Christmas Music We Missed

Program: #24-52   Air Date: Dec 23, 2024

I. Navidad Iberica

(Ensemble Corund/Stephen Smith). Dorian Recordings DOR-93248.

The end of the 15th century in Spain saw a consolidation of power and a resulting political stability. The marriage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille brought about a union of these two kingdoms in 1479. Granada, the last Muslim stronghold, was conquered in 1492, the same year in which Columbus set out on a voyage of discovery which took him to what would later be known as the Americas. Thus the Spanish Renaissance, the Siglo de Oro ("Golden Age"), and the period from which the pieces on this recording are taken, began with Spain at the height of political and military strength.

II. Silent Night

(Seraphic Fire/Patrick Dupré Quigley). SFM CD 614325757527.

This is the follow-up Christmas recording to Seraphic Fire's 2012 Grammy-nominated a Seraphic Fire Christmas. This recording includes four world premiere recordings ('Gitanjali Chants,' 'Little Child in a Manger,' 'Nino de Rosas' and 'Silent Night').

III. Pietro Vinci: Quattordeci Sonetti Spirituali 

(Nota Bene Ensemble). Toccata Classics CD TOCC 0553.

The fourteen Sonetti Spirituali (1580) of the Sicilian-born Pietro Vinci (c. 1525–84) manifest an extraordinary blend of the secular and the religious in a narrative largely concerned with the birth, death and transfiguration of Christ. Setting Petrarchan texts by the aristocratic Vittoria Colonna (c. 1490–1547), a close friend of Michelangelo, in five parts, Vinci marries the stylised gestures of the Mannerist madrigal and the spiritual sincerity of the Latin motet, creating an unusually expressive hybrid that manages to be both texturally complex and emotionally direct.

IV. The Great Glad Tidings Tell

(The Choir of Trinity Church Boston/Colin Lynch). Acis CD APL22374.

From Textura: The Great Glad Tidings Tell: Carols from Copley Square includes a number of Christmas staples, among them "O Little Town of Bethlehem” (from which the album title derives), “O Come, all ye Faithful,”“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” and “The First Nowell.” Many of them have been freshened up with new arrangements, and even better the larger share of the album presents relatively recent material such as “What Child is This?” (Thomas Hewitt Jones), “There is No Rose” (Jessica Nelson), “The Holly and the Ivy” (Stuart Thompson), and “In Bethlehem Above” (Yshani Perinpanayagam). It's these less familiar songs that recommend the release most, though the inspired renditions of the familiar ones are no less engaging.

Recorded at Trinity Church in the City of Boston in May 2024, The Great Glad Tidings Tell presents performances by the singers of Trinity Church Boston conducted by its Music Director Colin Lynch. With Jerrick Cavagnaro credited as organist, two organs, a Nave (built in 1926 and tonally restored in 2019) and Chancel, are featured, and the Trinity Brass Ensemble and a percussionist also bolster the presentation. Vocal soloists gracing the recording are Morgan Beckford (soprano), Kristine Caswelch (soprano), Marc Haddad (treble), Grace Heldridge (mezzo-soprano), and James Walsh (tenor).

The choir's commitment to inclusivity and community is borne out by selections featuring new arrangements and songs by women, composers of colour, and American and non-American composers (Perinpanayagam hailing from Britain, for example), the result a recording that's timely in mindset and sensibility. At the same time, certain time-honoured traditions remain firmly in place, namely the precision of the choir's singing and the jubilant tone of the material they deliver. Changes have occurred over the years, with the addition of children's voices a major factor and the choir now primarily volunteer, with more than 100 parishioners supposed by eight professional singers.

Cavagnaro not only performs, he also arranged two pieces, “Angels We Have Heard on High” and “Masters in this Hall,” with the impact of the exultant former heightened by the coupling of choir with brass and organ and singing in the aggressive latter bolstered by military snare patterns. The regal choir, organ, and brass arrangements for “O Come, all ye Faithful” and “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing” by Trinity's former director Richard Webster are suitably triumphant. Whereas they're grandiose in pitch, “Coventry Carol”is more intimate in partnering a vocal soloist with the choir and with childrens' voices factoring prominently. Some selections are gentle (“What Child is This?,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem"), some hushed (“In Bethlehem Above,” Jessica French's “The Oxen”), and others animated (“Audete, Gaudete,” James Burton's “Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day”).

Memorable pieces include Rosephanye Powell's “Have you Seen the Baby Jesus?,” whose rousing call-and-response between soloist and choir (handclaps, too) adds gospel to the album, and Andriy Hnatyshyn's setting of “What is This Great Wonder of the World?” sung movingly in Ukrainian by soprano Caswelch with the choir delicately accompanying. While “There is No Rose” plays like a classic folk lament, “The Holly and the Ivy” darkens its folk-chant delivery with a macabre undercurrent and organ devilry. Speaking of which, in a nice change-up Cavagnaro performs alone on John Ireland's “The Holy Boy” and the closing “Toccata-Gigue on the Sussex Carol” by George Baker.

As the Rector, the Rev. Morgan S. Allen, states in his introduction to the release, the album's music “expresses who we in this Church have been and who the incarnate God hopes we and the whole world will become.” The latter value has never been more critical when acceptance and tolerance are so necessary towards realizing the ideal of a world community. At twenty songs and eighty minutes, the release is not only a comprehensive collection but offers a superb soundtrack for any festive gathering.