Dale Warland’s group stands on more than 30 years of first-rate performances and acclaimed recordings, and this one from 2002 is a fine representative of its sound and singing style, and of its well-loved Christmas repertoire. It’s a warm, unaffected, unforced sound colored by natural resonance rather than the excessive vibrato that defines so many American choirs. The ensemble’s legato technique is exemplary, and while all sections of this professional choir are superb, the sopranos are particularly notable for their uniformly lustrous tone. The repertoire titles will be very familiar to Christmas choral music fans, although the particular arrangements may not.
Some of these lesser-known settings include Donna Schultz’s Il est né, Kirke Mechem’s Fum, fum, fum! and Patapan, and director Warland’s own Huron Carol and O little town of Bethlehem (set to the Forest Green tune). There are several fine Stephen Paulus contributions–Gabriel’s Message and Three Nativity Carols–along with Jan Sandström’s delightfully spooky and increasingly popular version of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen. Traditional favorites such as Wilhousky’s Carol of the Bells and Norman Luboff’s Joseph Dearest also make welcome appearances, and the disc concludes with Malcolm Sargent’s (yes, that Malcolm Sargent) simple and lovely arrangement of Silent Night. Harp, oboe, percussion, and bells add occasional strokes of color, and the sound is ideal. In other words, this is a solidly performed, well-recorded program of the old and new (often combined in the same piece) that will fit nicely into any Christmas music collector’s library.
