The Holly & Ivy

• Main performer: Clare College Choir & Orchestra, Cambridge
• Booklet languages: English
• Time: 57:25
• Release Date: 1990

Review

If the combination of boys' voices, flutes in thirds, little bells, and harps sounds like Christmas to you, this disc called The Holly and the Ivy will sound just like Christmas. Performed by the Clare College Choir and Orchestra under the direction of John Rutter before he left to form his own choir, these performances are sweet, sincere, and thoroughly enjoyable. Although some of the works were arranged by David Willcocks, most were arranged by Rutter, and thus most are not only satisfying in their own right but great fun to sing along with. The works themselves range across Europe from the Dutch "King Jesus hath a Garden" to the Basque "Gabriel's Message" to the Flemish "Cradle Song" to the English "Wassail Song" and, of course, "The Holly and the Ivy." Some die-hard Scrooges might complain that the arrangements are perhaps a bit too pretty and possibly at times even a tad too sappy, but to those who love Christmas and Christmas music, these superficial criticisms will seem entirely beside the point. Recorded in 1979 by Decca, the sound of this disc is deep, warm, and full with a nice sense of place and time. If you're only going to have one disc of distinctly English Christmas music beyond the Messiah, this is the disc to have. ~ James Leonard, All Music Guide

Performances

Composer	Title	Time
Christmas Traditional	King Jesus Hath A Garden (Dutch)	3:08
George Ratcliffe Woodward	Up! good Christian folk, and listen, for chorus & orchestra	1:09
Christmas Traditional	Gabriel's Message (Basque)	3:00
John Rutter	Donkey Carol	4:34
Christmas Traditional	The Wexford Carol ("Good People All, This Christmastime") (Enniscorthy Carol) (Irish)	4:24
John Rutter	Cradle Song, for chorus	3:13
Christmas Traditional	Child in a Manger	2:14
John Rutter	Mary's Lullaby	3:39
Christmas Traditional	Ding Dong! Merrily on High (French)	2:10
Christmas Traditional	Quelle est cette odeur agréable? (Whence is that goodly fragrance?) (French)	3:58
Christmas Traditional	I Saw A Maiden (Basque)	2:54
Christmas Traditional	In dulci jubilo (Piæ Cantiones)	2:41
Harold Darke	In the Bleak Midwinter	4:22
Christmas Traditional	I Saw Three Ships	2:15
Michael Praetorius	The Noble stem of Jesse	2:17
Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky	Children's Songs (16) for voice & piano, Op. 54 (The crown of roses)	2:20
Elizabeth Poston	Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (The Apple Tree Carol)	2:43
Michael Praetorius	Omnis Mundus Jocundetur (from the Polyhymnia caduceatrix)	1:06
Ralph Vaughan Williams	Wassail Song ("We've been awhile awandering"), song for chorus (English Folksongs for chorus No. 5; Traditional English Carols No. 8)	2:42
Christmas Traditional	The Holly and the Ivy (English)	2:50