Listen & tracks
3 of 24 tracks have a preview · 24 works · 75:41
-
1 Sunny Bank (Christmas Day in the morning) Peter Hurford 1:46
-
2 A Babe is Born Johann Hermann Schein 2:15
-
3 Christ was Born on Christmas Day Traditional 1:45
-
4 Child in a Manger Traditional 2:43
-
5 Cold and Dark is Holy Night Alfred Ernest Floyd 3:01
-
6 Torches John Joubert 1:33
-
7 In the Bleak Midwinter Harold Darke 4:24
-
8 Tryste Noël Herbert Howells 6:34
-
9 He Smiles Within His Cradle Traditional 2:53
-
10 A Boy was Born Benjamin Britten 2:10
-
11 Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber 3:21
-
12 A Child this Day is Born Traditional 2:16
-
13 Il est né le divin enfant Traditional 2:31
-
14 Wexford Carol Traditional 4:02
-
15 Ave Maris Stella Traditional 6:11
-
16 Come, Thou Redeemer of the Earth Traditional 2:02
-
17 I Sing of a Maiden Patrick Hadley 2:41
-
18 Legend Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 2:39
-
19 Hymne à la Vierge Pierre de Villette 4:20
-
20 Masters in this Hall Traditional 4:15
-
21 In dulci jubilo Traditional 3:57
-
22 Deck the Hall Traditional 2:01
-
23 The Twelve Days of Christmas Traditional 4:46
-
24 Sir Christèmas William Mathias 1:35
Ho hum – another carol CD, you say. Ah yes, but this one is different.
Rhys Boak accompanies four of the carols on the mighty Rieger organ in the Scots' Church, Melbourne.
The twenty-four carols come from England, Ireland, Wales, Germany, Austria, France, Russia and Australia. They take in not only the title track but favourites from Silent Night and Deck the Hall to In dulci jubilo and Howells's Tryste Noël.
Reviews
Yuletide rarities ... gloriously performed ... exquisitely evocative ... faultlessly executed ... ★★★½
an ideal gift for Christmas.
a gem
Who says you won't end up playing many of these pieces throughout the year?
unusual carols ... good to hear the old with the new ... crisp and clear performance.
Douglas Lawrence and the Ormond College Choir enthusiastically serve up a menu of Christmas favourites ... skilfully accompanied ... Beautiful, lesser-known items ...
Artists
The Choir of Ormond College
choir
The Choir of Ormond College has, since its founding in 1982 under Douglas Lawrence, become the first Australian choir to earn ongoing international recognition for its concert and recorded work.
Douglas Lawrence
director
Melbourne organist Douglas Lawrence is Director of Music at The Scots' Church and Teacher of the Organ at the University of Melbourne. He founded the Choir of Ormond College and directed it from 1982 to 2006.
Benjamin Britten
composer
Edward Benjamin Britten (1913–1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist. His operas are firmly established in the international repertoire, and more of them are played worldwide than those of any other composer born in the twentieth century.
Alfred Ernest Floyd
composer
Alfred Ernest Floyd's sacred writing serves the church year and the organ loft: the carol Cold and Dark is Holy Night, Church Preludes for small instruments, and hymnody from Advent through All Saints.
Herbert Howells
composer
Herbert Howells wrote Anglican church music of rare harmonic warmth and contemplative beauty, from carol-anthems such as A Spotless Rose to Latin motets and organ works steeped in the Tudor tradition.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. His ballets, concertos and orchestral works remain among the most widely performed music in the classical repertoire.
Harold Darke
composer
Franz Xaver Gruber
composer
Franz Xaver Gruber wrote the melody of Silent Night, the Christmas carol first heard at midnight Mass in 1818. Later arrangements for organ and orchestra, with other carols and masses of his, remain in print and in Austrian church use.
Patrick Hadley
composer
Peter Hurford
composer
John Joubert
composer
John Joubert wrote choral music that sits firmly in the Anglican tradition, above all the carols Torches and There is no rose of such virtue. His wider catalogue also takes in symphonies, concertos, chamber works and operas drawn from literature.
William Mathias
composer
William Mathias (1934–1992) was a Welsh composer, especially noted for choral music written for the Anglican tradition, alongside symphonies, concertos and an opera.
Johann Hermann Schein
composer
Pierre de Villette
composer
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- The Choir of Ormond College · choir
- Douglas Lawrence · director
- Rhys Boak · organ · tracks 6, 7, 16 and 24
- Stephen McIntyre · piano · tracks 1, 4, 8, 17, 20 and 23
Technical credits
-
Recording Engineer
Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
-
Editing Engineer
Vaughan McAlley
-
Mastering Engineer
Martin Wright
-
Venue
The Scots' Church, Melbourne
-
Credit
Douglas Lawrence
Judith Calov
Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
Details
- List price
- $15.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 75 minutes 41 seconds
- Release date
- 2002
- Categories
- Choral, Christmas
- Genres
- Christmas, Choral & Sacred
- Musical work copyright
- © 2002 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 2002 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3269
- EAN
- 9314574326925
More to explore
Encores
Directed by Douglas Lawrence, the Australian Chamber Choir gathers favoured concert encores in a programme that shows the ensemble at its most immediate and engaging.
Gold
The Australian Chamber Choir, directed by Douglas Lawrence, performs works by eight Australian composers. From Gordon Kerry’s Shakespeare setting to Malcolm Williamson’s English Eccentrics, the programme turns individual voices into pure gold.
Keys to Heaven
The Australian Chamber Choir opens with the first recording of Agata della Pietà’s cantata Ecce nunc, written in eighteenth-century Venice by an orphan of the Ospedale della Pietà and reconstructed by Elizabeth Anderson. Sacred works by Palestrina and Allegri complete the programme.
A Baroque Christmas
The music on this CD is a historical Christmas “pick of the pops”, from the late 1400s to the end of the Baroque period. Directed by Douglas Lawrence, the Australian Chamber Choir offers a programme recorded live in concert during their 2019 European tour. The 17 tracks are drawn from lesser-known seasonal works, championing a sublime repertoire that is all too often neglected.
Soul
Douglas Lawrence OAM leads the Australian Chamber Choir through sacred music spanning Renaissance polyphony, early Baroque splendour and African-American spirituals.
Bach Motets
The Australian Chamber Choir, directed by Douglas Lawrence, performs motets by J.S. Bach with works by Johann Michael Bach and Johann Christoph Bach.