Bednall: Welcome All Wonders: A Christmas Cantata

Bednall’s work makes a bright, immediate impression, the idiom, accessible without being superficial. — BBC Music Magazine, Christmas Issue 2013 More…

Release Date: 5th Aug 2013
Catalogue No: SIGCD335
Label: Signum
Length: 77 minutes

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Bednall: Welcome All Wonders

Work length1:17:46

$17.00

$23.80

Felix Leach, Simon Desbruslais, Jessica Hughes, Esther Mallett, Milo Comerford, Charlotte Robinson, Sam Poppleton, Paul Manley, Esther Brazil, Olivia Clarke
The Choir of the Queen's College Oxford
Owen Rees

Prelude

Track length4:09

$1.00

$1.40

Alleluia

Track length4:15

$1.00

$1.40

A Virgin Shall Conceive

Track length5:45

$1.00

$1.40

Ye Heavens! from High the Dewy Nectar Pour

Track length3:05

$1.00

$1.40

Today is the Beginning of Our Salvation

Track length6:41

$1.00

$1.40

Oh! Little Blade of Grass

Track length3:44

$1.00

$1.40

Journey to Bethlehem

Track length9:21

$1.50

$2.10

I Saw a Stable

Track length2:04

$1.00

$1.40

Shepherds, Rejoice!

Track length2:58

$1.00

$1.40

See How from Far, Upon the Eastern Road

Track length2:34

$1.00

$1.40

Tribus miraculis ornatum

Track length3:19

$1.00

$1.40

The Slaughter of the Innocents

Track length9:10

$1.50

$2.10

But Peaceful Was the Night

Track length4:57

$1.00

$1.40

Ave maris stella

Track length7:19

$1.50

$2.10

In the Beginning

Track length8:25

$1.50

$2.10

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About

'Welcome all Wonders: A Christmas Cantata' is a large-scale work for choir, organ and trumpet spanning 15 movements. It celebrates the Christmas story through an imaginative selection and juxtaposition of poetry and liturgical texts, and provides a multifaceted telling of the familiar narrative. The celebratory aspects of Christmas are tainted by darker themes that are inherent to the story but are easily overlooked, culminating in an enlightened and engaging work that explores the Christmas story in a profound manner.

The Choir of The Queen’s College, Oxford is among the finest and most active university choirs in the UK. Its wide-ranging repertory includes a rich array of Renaissance and Baroque music and contemporary works.

Reviews

Christmas Issue 2013

Bednall’s work makes a bright, immediate impression, the idiom, accessible without being superficial.

December 2013

An excellent disc: the singing is incredibly tight, in the manner to which it has become increasingly accustomed under its musical director, Owen Rees, and Bednall’s writing is ingenious, embedded in a profound understanding of the workings of the choir and organ- both as distinct entries and as a partnership.

December 2013

Has genuinely expressive moments… Bednall is honoured with what is surely a splendid performance from the Choir of Queen’s College, Oxford with organists Olivia Clark and Paul Manley and trumpeter Simon Desbruslais, directed by Owen Rees.

18th November 2013

It’s a very tranquil piece which is beautifully imagined for voices...[but] Bednall does not shy away from the darker side of the Christmas story... The performance is excellent. The choir of Queen’s College...sing the work splendidly and with great assurance and commitment. The sound is fresh and clear, the choir achieving a satisfying blend and very good diction...an original and very rewarding addition to the Christmas choral repertoire.

Bednall: Welcome All Wonders: A Christmas Cantata

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