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Track(s) taken from CDA68299

Love came down at Christmas

composer
14 October 2004
author of text
from Time Flies: A Reading Diary, 1885

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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Recording details: January 2019
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: November 2019
Total duration: 5 minutes 29 seconds
 

Reviews

‘A delightful album by an all-male a cappella group is hard to come by—all too often they’re po-faced or schmaltzy; but this is neither. An elegant blend of old and new’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The close recording of the male-voice line-up of The Gesualdo Six on Christmas reveals the tightness of their ensemble in repertoire ranging from Praetorius to Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Tenor Joseph Wicks’ a cappella arrangement of Jonathan Harvey’s The Annnunciation and director Owain Park’s vibrant On the Infancy of our Saviour compliment well-chosen pieces, making for a delightful and informative listening experience—and a thoughtful stocking filler!’ (Choir & Organ)

‘What I love about this group—this is just their second disc—is it’s incredibly natural, it’s very forthright: they are so musical, so sensitive; we see straight through to the text … the way they listen to each other—the Tallis, these long phrases—I don’t know how they can sing it that slowly with so few singers. It really is miraculous! … I love that sense of magic that they get … not something kitsch and traditional and retrospective but something that has life in it’ (BBC Record Review)

„Unter dem schichten Titel 'Christmas' ist bei Hyperion allerdings alles andere als eine bloße Pflichtübung erschienen … gemeinsam verfügen sie [The Gesualdo Six] über eine reich sich verströmende Substanz, die Stimmen zeichnen klar, sind fein balanciert und zur edlen Verschmelzung fähig … in der Summe ist das ein eigenständiges, gelegentlich auch eigenwilliges Programm, mit schroffen, aber fruchtbaren stilistischen Wechseln auf engstem Raum“ (Klassik.com, Germany)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
Eleanor Daley’s beautiful setting of Love came down at Christmas was composed in 2004 for the Victoria Scholars of Toronto, Canada. The words are by Christina Rossetti, who published the poem without a title in Time Flies: A Reading Diary in 1885. A tenor soloist begins by setting out a largely scalic melody which is later developed over the course of the piece. The short interjections of ‘Alleluia’ tug the harmony in different directions, but the work persistently returns to its tonal centre, leaving a warm and comforting feeling.

from notes by Owain Park © 2019

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