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Track(s) taken from SIGCD257

Today the Virgin 'A Christmas carol'

composer
September 1989
author of text
Christmas

The Rodolfus Choir, Ralph Allwood (conductor)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
CD-Quality:
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Recording details: September 2010
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Nigel Short
Engineered by Mike Hatch
Release date: September 2012
Total duration: 2 minutes 37 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

St George's Chapel Choir Windsor, Christopher Robinson (conductor)

Reviews

'The freshness of attack you get with younger voices is put to incisive use by conductor Ralph Allwood, whose Rodolfus singers are all products of the famous Eton choral courses. Parry's Welcome, Yule! can seldom have had a more sheerly ebullient performance, but the choir also brings formidable precision of pitching and ensemble to quieter settings, such as Tavener's The Lamb and Poulenc's O Magnum Mysterium. Some of the emotional deepening which comes with vocal maturity is occasionally missing, but there are many qualities here that compensate' (BBC Music Magazine)
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING

'This beautifully sung sequence ranges through 500 years of Christmas music, with a bias towards the twentieth century and some of the exquisite carols and anthems composed by the likes of Vaughan Williams, Holst, Morten Lauridsen and John Tavener. The mood is one of quiet reflection rather than overt jubilation, although Parry's Welcome, Yule! and Tavener's rhythmically punchy Today the Virgin are exceptions. but there is a broad spectrum of texts and technique to lend the programme stylistic variety' (The Daily Telegraph)

'From Signum comes A Choral Christmas, a fine collection of largely unfamiliar seasonal music from the Rodolfus Choir conducted by Ralph Allwood, who has recently stepped down after 26 years as Eton's director of music. His choir are youngsters, aged between 16 and 25, who applied for choral scholarships at the college. Their discipline and diction throughout a testing programme is exemplary' (Daily Mail)
Very different in character are the Christmas pieces Today the Virgin (1989) and God is with us. The former takes its inspiration from the Medieval folk-carol, with a suitable text by Mother Thekla (Abbess at Normanby) and has an infectiously memorable refrain with an increasing Alleluia.

from notes by Ivan Moody © 1991

Les ouvrages pour Noël Today the Virgin («Aujourd’hui la Vierge»; 1989) et God is with us («Dieu est avec nous») sont de caractère très différent. Le premier tire son inspiration d’un chant de Noël populaire médiéval, pour lequel Mère Thekla (Abbesse à Normanby) a écrit un texte et dont le refrain avec un Alléluia croissant est mémorable et communicatif.

extrait des notes rédigées par Ivan Moody © 1991
Français: Alain Midoux

Gänzlich anders gestaltet sind die Weihnachtsstücke Today the Virgin (1989) und God is with us. Das erstere ist von einem mittelalterlichen Weihnachtsvolkslied inspiriert, mit einem passenden Text von Mutter Thekla (der Äbtissin von Normanby) und einem mitreißend eingängigen Refrain mit zunehmendem Alleluja.

aus dem Begleittext von Ivan Moody © 1991
Deutsch: Anne Steeb/Bernd Müller

Other albums featuring this work

Tavener: Sacred Music
CDH55414Download only
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