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| Christmas Angelicus CD | ||||||||||
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Christmas
Angelicus |
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TRACKS Windows Media Player QuickTime Player Total Album Time 61:40 1. ◙♫ Once In Royal David’s City Words: C.F. Alexander Music: H. J. Gauntlet Descant: P. Halley (PEL6068) 2. ◙♫ Torches Words: (Galician) Tr. J. B. Trend Music: J. Joubert 3. ◙♫ Jesus Christ The Apple Tree Words: Anon. New Hampshire, 1784 Music: E. Poston 4. ◙♫ Joys Seven Words: Trad. English Music: Trad. arr. S. Cleobury 5. ◙♫ Huron Carol Words: Native American (Huron) Jean de Brebeuf Music: 16th cent. French arr. P. Halley (EHD392-02507)
6. ◙♫
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DESCRIPTION |
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REVIEWS from The Absolute Sound “This is my favorite Christmas record of the last several years, which I got too late to make last year’s list. This label is part of Pelagos, a kind of Paul Halley boutique that publishes sheet music as well as recordings. Halley is the former organist of St. John the Divine in New York and a key member of the Paul Winter Consort; this record features the children’s and adult choirs he now leads in the Berkshires. Christmas Angelicus includes such classic modern carols as John Joubert’s “Torches”, Elizabeth Poston’s “Jesus Christ The Apple Tree”, and Harold Darke’s “In The Bleak Midwinter”, as well as modern arrangements of traditional tunes. It is all nicely sung, aside from a slight tendency to stress downbeats more than a subtle English choir would allow, and splendidly recorded in appropriate spaces. What earns it a place in the Pantheon, though, are the descants Halley wrote for four carols, in particular the one for “The First Nowell”, which soars above not just the last chorus but the entire last stanza, fresh, audacious, and thrilling, lifting the familiar carol into realms of glory (to borrow a phrase from another carol).” - Michael Alan Fox |
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from The American
Organist Magazine “Christmas Angelicus features traditional carols in settings primarily by British composers of the 20th century. Several of the selections feature arrangements and descants by Paul Halley, and it is here that his background in jazz becomes apparent, as the warm and occasionally surprising harmonic progressions lend a fresh and contemporary air to some of the more familiar tunes. From the opening solo of “Once in royal David’s city” – performed processional style a la Kings College Choir, Cambridge – to the closing rendition of “Hark, the herald angels sing”, these lovingly performed and recorded treasures are likely to find a home near the top of just about anyone’s stack of holiday favorites.” - Jennifer Kolmes |
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from The
Journal of the
Association of Anglican Musicians "Diction and intonation are superb. The children and adults sing not only with coherence but with an admirable freshness of sound. Paul Halley’s descants and imaginative harmonizations are refreshing." - Victor Hill |
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| Explanatory note: This recording begins with the hymn “Once in Royal David’s City” which is sung in procession. The first two verses will therefore sound distant and soft, as they were sung from the back of the chapel. | ||||||||||
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CREDITS
Paul Halley,
Organist
Production Margaret Race, Executive Producer Tom Bates, Recording Engineer Katherine Leigh, Assistant Engineer
Choirs recorded at
The Mary Keane Chapel, Enfield, NH
Kerry
Gavin Design,
Art Design and Production
Choirs |
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