Xmas Carols

A wonderful collection of the favourite and most popular carols for the Christmas season, performed by the world-famous Choir of King’s College, Cambridge. This collection comes with additional core-classical Christmas music by Berlioz, Bach, Britten…

We released Volume I of the Robert Shaw Chorale’s Christmas Hymns and Carols to rapturous response from lovers of Christmas music everywhere, so following it up with Volume II was a natural. Indeed, this second volume of Christmas carols—presented, like on its predecessor, in a series of medleys—perfectly complements the first volume by casting its eye a bit farther afield in search of repertoire suited for the brilliant arrangements of Fred Waring protégé Shaw and his longtime collaborator, Alice Parker. So, instead of the well-worn “O Come All Ye Faithful”/”The First Nowell”/”O Little Town of Bethlehem” medley that led off Volume I, here a medley of “I Saw Three Ships”/”O Tannenbaum”/”Allon, Gay Gay Bergeres”/”The Holly and the Ivy” leads off, followed by “Fum, Fum, Fum”/”Hacia Belén”/”Ya Viene La Vieja”/”La Virgen Lava Pañales,” and more relatively unfamiliar fare, all flawlessly and fervently rendered by The Chorale.

After experiencing two devastating miscarriages in 2021, I subsequently felt a profound need to channel grief into something constructive. Whilst a collection of traditional Christmas carols might not seem an obvious musical choice for a personal journey through loss, I have always taken comfort in the warmth, feelings of nostalgia, and hope that festive music inspires. Arranging these carols for solo harp has been a healing experience for me as an artist, and I hope that the Christmas message shines through in each arrangement. Arranging often feels like an easier option than composing from scratch as there isn’t the pressure to formulate an original idea.

Synopsis: A solo chorister singing Once In Royal David's City begins this traditional celebration of Christmas from the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge. The story of the Nativity is told in the familiar words of the King James Bible together with Christmas poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland, WH Auden and Charles Causley. The famous Chapel choir, conducted by Stephen Cleobury, sings carols old and new, including such favourites as The Sussex Carol, In Dulci Jubilo, Ding Dong Merrily On High, The First Nowell, I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing By, Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day, Bethlehem Down and O Come, All Ye Faithful. – BBC

Robert Shaw was a Fred Waring protégé who, by the end of his 17-year tenure heading The Robert Shaw Chorale, had fashioned arguably the most widely-known and respected professional choral organization in the United States. The Chorale recorded a number of charting albums, all for RCA Victor, but the one that will always be considered their definitive recording is this Christmas album, presented here in its 1957 re-recorded stereo version (like a lot of popular Christmas albums of the day, Christmas Hymns and Carols had several incarnations, first appearing in the ‘40s as a box of four 78 rpm discs). The album went to #5 on the charts in 1949 and 1957, then hit the charts another three times during the ‘60s; one could argue that, with its seamless medleys and majestic harmonies, it is to this day the gold standard for choral Christmas recordings.