Track Listing

1. King Jesus Hath a Garden
2. Up! Good Christian Folk, And Listen
3. Gabriel's Message
4. Donkey Carol
5. Wexford Carol
6. Cradle Song
7. Child in a Manger
8. Mary's Lullaby
9. Ding! Dong! Merrily on High
10. ...Uelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable?
11. I Saw a Maiden
12. In Dulci Jubilo
13. In the Bleak Mid-Winter
14. I Saw Three Ships
15. Noble Stem of Jesse
16. Crown of Roses
17. Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
18. Omnis Mundus Jucundetur
19. Wassail Song
20. Holly and the Ivy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11443 in Music
• Released on: 1990-05-30
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Amazon.com
Initially released in 1979, this album built on the success of the legendary Carols for Choirs volumes in establishing John Rutter's name with the wider public, and it gave a strong hint that he was more than just a talented composer-arranger. As the many subsequent releases on the Collegium label have also shown, Rutter is a deeply sensitive and musical conductor, alive to the color of words, always allowing phrases to breathe naturally. The accomplished Clare College Choir features male and female voices, the latter providing a more rounded alternative to those world-famous neighbors in Cambridge. Included are many of Rutter's own easy-listening carol arrangements ("King Jesus Hath a Garden" and "Wexford Carol," for example), plus others by the likes of Vaughan Williams and David Willcocks, while "Donkey Carol" and "Mary's Lullaby" are quintessential Rutter originals. Only a few numbers can be classed (statistically) as all-time Christmas faves--the likes of "The Holly and the Ivy" and "Ding Dong Merrily on High"--but this needn't deter anyone from snapping up what is the perfect album to accompany Christmas pud mixing (preferably by candlelight, imagining the twilight scene in Ely Cathedral's Lady Chapel, whose glorious acoustic graces the sound). --Andrew Green

Customer Reviews

The True Spirit of Christmas
I never get tired of listening to this, one of my all-time favorite Christmas albums. My kind of Christmas is listening to beautiful music performed by incredible English choirs, not so much the Rudoplph & Frosty things (although I am a sucker for that too!). This CD does not disappoint, and while I do prefer all-male choirs (those heavenly trebles and such), the inclusion of female voices does soften and sweeten the overall sound. A lovely addition to the Christmas Cd collection!

Imported directly from Heaven!
One of the absolute best choral Christmas CDs I've ever heard. The performance of Wexford Carol, In the bleak midwinter, Gabriel's message are just incredible. The sensitivity of the singing, the arrangements, the selections -- it takes the breath away.

My Favorite Christmas Album
I had a vinyl copy of the import version ("Christmas from Clare" - now unavailable) and I'm so happy I found it under the new title. This album has so many unique qualities. There is some instrumental accompaniment, but it is clean and spare and devoid of the usual holiday bombast. The blend of the voices is perfect. Many of the selections are different from what usually clogs the radio waves in December. I can't really do justice to the beauty of the singing here, but it has a lovely peaceful quality that I treasure at this time every year.