The London Oratory Schola Cantorum boychoir gained renown in some circles for its work on big-time film soundtracks, among them The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. A recording program instituted under director Charles Cole, however, has avoided crossover repertory in a series of albums on which the young choristers surmount considerable technical challenges. Consider Sacred Treasures of Christmas, which is not the collection of seasonal hymns one might imagine, but a sequence of Renaissance polyphonic works, ...
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The London Oratory Schola Cantorum boychoir gained renown in some circles for its work on big-time film soundtracks, among them The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. A recording program instituted under director Charles Cole, however, has avoided crossover repertory in a series of albums on which the young choristers surmount considerable technical challenges. Consider Sacred Treasures of Christmas, which is not the collection of seasonal hymns one might imagine, but a sequence of Renaissance polyphonic works, all in Latin and mostly not from England. The pieces fall into a rough sequence, with texts relevant to Christmas, Epiphany, and Candlemas, the 40th day of Christmas that concludes the season. The music of the Christmas season has a special flavor in Renaissance music, with characteristic sparse textures that expose the slightest flaw in a choral ensemble. The London Oratory Schola Cantorum, with 57 members, has few weak links indeed, and the listener's attention is directed to the...
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