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Britten had exquisite literary taste. His knowledge of the byways of English poetry would have shamed many a professor of literature. His instinct for what poetry goes to music and what does not was unerring and to the best of my knowledge he never commits the deadly sin of trying to set Housman, a source of great distress to that poet and no wonder. There is no particularly strong Christmas theme in the Ceremony, although A Wealden Trio for two sopranos and alto is specifically 'a Christmas song'. So far as I can detect, all the vocal parts are such as amateurs, in many cases children, can handle, the only thing calling for a professional being the harp part in the Ceremony. What one needs to sense is that the performers understand the music with the marrow of their bones. That understanding is largely communicated by the choirmaster, and Ronald Corp's cv as outlined here confirms what my ears tell me anyway, namely that this kind of music is his line of country. One thing I find particularly pleasant is that Britten does not patronise children in his music for them, just as Bach did not.
Once again I feel we are indebted to Naxos for a production like this. Presumably it required only a low budget, and it is a heartening confirmation of my own conviction that financial restrictions are fully compatible with high quality and with some sense of adventure and discovery rather than yet more complete sets of Beethoven and Brahms. This collection dates from a time when people still made their own music as best they could without technical support, and it is encouraging to find how strong the tradition remains. Words are not provided, but the diction and recording are clear enough for one to get a very fair idea of each song even at first hearing. The leaflet provides information regarding the performers, and the short commentary on the music by Ates Orga is notably sensitive and knowledgeable. Obviously the ideal thing would be to organise one's own performances of this music. Pending that unlikely event in my own case I am more than happy to have it done so well for me.
In 1966, the ultimate recording of the work, by St John's College Choir with Maria Robles on harp was released. Every recording since then has been a bitter disappointment - until this one.
Although the vocal attack perhaps lacks the edge that St John's had (which wouldn't be hard since the continental voice training which George Guest used for half the boys gave a unique sound) this succeeds where so many before have failed. The tuning is excellent and the diction spot on. The very slight 'springing' of the rhythm in the processional makes you realise that this is going to be 'a bit different'
So often in performances or recordings of the Ceremony, you feel that the harpist is using every trick at his/her disposal to produce 'musical fireworks' to cover for the fact that the trebles just find the whole thing far too difficult and beyond their limit of technique. Not so here.
It is the voices which are on show and the almost restrained harp playing compliments them beautifully. Any doubts I had (and I did) about a mixed choir singing the piece, rather than an all boys' choir, were blasted away in seconds! There is now, at long last, another great recording of 'Ceremony of Carols' and this is it!
The rest of the disc is every bit as good. Great to hear a new version of 'Friday Afternoons' and the other pieces are fresh and well sung but it is for 'Ceremony' that this recording will be wanted by Britten lovers and Christmas lovers alike for many moons to come.
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