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Track(s) taken from CDA68299

Coventry Carol

First line:
Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child
composer
Anonymous - traditional
1580s
author of text
Robert Croo (fl1534-1534)
1534; The Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors

The Gesualdo Six, Owain Park (director)
Studio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available
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Recording details: January 2019
Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Produced by Adrian Peacock
Engineered by David Hinitt
Release date: November 2019
Total duration: 2 minutes 55 seconds
 

Other recordings available for download

The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor)
St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers (conductor)
The King's Singers
King's College Choir Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury (conductor)

Reviews

‘A delightful album by an all-male a cappella group is hard to come by—all too often they’re po-faced or schmaltzy; but this is neither. An elegant blend of old and new’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The close recording of the male-voice line-up of The Gesualdo Six on Christmas reveals the tightness of their ensemble in repertoire ranging from Praetorius to Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Tenor Joseph Wicks’ a cappella arrangement of Jonathan Harvey’s The Annnunciation and director Owain Park’s vibrant On the Infancy of our Saviour compliment well-chosen pieces, making for a delightful and informative listening experience—and a thoughtful stocking filler!’ (Choir & Organ)

‘What I love about this group—this is just their second disc—is it’s incredibly natural, it’s very forthright: they are so musical, so sensitive; we see straight through to the text … the way they listen to each other—the Tallis, these long phrases—I don’t know how they can sing it that slowly with so few singers. It really is miraculous! … I love that sense of magic that they get … not something kitsch and traditional and retrospective but something that has life in it’ (BBC Record Review)

„Unter dem schichten Titel 'Christmas' ist bei Hyperion allerdings alles andere als eine bloße Pflichtübung erschienen … gemeinsam verfügen sie [The Gesualdo Six] über eine reich sich verströmende Substanz, die Stimmen zeichnen klar, sind fein balanciert und zur edlen Verschmelzung fähig … in der Summe ist das ein eigenständiges, gelegentlich auch eigenwilliges Programm, mit schroffen, aber fruchtbaren stilistischen Wechseln auf engstem Raum“ (Klassik.com, Germany)» More
PERFORMANCE
RECORDING
The only surviving source for the anonymous Coventry Carol is a facsimile of a manuscript dating from 1591, which appeared in Thomas Sharp’s Dissertation on the Pageants at Coventry in 1825. The carol forms a section of a scene in which Herod’s soldiers arrive to slay the innocent children as part of the Pageant of the Shearmen and Tailors. The Coventry plays were seen by royalty: in 1456, by Margaret, queen of Henry VI; by Richard III in 1484 and by Henry VII in 1492. The tune is thought to date from the 1580s, although the text is by Robert Croo and dates from 1534.

from notes by William McVicker © 2002

Other albums featuring this work

Christmas Carols and Motets
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor)
CDGIM010Download only
Christmas Music from Medieval and Renaissance Europe
The Sixteen, Harry Christophers (conductor)
CDA66263
Christmas with the King's Singers
The King's Singers
SIGCD502Download only
Christmas with The Tallis Scholars
The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor)
CDGIM2022CDs for the price of 1 — Download only
Epiphany at St Paul's
St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)
CDH55443
Favourite Carols from King's
King's College Choir Cambridge, Sir Stephen Cleobury (conductor)
Studio Master: KGS0007Download onlyStudio Master FLAC & ALAC downloads available

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