The durability of the small choir The Sixteen is due in part to the way director Harry Christophers continues to challenge the group with fresh programming and new material. The Sixteen have made at least seven Christmas albums before this one, and the market shows no signs of drying up. The choir's holiday recordings have a more personal flavor than those of the big cathedral choirs, yet there is never a sign that the group is going through the motions. The title Carol of the Bells might suggest a greatest Christmas hits ...
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The durability of the small choir The Sixteen is due in part to the way director Harry Christophers continues to challenge the group with fresh programming and new material. The Sixteen have made at least seven Christmas albums before this one, and the market shows no signs of drying up. The choir's holiday recordings have a more personal flavor than those of the big cathedral choirs, yet there is never a sign that the group is going through the motions. The title Carol of the Bells might suggest a greatest Christmas hits collection, and that Ukrainian standard is indeed present, but most of the material is a good deal less familiar. Christophers elegantly mixes traditional carols, 20th century British standards, and contemporary works, and at every turn, there is something new. Some of the traditional carols come from an old Oxford publication; Christophers notes that several, such as All in the Morning, have fallen out of use, and his case for their revival is persuasive. The Sixteen's reading of...
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