The Complete Traditional Christmas Carols Collection

Featuring

Harry Christophers
Margaret Phillips
David Roy
Ruth Dean
Nicola Jenkin
Robin Jeffrey

Deborah Miles-Johnson
Andrew Carwood
Sally Dunkley
Jeremy White
Neil MacKenzie
Robert Quinney
Grace Davidson
Jeremy Budd
Elin Manahan Thomas
The Sixteen
Anonymous (Christmas)
Henry John Gauntlett
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Franz Xaver Gruber
Anonymous (Traditional)
Robert Lucas Pearsall
Gustav Holst
John Goss
William Hayman Cummings
Elizabeth Poston
Harold Darke
Johann Sebastian Bach
Anonymous (Gregorian Chant)
Boris Ord
Arthur Sullivan
Konrad Kocher

Did you know?

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Performer Biography

The Sixteen, recognized as one of the world's greatest ensembles, has a special reputation for performing early English polyphony, Renaissance, Baroque, early Classical, and 20th- and 21st-century music.

Recording & Production

The recording includes a simple harmony and unobtrusive guitar accompaniment for 'Silent Night' because it is often misquoted in carol books.

Cultural Impact

Some carols in this collection, such as 'The Gloucestershire Wassail', 'Masters in this Hall', and 'The Wexford Carol', have gone out of fashion, but the album hopes to reintroduce them to family Christmases.

Compositional Technique

The arrangements in this collection generally adopt simple harmonisations from 'Carols for Choirs' and the 'old Oxford Book of Carols', first published in 1928, and include occasional descants by Sir David Willcocks.

Performer Biography

Harry Christophers, the founder and conductor of The Sixteen, also serves as the Artistic Director of Boston's Handel and Haydn Society and Principal Guest Conductor of the Granada Symphony Orchestra.

Performer Biography

Robert Quinney, the organist on this recording, is the Organist of New College, Oxford, and has a parallel career as a solo organist and prolific recording artist.

Composer's Artistic Vision

This collection of carols aims to be traditional and genuine, preserving original texts and tunes, largely due to the dedication of composers like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.