Italian (audio).
Franco Battiato performs “L’ombra della luce” live in Arabic in Baghdad, December 1992 (video).
─Nicholas Mitchell
