October 15, 2010

Anonymous 4 - The Cherry Tree

Back in the studio after a four year haitus, Anonymous 4 returns with The Cherry Tree — an instant holiday music classic featuring medieval English carols and Anglo-American spiritual songs. It is the eighteenth original recording for the renowned vocal ensemble and their first since 2006’s Gloryland, which debuted at number three on the Billboard classical chart. Anonymous 4 has been a perennial presence on Billboard’s Top Classical Albums chart and hit number one with their folk-inspired American Angels in 2004. The Cherry Tree is named after the miracle ballad of Joseph and Mary, the earliest text of which survives from a Coventry Play from around 1400. The ‘Cherry Tree’ story persisted in many forms, making its way into medieval British carols of the mid-15th century and into British and American traditional ballads. In it, Joseph doubts the divine origin of Mary’s pregnancy only to hear Jesus speak from within Mary’s womb, causing a cherry tree to bend its branches and offer his mother its fruit. The 2011-12 season marks Anonymous 4’s 25th anniversary and the group will be on tour in the US this fall. 2366 CD 18.95

Posted by acapnews at October 15, 2010 12:06 AM