Timeless And Contemporary

Unlike the offering in the previous post, Into This World This Day Did Come is a wonderful disk of carols contemporary and medieval sung by the Choir of Gonville & Caius College Cambridge under the direction of Geoffrey Webber. The contemporary composers featured are Diana Burrell, Judith Bingham, Stuart Macrae, Richard Causton, Francis Pott, Gabriel Jackson, Howard Skempton ( who contributes the title setting ), William Sweeney and Robin Holloway. Named composers from the past are John Dunstaple and John Redford and there are also carols from the 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th centuries. The contemporary settings fit in perfectly with the ancient offerings, showing both the restraint shown by the composers featured in portraying these texts in a way that remains true to their musical beliefs while remaining accessible to a wide audience and also the radical nature and dissonances of the medieval carols and sacred songs. The choir are a young choir but seem to be coming from a much more open environment than the Rodolfus, relishing the challenges and showing a sense of genuine joy and committment throughout. Instrumental contributions are sparse but Diana Burrell's Creator of the Stars of Night features atmospheric use of oboe and organ pedals and there are two purely instrumental organ pieces by Judith Bingham that punctuate the disk in a very effective way, adding to the sense of a service. The organist here is Matthew Fletcher. In truth, this could be listened to as an outstanding choral disk at any time but I shall certainly resurrect it annually in December.