A Christmas compact disc: Christmas through the ages - Hyperion Noel 1 - Brief Article

Contemporary Review, Dec, 2001 by Anthony Paterson

ANYONE looking for a musical gift for Christmas for a friend or indeed to treat himself could not do better than Hyperion's wideranging selection of Christmas carols and instrumental music from the last 700 years. All 23 selections come from Hyperion's own bountiful array of Christmas CDs produced over the years. It drawns on music from England, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. This lively disc moves from the earliest work, Procedenti Puero, a thirteenth century English carol, right up to the latest works of John Rutter such as his 'Carol of the Children' which comes from another Hyperion disc being released at the same time. (John Rutter's Music for Christmas CDA67245). The setting of 'While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night' is particularly fascinating as it is performed in the style of 'gallery music' used in English churches in the eighteenth century. Like so many of the other selections, this unfamilar arrangement allows us to hear the timeless words and their meaning afresh.

The sweep of talent displayed on the Hyperion selections is too vast to mention in a brief review but it leaps from Lisbon to Seattle including such celebrated groups as The Sixteen and the Choir of Westminster Cathedral. Here is a jovial Christmas CD that should endure for many years of pleasure and inspiration.