Britten continues in Christmas

 

No, not Ceremony of Carols.

Instead, Stephen Layton leads the rather rare large-scale choral works A Boy Was Born and Christ's Nativity.

The former is labelled as a Choral Variations while the latter as a Christmas Suite.

In these works, Britten's modern harmonic world is tougher, so they require a little more effort from me. I still haven't wrapped my head around them, but I haven't given up yet.

The smaller items are lovely affairs, particularly A Hymn to the Virgin, a heavenly musical balm for us mere mortals. Plus, Britten was always good at Christmastide.

A review from 2020

Hyperion presents a Christmas choral program from the modern musical writings of Benjamin Britten. The big features here are the 30-minute choral variations - A Boy Was Born and the 15-minute Christmas Suite - Christ’s Nativity. I am a little more attracted to the shorter works here, Britten’s Hymn to the Virgin, Shepherd’s Carol, and the Jubilate and Te Deum in C, but the Holst Singers led by Stephen Layton are attractive throughout.

Britten’s music requires a bit more preparation in listening; an iron constitution for a tougher musical language that astounds in its difficulty for its performers, but also an attentiveness from its listeners to digest and revisit his often terse, austere musical imagination. This time around, I was a bit put off by this music, despite my mental preparations. For me, these works tend to amble without much grounding for the listener, nor does it show much wit as displayed in his other cantatas, although I will admit this recording will require a few more listenings from me to see if I can glean a little more appreciation from this music, sometimes a must from Britten.

That said, there are some spectacular moments here. The boy soprano solo in the third variation of A Boy Was Born is astoundingly beautiful, the final variation from the same work is complexly daring, and I think the short Hymn to the Virgin with its semi-chorus texture is a masterpiece of simplicity rarely heard from Britten, and the equally short Shepherd’s Carol shows Britten’s penchant for quirky text settings only he would tackle, again in a surprisingly easy-going manner.

The two liturgical works accompanied by pipe organ sound more securely Britten, with an unusual accompaniment alongside more characterful choral output. Furthermore, there just aren’t many places to find Christ’s Nativity, again, a work displaying Britten’s modern style, but its shorter measure seems to better balance musical variety than A Boy Was Born, and the solo portions are stylishly sung. Christ’s Nativity’s rare inclusion makes this record most cherishable and Hyperion is always good about including texts with the physical media.

What I cannot dispute is the excellent singing from the Holst Singers, and in the case of A Boy Was Born, the inclusion of a piping boys chorus. I am not a huge fan of the pure English-cathedral singing style, but it sounds so right in Britten’s music, and the straight-toned women sopranos are here more searingly beautiful than pushy to my mind. I also cannot fault Stephen Layton who leads these snot-hard choral works flexibly and confidently, and he really is getting the best out of his singers with some beautiful choral sounds. Lastly, the organ gets a solid voice which can be distant in other recordings.

So where does that leave me? This is the first choral program by Britten that I just didn’t care for. Ceremony of Carols, St. Nicolas, Rejoice in the Lamb, Spring Symphony for chorus, Flower Songs, Hymn to St. Cecilia, Gloriana, etc., have all provided me aspects of worth, whereas this set of music left me a bit cold. A Boy is Born was particularly directionless for me despite the beauty of the singing, and this program as a whole certainly isn't casual listening, but I will have to spend some time with this music to see if it grows on me.

The two collections of Britten’s choral music I have enjoyed most are that by the Finzi Singers on Chandos and The Sixteen on Coro, both in three volumes. The former is a bit more robust in its choral facility while The Sixteen are thinner and more transparent; I prefer the technique by the Finzi Singers, but both are excellent ways to explore Britten’s abilities with chorus, including much of the music on this Hyperion program under review. And of course, you can find Britten himself and Imogen Holst leading some of this music more authentically in its time, but in various sound qualities.

I am going to give this recording a light recommendation, mostly due to the actual music by Britten which didn’t do much for me this time around, although the shorter works were charming. If you like Britten’s music though, and rarely do you get a Christmas-themed Britten program without Ceremony of Carols, I have no hesitation in beatifying the singing of the Holst Singers, soloists, and others who are all quite excellent and of high quality, and are well portrayed on Hyperion’s mid-90’s recording.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works
A Boy Was Born, op. 3 (32.29)
Christ's Nativity (16.45)
A Hymn to the Virgin (3.17)
A Shepherd's Carol (4.19)
Jubilate in C Major (2.29)
Te Deum in C Major (7.52)

Soloists
Susan Gritton, soprano
Catherine Wyn-Rogers, contralto

Performers
David Goode, organ
St. Paul's Cathedral Choristers
Holst Singers
Stephen Layton, conductor

Label: Hyperion
Year: 1995
Total Timing: 67.11

 

 

 

 

Something a little different from Britten during the Yuletide.

Also, tougher sounds in the larger works as well. The smaller items are easier to chew, with A Hymn to the Virgin as a stunning jewel.

My burden here lies mostly on Britten, while the performers are rather winsome on the whole.