Choral, Christmas Carols, Martin, M (composer)
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This superior seasonal disc, chiefly of carols (some with organ played by Luke Bond), is satisfyingly divided into three parts: Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. Each starts with a plainchant,... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2019, Christmas Choice
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On Christmas Night
RecommendedCarols from St John’s College, Cambridge
John Challenger (organ)
The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge, Andrew Nethsingha
The collective vocal heft of the ensemble's young choral scholars remains a potent weapon under Andrew Nethsinga's direction. He's a man of musical refinement, however, one ready and able to... —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 5th December 2011
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From the vaults of Westminster Cathedral
RecommendedA procession of chant & polyphony from Advent to Christmas & the Epiphany and Presentation of our Lord
Matthew Martin (organ accompaniment), & Martin Baker (organ improvisations)
The Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Martin Baker
Epiphany brings Monteverdi's Messa a 4 da cappella, whose polyphonic complexities elicit a confidently assertive response from the choir, with fine internal balances between the voice sections. —
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Presto Recording of the Week, 30th November 2009
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Dancing Day: Music for Christmas
Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys, Fifth Avenue, New York, Sara Cutler, Stephen Buzard, Benjamin Sheen
John Scott
[Scott's] sudden death earlier this year makes Dancing Day perhaps the most poignant of discs and bears testament to his phenomenal musicianship and taste. The choir is absolutely secure from... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2015, Editor's Choice
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All Things Are Quite Silent
The Pembroke College Girls’ Choir, The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, The Pembroke College Girls' Choir, Anna Lapwood
Rheinberger’s Abendlied is delivered with sumptuous, all-embracing delectation...At a single sitting, though, across the disc the choirs’ biggest asset – a malleable, velvety smoothness – turns... —
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a Christmas issue which is genuinely challenging and different…Martin’s music evokes in an extraordinary suggestive manner the theological paradox buried within the Eden story… The Gabrieli’s... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Disc of the month
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Special offer. Carol of the Bells
Alexandra Kidgell, Edward McMullan, Mark Dobell, Robert Macdonald, Ben Davies, Rob Macdonald, Katy Hill, Tim Jones, Charlotte Mobbs, George Pooley, The Sixteen, Harry Christophers
The Sixteen have been around so long (40 years and counting) that it is easy to take them for granted. This newly recorded Christmas disc, however, acts as a sharp reminder of the choir’s abiding... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2021, Christmas Choice
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Advent at Merton
Anna Steppler (organ)
Choir of Merton College, Oxford, Benjamin Nicholas & Peter Phillips
At the heart of this Advent service is a set of seven antiphons specially commissioned from seven composers for Merton College chapel. They work splendidly as a sequence...Peter Phillips and... —
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Nowell Sing We!
Advent and Christmas Music at New College
Choir of New College Oxford, Robert Quinney
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In the Bleak Midwinter: Christmas Carols From King's
Matthew Martin (organ), Choir of King's College, Cambridge, Daniel Hyde
The voices are warmly blended by Daniel Hyde, director of music since 2019, and show the choir confidently developing a fresh identity in the post-Stephen Cleobury era. —