Suitably Dickensian

The final strictly seasonal offering is a disk by the City of London Sinfonia and the Joyful Company of Singers with soprano soloist Sarah Fox and baritone Roderick Williams conducted by Richard Hickox. The works are by Vaughan Williams and comprise premiere recordings of the strings and organ arrangement of the Fantasia on Christmas Carols and the masque adopted from Dickens's A Christmas Carol called On Christmas Night. The other work is the Nativity Play The First Nowell. The Fantasia isn't in the same class as those on Tallis and Greensleeves but is nevertheless an enjoyable setting. The Dickens adaptation weaves folk themes amongst further carol tunes ( God Rest Ye and the First Nowell seem favourites throughout these works ) and it is straightforward to follow the narrative through celebratory and melancholic scenes. The Nativity play makes a perfect Christmas Eve divertissement with echoes of what might be termed typical VW touches in some of the more ancient and mysterious themes like the Salutation Carol. As might be expected, there is some particularly fine string writing and the players, chorus and soloists are all excellent. The whole disk has a suitably Dickensian feel and nothing wrong with that at Christmas.