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A Ceremony of Carols is most frequently heard sung by boy trebles – there is also an SATB arrangement by Julius Harrison, which, for all Harrison’s skill doesn’t really work in my opinion. However, in his excellent booklet note Mervyn Cooke points out that the piece, which Britten largely composed while on his sea voyage back from the USA to Britain in 1942, was conceived for female voices....
As the Britten centenary looms into view, it is good to be able to offer an enthusiastic welcome to this sparkling disc of two of his 1940s 'classic' scores. A Ceremony of Carols (recorded in 2007, early in Stephen Layton's directorship at Trinity College) is sung here by the evenly blended upper voices of his chapel choir. Layton's flowing speeds underline the dramatic sequence of the carols (...
With this ideal coupling, Stephen Layton and his choral forces are getting in early with Christmas and Britten centenary celebrations. A Ceremony of Carols is so associated with boys' voices, it comes as a shock to learn that it was conceived with women's voices in mind, even though Layton's soprano and mezzos affect a purity that sounds "boyish". Their intonation in the piquant harmonies of...
Britten's joyous cycle of nine carols is so closely associated with boys' voices that it comes as a surprise to learn that he conceived it for female choir - and very attractive it sounds in this version with the women's voices of Trinity College Choir, whose recessional "Alleluia" is as vividly captured as the contributions of harpist Sally Pryce. The Saint Nicolas cantata, with the City of...
*****
Although we tend to associate Britten's A Ceremony of Carols with the timbre of boy trebles, it was originally conceived for women's voices, and the mix of choirs on this recording makes for a performance that has lustre and potent atmosphere, heightened by the piquancy of Sally Pryce's harp playing. The coupling is another Christmas favourite, the cantata "Saint Nicolas", in which Stephen...
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols & Saint Nicolas - avvenire.it
Compie settant'anni e non li dimostra A Ceremony of Carols di Benjamin Britten (1913-1976); il segreto di questo elisir di eterna giovinezza risiede soprattutto nello spirito e nell'energia vitale con cui il compositore ha saputo infondere carattere universale a musiche che, pur attingendo a tradizioni secolari, sono in grado di...