Review: The Elora Festival Singers, conducted by internationally acclaimed director Noel Edison, is one of the most exciting of contemporary choirs. Their disc of Eric Whitacre's choral music (8.559677) was nominated for a GRAMMY in 2010. Now they turn to the art of the Christmas carol, a genre covering a variety of styles,6305c both popular and refined, each piece expressing religious sentiments and beliefs. The music ranges from much-loved settings to new works, from polyphony to more straightforward melodies, in a recital stretching from the Middle Ages to the music of today.

Songlist: Once in Royal David's City, My Dancing Day, What Child Is This?, A Boy Was Born,, The Holly and the Ivy, Who is He in Yonder Stall, Nesciens Mater Virgo Virum, Away in a Manger, Ding! Dong! Merrily on High, O Holy Night, Adam Lay Y Bounden, Ecce Concipies, Rocking, Gabriel's Message, I Wonder as I Wander, There is a Flower, Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming, The First Nowell

Review: Eric Whitacre's dedication to the beauty of sound, paired with exquisite texts, results in a poetic combination that creates a unique sonic experience. These works are existential choral moments, beautifully crafted, and harmonised to express a compressed moment in time. Such sublime sonorities transcend descriptions such as 'warm', 'glistening' or 'shimmering', although these features of his choral works do suggest affinities with the sound worlds of Arvo Part or John Tavener, for instance. However, Whitacre's fluid lines and blossoming harmonies give his music its own highly personal and irresistible magic.

Songlist: Her Sacred Spirit Soars, A Boy and a Girl, Water Night, This Marriage, Luz Aurumque, Little Tree, When David Heard, Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine, I Thank You God for this Amazing Day, Sleep, Little Birds

Review: During the past 20 years, Arvo Part has consolidated his reputation as one of the most significant contemporary composers with a sequence of magnificent sacred choral works. Dating from between 1990 and 2001, the works on this recording exemplify Part's mature idiom at its most harmonically expressive. If Triodion represents his music at its starkest and most unadorned, Kanon Pokajanen, the composer's largest work after the 1982 St John Passion (Naxos 8.555860), is music of a dark-hued and intensely felt contemplation. Part's emotionally-charged Bogorditse Djvo, is a vibrant tribute to the Virgin Mary.

Songlist: O Jesus Son of God, Have Mercy Upon Us, O Most Holy Birth-giver of God, Save Us, O Holy Saint Nicholas, Pray to God for Us, Tribute to Caesar, Nunc Dimittis, Ode VII, I am the True Vine, The Woman with the Alabaster Box, Dopo la Vittoria, Bogoroditse Djevo

Review: Morten Lauridsen is America's preeminent composer of choral music. Characterized by long, arching and highly expressive lines, his works are enjoyed by performers and audiences worldwide. O nata lux, perhaps Lauridsen's most popular work, is a serene evocation of heavenly light, while the searingly intense and technically demanding Madrigali inhabit a more feverish and earthy realm. The refined Les Chansons des Roses employ a design reminiscent of the formal gardens, filled with roses, found in the grounds of the great French chateaux. The unforgettable final movement is the now-famous Dirait-on. The Mid-Winter Songs for chorus and piano are a stunning example of compositional virtuosity. O magnum mysterium, for a cappella chorus, is a setting of a Christmas text that has inspired composers from Victoria to Poulenc.

Songlist: O nata lux, Ov'e, lass', il bel viso, Quando son piu lontan, Amor, lo sento l'alma, Io piango, Luci serene e chiare, Se per havervi, oime, En une seul fleur, Contre qui, rose, De ton reve trop plein, La rose complete/ Dirait-on, Lament for Pasiphae, Like Snow, She Tells Her Love While Half Asleep, Mid-Winter Waking, Intercession in late October, O magnum mysterium