Carols from Trinity

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This absolutely essential Christmas collection is actually a combination of two Trinity College Choir recordings originally released separately under the titles "Carols from Trinity" and "A Child Is Born," the latter of which is still offered as a single CD. This two-disc set is a great value, both financially and musically. Here are 53 of the finest, most popular, best-loved, and best-sung Christmas carols, anthems, and motets from medieval times to the present, performed and recorded in the wonderful acoustic space of the Trinity College Chapel. Unlike the choirs of Trinity's famous Cambridge neighbors, King's and St. John's colleges--which consist entirely of men and boys, Trinity is a mixed ensemble with female sopranos and altos. The tone, blend, and balance are exquisite and the combination of the three stands as an ideal, and the choir's ensemble technique and musicianship are unsurpassed. --David Vernier

Tracks:

O Come, All Ye Faithful
Candlelight Carol
Carol Of The Bells
All Poor Men And Humble
Shepherd's Pipe Carol
The First Nowell
What Is This Lovely Fragrance?
King Jesus Hath A Garden
A Spotless Rose
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Away In A Manger
Joseph est bien marie
Sleeps Judea Fair
Noel Sing!
O Holy Night
Suo Gan
What Strangers Are These?
I Wonder As I Wander
O Little Town of Bethlehem

Customer Reviews:

A Timeless Tradition.......2005-12-15

I have been listening to this choir since 1982. I wore out the original tape, in the days before CD's. I have been to the actual performance, a week before Christmas three times and am going back this year 2005.

The performance is so delicate, yet so powerful that it is emotional and moving, regardless of your orientation. Imagine this performance, in the manificent HH Richardson-designed Trinity Church, Copley Square, Boston. People wait for hours to get in. The lights go out, the Choir, brass timpani and organ just work so well together. One by one, candles are lit, and the huge church comes alive. The choir processes down the asiles singing in strength and everyone joins in.

It is a spiritual experience even if you are not religious. The strength of the performance invites you to participate. I find myself singing louder than I do anywhere else.

After my first child was born, I held her in my arms, and "Candlelight Carol" became my anthem:
How do you capture
The wind on the water?
How do you count all the stars in the sky?
How can you measure
The love of a mother
Or how can you write down
A baby's first cry?

I am not a musician and to my ear, the Chorus is professional. The tunes are classic, but they bring a new life to familiar tunes.

If you've been feeling stressed out, this is the perfect time to calm the nerves, focus on meaning and purpose, and let you enjoy yourself for a few minutes.

If you can't attend, do the next best thing, get the CD, turn it up till you hear the bass of the organ rumble your rafters and sing your heart out.

Enjoy!

A nice blend of music for Christmas.......2003-12-30

This is one of my favorite discs at Christmas time. It is at once peaceful and calm, yet joyous and expectant. There are the usual brass and organ carols, but also stunning arrangements and performances of lesser-known things. Prime among these are the setting of "Away in a Manger" that makes me want to pull off the highway and listen just to that song without distractions, and the pulsing, exciting "What Strangers are These", which I have never heard anywhere else. Chorally, the disc is a little unsatisfying because of balance issues with the rest of the disc--some songs are loud, others very soft, so it makes it hard to listen to without having to adjust the volume periodically. However, I still wouldn't trade it for all the Messiahs in the world!

Average customer rating:

Exquisite descants and flawless performance
Energized performance of a wide variety of repertoire
My favorite Christmas CD (s)
One of the very best recordings of its type
Excellent English cathedral recording

Carols from Trinity
The Choir of Trinity College
Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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O Come All Ye Faithful: Christmas Carols at King's College, Cambridge
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A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
Noel: Christmas at Kings
The Holly and the Ivy: Carols from Clare College

ASIN: B0000024F7
Release Date: 1996-07-16

Tracks:

Sleepers, Awake
Advent Responsory
Wachet auf (Organ Solo)
Of The Father's Heart
Angelus ad virginem
The Holly And The Ivy
I Sing Of A Maiden
Ding! Dong! Merrily On High
O Come All Ye Faithful
There Is No Rose
Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen
Silent Night
O Little Town Of Bethlehem
I Saw Three Ships
Sweet Was The Song
Personent hodie
Away In A Manger
Resonet in laidibus
Up! Good Christian Folk
The First Nowell
The Shepherds' Farewell
The Three Kings
Unto Us Is Born A Son
The Coventry Carol
What Cheer?
Hark! The herald Angels Sing
In dulci jubilo

