Beating Time
'Hodie' & 'Fantasia on Christmas Carols' - Vaughan Williams
Bach Choir, LSO, Guildford Cathedral Choir, et al.
CD. EMI Classics. 71 mins. £10.00
As our thoughts inevitably turn towards Christmas, no doubt we begin to hear in our subconscious the familiar carols and tunes that form the backdrop to the festival, and which, at their best, remind us of what we are actually celebrating - the great miracle of the incarnation.
This CD offers two slightly less familiar Christmas works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, perhaps one of our most under-rated composers. Both recordings are actually quite old (1965 and 1966), but have been re-released this year in a digitally remastered form.
'Fantasia on Christmas Carols' is a very beautiful short work incorporating four carols, most notably the lovely - and very Scriptural - 'This is the truth sent from above'. The strings accompaniment works very well and the baritone solos are nicely performed.
'Hodie' is a major work, nearly an hour long, which follows, in a modern idiom, the traditional oratorio pattern of solo and choral pieces linked together with 'narrative' sections corresponding to recitatives, and which quote directly from the birth narratives in the Gospels. The soloists are the very best - Dame Janet Baker, Richard Lewis and John Shirley-Quirk. Much of the music will be unfamiliar (it certainly was to me), but the choral piece 'The blessed Son of God' has become well-known in its own right, and appears in 'Carols for Choirs 1'.
This CD shows off the work of Vaughan Williams at its very best, and provides Christmas music of a slightly more thoughtful kind - an excellent listen if you're a bit tired of 'While shepherds watched . . .'!
