The UCLA Madrigal Singers, the 22 member mixed-voice premiere chamber choir led by director/arranger Donn Weiss, brings us this "best-of" holiday album, which represents nearly 25 years of audience favorites, the best-loved Christmas songs heard at Royce Hall and at their traditional Twelfth Night concerts. We of course enjoy standards like "Angels We Have Heard on High," "Deck the Hall," "O Holy Night" and "Stille Nacht," but we particularly like more obscure music like Catherine Bennett's "Christ Child Carol," Benjamin Britten's "Christ Child Carol," the Scottish Carol "Balloo Lammy," Herbert Howells' "A Spotless Rose," the Spanish "Carol of the Birds," Daniel Pinkham's "Come Love We God," the Austrian carol "Still, Still, Still," and the Puerto Rican folksong "De Tierra Legana Venimos." The full, rich sound of the Singers makes "Bells" ring out as a very special and varied Christmas collection. Occasional light accompaniment. |
