Carus Verlag's The Herald Angels Sing features the Junges Vokalensemble Hannover in a program of contemporary Christmas carols. It's a real mixed bag, but it isn't exclusively limited to pieces that Carus publishes and the clear intent of the disc to provide some access to newer kinds of Christmas settings. Firstly, it ought to be mentioned that the recording -- made at the Kirche Stephansstift in Hannover -- is a bit muddy, distant, and lacks punch. However, as the album is mainly of unaccompanied choral music, that's not ...
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Carus Verlag's The Herald Angels Sing features the Junges Vokalensemble Hannover in a program of contemporary Christmas carols. It's a real mixed bag, but it isn't exclusively limited to pieces that Carus publishes and the clear intent of the disc to provide some access to newer kinds of Christmas settings. Firstly, it ought to be mentioned that the recording -- made at the Kirche Stephansstift in Hannover -- is a bit muddy, distant, and lacks punch. However, as the album is mainly of unaccompanied choral music, that's not so bad except in instances where an instrument is used, such as the drum in Javier Busto's Hodie Christus natus est. The program includes several interesting things; especially noteworthy is Jan Sandström's postmodern take on Michael Praetorius' early seventeenth-century carol Est ist ein' Ros entsprungen, with a group of soloists slowly singing the main tune over an ethereal cloud of cluster chords in the chorus. More traditionally fashioned carol settings, such as Trond Kverno's...
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