Britten: Children’s Crusade & A Ceremony of Carols

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Release Date: 30th Oct 2015
Catalogue No: ROP6100
Label: Rondeau
Length: 41 minutes

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Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28

Work length22:14

$12.00

$15.60

Maria Rüssel, Pauline Schüler, Katharina Held, Abenaa Prempeh, Sara Zwingmann, Heide Muller, Birgit Bachhuber (harp)
Mädchenchor Hannover
Gudrun Schröfel
Recorded: 27-28 July 2014
Recording Venue: Stephansstift Hannover, Hannover, Germany

Procession

Track length1:19

$1.00

$1.30

Wolcum Yole!

Track length1:29

$1.00

$1.30

There Is No Rose

Track length2:37

$1.00

$1.30

That Yonge Child

Track length1:42

$1.00

$1.30

Balulalow

Track length1:15

$1.00

$1.30

As Dew in Aprille

Track length1:01

$1.00

$1.30

This Little Babe

Track length1:32

$1.00

$1.30

Interlude

Track length3:41

$1.00

$1.30

In Freezing Winter Night

Track length3:48

$1.00

$1.30

Spring Carol

Track length1:10

$1.00

$1.30

Deo Gracias!

Track length1:16

$1.00

$1.30

Recession

Track length1:24

$1.00

$1.30

Britten: Children's Crusade Op. 82

Work length19:26

$4.00

$5.15

Birgit Bachhuber (harp), Ulfert Smidt (organ), Andrea Schnaus-Jantzen (piano), Nicolai Krügel (piano)
Mädchenchor Hannover, Ensemble S
Gudrun Schröfel
Recorded: 2 May 2015
Recording Venue: Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Hannover, Germany

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The Hanover Girls’ Choir under the direction of Gudrun Schröfel combines two of Benjamin Britten’s works that could hardly be more different. They have thus demonstrated here the breadth of Britten’s compositional talent, and at the same time, how multi-faceted and versatile their own musicianship can be.

Since A Ceremony of Carols was composed, it has been adopted as an integral part of the standard repertoire for children and/or women’s choirs. Highly singable melodies and atmospheric to dance-like harp tones, which Birgit Bachhuber so artistically elicits from her instrument here, would almost have us forget under what adverse conditions this timeless classic actually came into being: on board a ship on the return voyage across the Atlantic from the USA back to England, where WWII was raging. But there is nothing to be heard of adversity on this recording – quite the contrary, since the Hanover Girls’ Choir invite us here to a bona fide celebration of these carols.

And with Children’s Crusade, both the choir and the Ensemble S have dedicated themselves to a true rarity; the complicated musical setting by Britten for the Children’s Crusade by Bertold Brecht, a ballad from the year 1941, allows one of the rarely performed pieces by the great British composer to be heard. The harrowing tale of a group of children fleeing from poverty in war-torn Poland in 1939, and who are seeking a country where freedom reigns, offers listeners a vivid insight into their world. As thematically contrasting as the works on this CD are – they nevertheless complement one another in a formidable manner.

Booklet notes: German, English

Total time: 41:30

Offer,Britten: Children’s Crusade & A Ceremony of Carols

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