Tracks:

Wake, O wake
The Angel Gabriel
Noel: Chantons
Edi beo thu, hevene quene
A Hymn To The Virgin
Noel
This Is The Record Of John
A Child Is Born In Bethlehem
Once In Royal David's City
Rejoice, Rejoice In Christ
Hodie Christus natus est
A Great And Mighty Wonder
O Little One Sweet
In ducli jubilo
Noel: mais on San es alle nau
The Blessed Son Of God
O Ye Little Flock
While Shepherds Watched
Shepherd's Cradle Song
The Lamb
As With Gladness
Here Is The Little Door
In The Bleak Mid-Winter
Rhapsodie sur des Noels
Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day
Illuminare, Jerusalem
Noel: Le Roy des cieux
The Coventry Carol
Benedicamus Domino

Amazon.com

This absolutely essential Christmas collection is actually a combination of two Trinity College Choir recordings originally released separately under the titles "Carols from Trinity" and "A Child Is Born," the latter of which is still offered as a single CD. This two-disc set is a great value, both financially and musically. Here are 53 of the finest, most popular, best-loved, and best-sung Christmas carols, anthems, and motets from medieval times to the present, performed and recorded in the wonderful acoustic space of the Trinity College Chapel. Unlike the choirs of Trinity's famous Cambridge neighbors, King's and St. John's colleges--which consist entirely of men and boys, Trinity is a mixed ensemble with female sopranos and altos. The tone, blend, and balance are exquisite and the combination of the three stands as an ideal, and the choir's ensemble technique and musicianship are unsurpassed. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Exquisite descants and flawless performance.......2005-11-02

I have had the Carols from Trinity CD for years and,without doubt, it is the most delicious selection of Christmas music from the English tradition executed in the most exquisite manner. I also have A Child is Born, which, although splendid, is not as captivating as the first collection.
Particularly breathtaking are Richard Marlowe's gorgeous descants. They soar! Listen to "O Little Town of Bethlehem", it makes the back of your neck tingle! Similarly, "While Shepherds Watched" comes to new life in Marlowe's arrangement.
I have yet to find a finer set of Carols performed so flawlessly.

Energized performance of a wide variety of repertoire.......2005-01-01

The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge has youthful energy and also mature musicality in this delightful, but still very serious recording of sacred choral Christmas music. Perfect diction, dynamics, and tone, led by Richard Marlow, director. The second disc is better than the first--it contains less traditional music and more unaccompanied British choral music, what the choir does best. A great gift for choral enthusiasts and traditional carol lovers alike.

Best tracks: "What Cheer?" by William Walton, "The Three Kings" by Peter Cornelius, "Coventry Carol" by Kenneth Leighton, "Hymn to the Virgin" by Benjamin Britten, "Tomorrow shall be my dancing day" arr. by David Willcocks, "A Great and Mighty Wonder" arr. by Richard Marlow.

My favorite Christmas CD (s).......2003-04-19

The disc 1 of this collection was first released over a decade ago, and it quickly became my favorite Christmas CD. So much so I wore it out(scratched from constant shuffling in and out of a myriad of Cd players).. I was delighted when it was rereleased with a second CD. The second CD isn't quite as memorable, but is an excellent collection of more obscure music than the first. Definitely add this to your Christmas list if you enjoy the "big", high church Anglican style... I sure do!

One of the very best recordings of its type.......2000-03-25

This recording looks back to the English choral tradition as it was in its heyday during the 1950's and 1960's, when The Choir of Kings College issued so many wonderful recordings under Boris Ord and Donald Willcocks.Kings is still in business, of course, but today Richard Marlowe and the Choir of Trinity College are better exponents of this tradition than Kings College itself, at least on the evidence of this recording. The choice of music on these two CDs is widely varied and the price is certainly right.Best of all, this recording can work for many different audiences, from those who know the English tradition, to those who know only the pop-inflected John Rutter version of it, to those who have never heard an English choir but can appreciate musical "comfort food," especially at Christmas time.

Excellent English cathedral recording.......1998-09-25

This is absolutely one of my favorite choral CDs. The choir does so many things so well. Diction and intonation are uniformly excellent, and above all the musical phrasing is exquisite throughout. If you like English carols, you really owe it to yourself to get this recording.

