The majority of recordings of Britten's A Ceremony of Carols pair the work either with other Christmas repertoire or with other Britten choral music, so this album of music for children's voices by a variety of composers on a variety of subjects allows it to be heard in a fresh context. The terrific sound quality also makes this recording stand out. It has a wonderful bell-like clarity that is especially appropriate for the sound of the harp. A Ceremony of Carols is frequently recorded in churches with an atmospheric ...
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The majority of recordings of Britten's A Ceremony of Carols pair the work either with other Christmas repertoire or with other Britten choral music, so this album of music for children's voices by a variety of composers on a variety of subjects allows it to be heard in a fresh context. The terrific sound quality also makes this recording stand out. It has a wonderful bell-like clarity that is especially appropriate for the sound of the harp. A Ceremony of Carols is frequently recorded in churches with an atmospheric resonance that doesn't always allow the music's transparency and delicacy to be heard to full effect. What's lost in ceremonial ambience is more than compensated for by the pleasure of hearing all the details of Britten's scoring. It can be like hearing the work for the first time. The other pieces add to the appeal of the album. Christopher Bell, conductor of National Youth Choir of Scotland National Girls Choir, described his excitement on discovering Elizabeth Poston's An English...
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