A Choral Christmas
VOCES8
VOCES8 Foundation Choir & Orchestra/Barnaby Smith
rec. 2019/21, All Hallows’ Gospel Oak; VOCES8 Center; St-Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead, London
Notes and texts in English
Decca 5568937 [69]

This CD arrived in my mailbox in mid-January which made it too late to include in the rush of pre-Christmas reviews.

The a cappella octet VOCES8 expands their sound in a new CD from Decca in which they are joined by an orchestra and a 24-voice choir. The promotional material for this disc describes the arrangements by composer Taylor Scott Davis as being “cinematic”. I see no reason to challenge that description; what one hears in this Christmas program is a series of palatial-sounding orchestrations of traditional music from the Advent and Christmas seasons.

The central work is Davis’ 19-minute Magnificat. The traditional Latin text has been extended with the addition of three other Latin prayers and a more recent English one. This is an interesting serious work which contrasts some big sounds for orchestra and chorus with the gently reflective Shall I rejoice? It contains a brief but stunning solo by soprano Andrea Haines. This music, which is really an Advent piece is quite naturally followed by another Advent mainstay O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The orchestration aims to give an impression of having been performed in a space of infinity, rather like it had been recorded in the midst of the Great Mosque of Cordoba (the most infinite space that I have ever visited). The arrangement here is stunning, and this will surely end up on playlists for many years to come.

The other important Carol here is Bob Chilcott’s The Sleeping Child, a piece which was composed specifically for the VOCES8 ensemble. To my ears it seems to pay tribute to the medieval motet settings for women’s voices. Occasional dissonances quickly melt away into sublime harmony with the choir’s performance offering an example of sheer bliss.

The rest of the disc is taken up with traditional carols in rather big-boned arrangements. Joy To the World is really a fantasia based on the Handel piece but the natural rhythm has been significantly altered so that it sounds like an entirely new piece. The setting, while large-scaled, sounds consistently fresh and celebratory. For contrast, Away in a Manger dwells in an orchestral arrangement with a wordless choral underlay. The ever popular Silent Night is reduced to such a slow pace as to be virtually unrecognizable, although this does not hamper enjoyment of the choral beauties that are on display.

The disc finally shifts back to the vocal octet for In Dulci Jubilo. At last one hears a work that is spectacularly unimpeded by orchestral frills and furbelows and a minimum of the recording engineer’s sleight of hand. The orchestra gets to shine on its own in the final two tracks, Chistmas Cracker, which is a medley of traditional carols, and Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride, which receives the benefit of some dazzling playing and superbly wide-ranging sound. Indeed, the sound field on this disc leaves one with the consistent impression of being in various large venues like the Royal Albert Hall.

It is difficult to evaluate performances here because there is just so much engineering at play. I found listening to a full hour of this to be just too much of a good thing. While there is much that is beautiful and worth investigating , I think this is a disc that is best sampled in pieces rather than trying to digest it as a whole. Taylor Scott Davis is certainly a composer to keep an eye on; if his arrangements are a little too over the top for my taste (especially with overly generous sprinklings of percussion-section fairy dust), they are certainly done with skill, and a desire to clothe these works in beautiful settings. After listening to all of this I felt an immediate desire to take refuge in a simple John Rutter setting to adjust my musical palate.

Mike Parr

VOCES8 singers
Andrea Haines (soprano); Molly Noon (soprano); Eleonore Cockerham (soprano); Barnaby Smith (alto); Katie Jeffries-Harris (alto); Euan Williamson (tenor); Blake Morgan (tenor); Sam Dressel (tenor); Christopher Moore (baritone); Jonathan Pacey (bass)

Contents
George Frederick Handel: Joy to the World
William J. Kirkpatrick: Away in a Manger
Bob Chilcott: The Sleeping Child
J. F. Wade: O Come, all ye faithful
T. S. Davis: Magnificat:
trad.: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
F. X. Gruber: Silent Night
trad.: In Dulci Jubilo
trad.: Gabriel’s Message
Thomas Hewitt Jones: Christmas Cracker
Leroy Anderson: Sleigh Ride