This collection of music for Advent and Christmas features a wide variety of carols, hymns, and anthems, some well known and some less familiar, interspersed with plainsong antiphons. The men and boys choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, conducted by David Hill, sings with pure and smoothly blended tone. Among the more traditional hymns, "O come, O come, Emmanuel," and "Lo! He comes with clouds descending" stand out for the grandeur of the performances. Morten Lauridsen's harmonically sumptuous 1994 motet "O Magnum ...
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This collection of music for Advent and Christmas features a wide variety of carols, hymns, and anthems, some well known and some less familiar, interspersed with plainsong antiphons. The men and boys choir of St. John's College, Cambridge, conducted by David Hill, sings with pure and smoothly blended tone. Among the more traditional hymns, "O come, O come, Emmanuel," and "Lo! He comes with clouds descending" stand out for the grandeur of the performances. Morten Lauridsen's harmonically sumptuous 1994 motet "O Magnum Mysterium" is rapidly becoming a classic and the choir sings it radiantly. The youngest composition, Judith Bingham's ethereal setting of "The Clouded Heaven," was written for the St. John's choir, which sings it with wonder and mystery. The polished and idiomatic performances and the diversity of this music on CD make this an attractive alternative for anyone looking to expand his/her Christmas music beyond the collections of standard carols. ~ Stephen Eddins, Rovi
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