Incarnation (2013)

performed by Christopher Watson (tenor), Emma Walshe (soprano), Gabriel Crouch (baritone), Greg Skidmore (baritone), Guy Cutting (tenor), Matthew Venner (counter tenor), Nicholas Algot Swensen (treble), Ruth Provost (soprano), Stephen Kennedy (baritone)
composed by Anonymous, Benjamin Britten, Christmas Traditional, Francis Pott, Gregorian Chant, Herbert Howells, Jonathan Dove, Kenneth Leighton, Matthew Martin

The choral Christmas release might seem to have been done pretty much to death, but this an elegantly presented hardbound release, with its stark cover showing only the word Incarnation and the name McCreesh in a blue circle, serves notice that there are still ambitious, new takes on it. Conductor Paul McCreesh leads his 28-voice, a cappella Gabrieli Consort in a program of British polyphonic pieces mixed with medieval monodic tunes. All are fresh (the hymn Veni, veni Emmanuel is probably the only familiar piece in the ... Read More

The choral Christmas release might seem to have been done pretty much to death, but this an elegantly presented hardbound release, with its stark cover showing only the word Incarnation and the name McCreesh in a blue circle, serves notice that there are still ambitious, new takes on it. Conductor Paul McCreesh leads his 28-voice, a cappella Gabrieli Consort in a program of British polyphonic pieces mixed with medieval monodic tunes. All are fresh (the hymn Veni, veni Emmanuel is probably the only familiar piece in the bunch), unusual, and beautifully chosen to address the album's theme from a variety of unusual perspectives. British music fans will be especially pleased with the long-buried works by such composers as Kenneth Leighton, Francis Pott, Herbert Howells, and others, each seemingly awaiting only a performance that treated it as an individual. Choral singers will find in the album something to aspire to, with the added trebles of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir giving not a hint of a... Read Less