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'A Choral Christmas' by VOCES8 / WQXR: Have You Heard

Posted: December 18, 2023

Joined by the VOCES8 Foundation Choir and Orchestra conducted by Barnaby Smith, internationally acclaimed, Grammy-nominated ensemble VOCES8 has released its new album 'A Choral Christmas' on Decca Classics. Capturing the essence of Christmas, the album is packed full of choral/orchestral world premieres and fresh arrangements of favourite carols, breathing new life into Holiday classics, and lending a luxurious, and contemporary cinematic sparkle to this year’s festive season. 

The tracklist features eight world premiere recordings: the album’s substantial five-movement centrepiece, ‘Magnificat’, by rising American composer Taylor Scott Davis, which will be premiered at Carnegie Hall, New York in May 2024; an intimate and serene new a cappella carol, ‘The Sleeping Child’, written especially for VOCES8 by British composer Bob Chilcott; six sparkling new carol arrangements for choir and orchestra including ‘Joy to the World’, ‘Silent Night’, ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’ – five penned by Taylor Scott Davis and ‘Gabriel’s Message’ by Jim Clements.

The album ends with two fun-filled instrumental encores including Leroy Anderson’s Holiday favourite ‘Sleigh Ride’ and Thomas Hewitt-Jones’ medley ‘A Christmas Cracker’. The album features a solo from violinist Thomas Gould and solos from renowned British/German violinist Jack Liebeck who also guest leads the VOCES8 Foundation Orchestra.
Conducted by Co-founder, Artistic Director and Countertenor of VOCES8, Barnaby Smith, these ravishing performances were recorded in 2021, originally for the widely acclaimed LIVE from London festival, an online series described as "One of the brightest deeds of the lockdown” by the Financial Times. Barnaby explains: “This music filled my life with the joy I needed in 2021, and I sincerely hope it brings you fun and festive cheer. I’m thrilled it has found a life beyond its original conception and proud to set it free into the world, where I hope it will reach as many households as Santa himself.”


WQXR's Ed Yim writes……VOCES8 is a British a cappella octet that saved my sanity during COVID.  When live performances shut down in March 2020 until essentially the autumn of 2021, this intrepid group shared a cornucopia of digital performances. With its pure tone, wide-ranging repertoire and joyful music making, these eight singers helped the power and strength of music stay present during the long months of lockdown.

And so I am delighted to share a new holiday album from the people behind my choral singing obsession. Entitled A Choral Christmas, the centerpiece of the album is a gorgeous Magnificat by the American composer Tylor Scott Davis. Promotional materials say that the piece and group are coming to New York’s Carnegie Hall in May 2024, although I don’t see tickets on sale yet; we’ll have to keep a look out! Bringing a modern sensibility to a celebration of the sacred music tradition, Davis’ Magnificat for this album is by turns lush, contemplative, and uplifting.

Davis also arranged several of the traditional carols that pop up in the album, including “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night.” The rendition of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” makes a particularly beautiful impact with its ethereal and mysterious setting.  

There is a lovely flow of the whole program. Rather than just being a collection of carols, the recording opens with a flourish, has a center of gravity with the Magnificat, and then ends with two fun and light hearted selections in “A Christmas Cracker,” and the perennial favorite, “Sleigh Ride.”

The album deploys 28 singers in the VOCES8 Foundation Choir, which draws from members of VOCES8, vocal quintet Apollo5 plus the VOCES8 Scholars (a program that supports professional development of young singers), as well as former members of VOCES8, and singers from other London-based choirs. These combined forces - along with the VOCES8 Foundation Orchestra - beautifully combine the intimacy and tonal purity associated with the group with the grandeur of iconic recordings such as Glorious Sounds of Christmas with Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra or The Many Moods of Christmas with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

Interpretation, originality and joyfulness alleviate the feeling of being oversaturated by seasonal tunes around this time of year. I hope you will give a listen to this month’s “Have You Heard” album on WQXR this coming week and wish everyone a warm holiday season and - most especially - with hopes for peace in the year ahead.

"A Choral Christmas"
VOCES8 Foundation Chorus-VOCES8 Foundation Orchestra
Bob Chilcott - Barnaby Smith - John Francis Wade - Taylor Scott Davis - Franz Xaver Gruber

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