Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. The First Nowell (English)
2. Away in a manger (Tune: Cradle Song) (New English Hymnal 22)
3. Up! Good Christian Folk, and Listen (Piae cantiones)
4. O Little Town of Bethlehem
5. I Sing of a Maiden for 2 voices & piano
6. A Spotless Rose, for chorus
7. Once in Royal David's City
8. Personent Hodie (On this day Earth shall ring) (Piae Cantiones)
9. Myn Lyking
10. O come, O come, Emmanuel (Veni, veni, emmanuel), carol
11. The Holly and the Ivy (English)
12. Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night)
13. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks By Night (unspecified tune)
14. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
15. The Lord at first did Adam make
16. Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (adapted by W. H. Cummings from Mendelssohn's Festgesang for the Gutenberg Festival)

Disc 2:

1. Shepherd's Pipe Carol
2. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (W zlobie lezy)
3. Angel Tidings (Moravian)
4. Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (Whence is that goodly fragrance?) (French)
5. I Saw Three Ships
6. Nativity Carol
7. Quem pastores laudavere (Hohenfurth Manuscript, 1410)
8. Rocking Carol (Czech)
9. Wassail Song ('Here We Come A-Wassailing'), carol
10. The Coming of our King (Polish Carol)
11. The infant King (Basque)
12. La pastora Caterina, carol (Catalan)
13. Noël nouvelet, carol (French)
14. Gabriel's Message (Basque)
15. Sans Day Carol
16. Past Three O'clock, carol (English)

Disc 3:

1. Methinks I See a Heavenly Host
2. Los que Fueren de Buen Gusto
3. A Virgin Unspotted
4. The Babe of Bethlehem
5. This Endere Nyghth
6. Riu, riu, chiu
7. Christum Wir Sollen Loben Schon
8. Gaudete!
9. Verbum Caro: 'In Hac Anni Circulo'
10. Alleluya: A nywe werk, for chorus
11. The old yeare now away is fled (English)
12. Hodie nobis caelorum Rex, motet for 4 voices, P. 92
13. Audite principes, motet for 16 voices
14. In Dulci Jubilo, for chorus & ensemble (from the Polyhymnia caduceatrix)

Disc 4:

1. The Little Drummer Boy (Carol of the Drum), carol
2. El niño querido (The Beloved Child) (Spanish)
3. Simple Gifts
4. Maria Wiegenlied (Mary's Lullaby: 'Maria sitzt am Rosenhag'), song for voice & piano (or orchestra), Op. 76/52
5. Go Tell It on the Mountain, Christmas song (American)
6. Joy to the World (theme by Handel)
7. Judas Maccabaeus, oratorio, HWV 63: Tochter Zion, freue dich
8. Zu Bethlehem geboren (Geistlicher Psalter, Köln 1638)
9. Mary's Little Boy Child, song
10. Ukrainian Bell Carol (Shchedryk)
11. Il est né, le divin enfant (French)
12. Minuit Chrétiens
13. La Marche des Rois (Provençal carol)
14. Noël des îles
15. Chanson joyeuse de Noël
16. Weihnachten ('Leise weht's durch alle Lande'), for voice & piano
17. Vom Himmel hoch, da komm ich her (From Heaven on High), carol (German)
18. In the Bleak Midwinter
19. O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) (German)
20. The Twelve Days of Christmas

Disc 5:

1. God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (English)
2. Good King Wenceslas (Piae Cantiones, 1582)
3. We Three Kings of Orient Are
4. Angels From the Realms Of Glory
5. As With Gladness Men of Old
6. Coventry Carol (2): 'Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child'
7. We've been a while a-wandering, carol ('The Yorkshire Wassail Song')
8. Masters in This Hall
9. See Amid the Winter's Snow, for chorus
10. Sussex Carol ('On Christmas Night')
11. Ding Dong! Merrily on High (French)
12. O Little One Sweet
13. Wassail Song ('Here We Come A-Wassailing'), carol
14. Carol with Lullaby
15. A Cowboy Carol
16. L' Enfance du Christ, oratorio for soprano, 2 tenors, baritone, 3 basses, chorus & orchetsra ('trilogie sacrée') H. 130 (Op. 25): The
17. We Wish You a Merry Christmas (English)

Disc 6:

1. Nowell! Nowell! Nowell!
2. And All in the Morning ('On Christmas Day'), carol for chorus or voice & piano (Traditional English Carols No. 1)
3. I Saw A Maiden (Basque)
4. Ein Kind geborn zu Bethleham
5. Where Riches is Evelastingly
6. How Far To Bethlehem?
7. Of the Father's heart begotten (A Christmas Procession)
8. Resonet in Laudibus (Piae Cantiones)
9. Shepherd's Cradle Song
10. Quittez pasteurs (O come away ye shepherds) (French)
11. Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child, for soloist & chorus, Op 25b
12. Remember, O thou man (from Melismata, 1611)
13. Hodie Christus natus est, motet for 5 voices & continuo (Cantiones Sacrae No. 13)
14. Hosanna to the son of David, anthem for 6 voices
15. Angelus ad virginem
16. Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day (English)
17. O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fidelis)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19481 in Music
• Released on: 2007-11-06
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .51 pounds

Album Description
2007 release in the Best Classics 100 series, 100 Best Carols is the perfect Christmas release-- six CDs of the most famous carols, all time for the price of one full-priced disc! Among the vocal groups found on this release are the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, the Taverner Choir, the Bach Choir, and the Wiener Sangerknaben, while star soloists include Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson, Barbara Hendricks, Hermann Prey, and Kiri Te Kanawa.

Customer Reviews

Unbelievable bargain
I agree with the initial reviewer's comments.

I've accumulated many exquisite Christmas recordings over the years, some unmatched in their beauty and quality, but this is a gem in its own right. This would make a great addition to any collection, particularly as an introduction to the British choral tradition. There are so many standouts, I wouldn't know where to begin.

I highly recommend this CD. The complete offerings are currently on the MP3 download playlist.

fantastic value, excellent recordings
EMI raided their vaults for this wonderful release.
If you like traditional arrangements of carols, excellently played, you can't afford not to order this set!