Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols was a hit from the start and has been a holiday season favorite ever since. The key to its success is its brilliant evocation of the English musical past in music that, although its tonal world is traditional, is unmistakably modern: it is economical, boiled down to simple gestures that stand in stark contrast to one another, and devoid of sentiment. The work combines past and present in an immediately accessible way. There are plenty of other choices for A Ceremony of Carols on the ...
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Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols was a hit from the start and has been a holiday season favorite ever since. The key to its success is its brilliant evocation of the English musical past in music that, although its tonal world is traditional, is unmistakably modern: it is economical, boiled down to simple gestures that stand in stark contrast to one another, and devoid of sentiment. The work combines past and present in an immediately accessible way. There are plenty of other choices for A Ceremony of Carols on the market; the work is ideally suited to the talents of English cathedral choirs, and some 100 other groups have attempted it as well, but several factors make this version a standout. One is the exceptional blend of the female sopranos in the Choir of the Queen's College, Oxford, and another is the lively, quick harp work of Lucy Wakeford. Yet again, there is the Chandos engineering work at the Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Oxford. Most important, though, is the intelligent way...
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