Note that there are two CDs on this recording--you get more than your money's worth of music. (I should point out that the choir does abbreviate some of the longer hymns--"Once in Royal David's City" gets cut down to three verses, for example--which I find slightly annoying but others may appreciate.) There is a variety of musical styles, including several hymns with descants, a little bit of Bach and some modern carol settings. There are a few organ solo pieces as well, though these are quite short.

Tracks:

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Nos Galan (Deck the Halls)
Lullay, Thou Tiny Little Child
Ther Is No Rose of Swych Vertu
I Sing of a Maiden
There Is No Rose from "A Ceremony of Carols"
O Magnum Mysterium (Responsory at Matins for Christmas Day)
Song of the Nuns of Chester, Verses 1-3: "Qui Creavit Celum"
Fader of Heven (Ca. 1450 Mystery Play)
Song of the Nuns of Chester, Verses 4-6: Lactat Mater Domini
O Magnum Mysterium (Responsory at Matins for Christmas Day)
Lullay, Lullow: I Saw a Swete Semly Syght
I Wonder as I Wander
Staines Morris (Blessed Be That Maid Marie)
Hayl, Mary, Ful of Grace
Seven Joys of Mary
Illuminare, Jerusalem
Good People All
Sing We the Virgin Mary
In Bethlehem City
Christmas Eve
Hodie Christus Natus Est (Antiphon from Chester Processional)
Jesu, Thou the Virgin-Born
As Dew in Aprille from " a Ceremony of Carols"
Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

Amazon.com

No one has recorded more innovative Christmas anthologies than Andrew Parrott--and this disc is no exception. The Promise of Ages presents a collection of wonderful seasonal music arranged for women's voices (all arrangements were either made or sanctioned by the composers). The selection includes 15th-century English works such as "There is no rose of swych vertu"; traditional tunes both genuine ("Deck the Halls" in an 18th-century Welsh arrangement for harp) and fake (J. J. Niles's "I Wonder as I Wander" and "Lullay, thou little tiny child"); rollicking Irish dance tunes; and 20th-century works by such composers as Britten, Holst, and Judith Weir on traditional Christmas texts. One ingenious and effective suite combines Peter Maxwell Davies's "O magnum mysterium" and "The Fader of Heven" with the 14th-century "Song of the Nuns of Chester." All of the performances are exemplary, but Emily van Evera deserves special praise for her beautifully simple rendition of the Niles tunes. This collection can stand alongside Parrott's The Carol Album as the thinking person's Christmas albums. --Matthew Westphal

Customer Reviews:

Superb Choral Christmas Music.......2007-01-20

Andrew Parrott, and the Taverner Concert and Choir have done it again !

This is a superb collection of traditional music from the past, some of it familiar, some not so well known, all performed so very well.

Unique and special.......2007-01-09

Loved this album the entire thing. An English flavour.
Especially loved the Lo He Comes With Clouds Descending..
heart stirring. A great way to get into the Christmas
spirit and lift your heart.

Beautiful Harmonies and Vocalizations.......2000-12-13

Like another reviewer, I am thrilled at Lo! He Comes, as well as with the unfamiliar setting for Hark the Herald Angels Sing and the beautiful Sing We the Virgin Mary.

If you love beautiful vocalizations, especially rare soprano-alto harmonizations, this is the album for you.

A "top ten" Christmas album.......2000-11-13

If this album contained nothing but it's splendid rendition of Madan's Lo! He Comes, with Clouds Descending, the album would be worth owning. Fortunately, the entire album is a brillant mix of voices, instrumentals and performance styles; the resulting album can be played several times in successiion without becoming repetative - no small feat for a Christmas album.

The album ranges from the 13th century Nuns of Chester to contemporary composers - Judith Weir - or nearly comtemporary - Britten, Holst ... with excellent sequencing so that no piece seems out of place.

The instrumentation varies from the traditional organ with SATB choir to fiddle, flute, concertina and cello. This provides the variety that makes the album so listenable.

For traditional Christmas music this album is a must.

A "top ten" Christmas album.......2000-11-13

The instrumentation varies from the traditional organ with SATB choir to fiddle, flute, concertina and cello. This provides the variety that makes the album so listenable.