SHOUT FOR JOY - SPIRITUAL CHRISTMAS
BARBARA HENDRICKS, soprano
01. Mary Had a Baby (Negro spiritual) [a cappella]
02. He Shall Feed His Flock, Come Unto Him (Georg Friedrich Handel) [mezzo & orchestra]
03. Rejoice Greatly, O Daughter Of Zion (Georg Friedrich Handel) [orchestra]
04. Quittez, pasteurs (Traditional) [hurdy-gurdy & pipes]
05. What Child Is This (Traditional) [hurdy-gurdy]
06. Sussex Carol - On Christmas Night (Traditional) [hurdy-gurdy & pipes]
07. Coventry Carol (Traditional) [hurdy-gurdy]
08. Ding Dong Merrily on High (Traditional) [organ]
09. Ave Maria (Charles Gounod) [organ]
10. Maria Wiegenlied (Max Reger / Ekdahl) [chamber ensemble]
11. Adeste Fidelis (John Francis Wade) [organ]
12. Beautiful Star (Negro spiritual) [guitar]
13. Rise up, Shepherd, and Follow (Negro spiritual) [guitar & double bass]
14. Shout for Joy (Negro spiritual) [guitar & double bass]
15. Oh Jerusalem (Negro spiritual) [guitar & double bass]
16. Ain’t That a-Rockin’ (Negro spiritual) [guitar & double bass]
17. Go Tell It on the Mountain (Negro spiritual) [double bass]
18. Panis Angelicus (Cesar Franck) [organ]
19. Minuit Chretiens (Adolphe Charles Adam) [organ]
20. Ave Maria (Franz Schubert / Ekdahl) [chamber ensemble]
21. The First Noel (Traditional) [organ]
22. Stille Nacht (Franz Xaver Gruber / Ekdahl) [chamber ensemble]
23. Joy to the World (Georg Friedrich Handel / Ekdahl) [orchestra]
Since the early years of Christianity, Christmas has always had a more distinctly devotional focus and has left a lasting mark on the culture, art and spirituality of the Western World. Celebrated by hundreds of millions of people around the world, this religious festival marks the end of the somber period of Advent with several days of spiritual rejoicing and communal feasting. Our need to experience the tradition of the Nativity, with its universal themes of peace, joy and salvation, is as great as it ever has been. Hence the need for sacred music as in Shout for Joy (from the title of a famous Negro spiritual).
Barbara Hendricks takes us on a magnificent journey in time, from Handel’s Messiah to the Ave Maria of Schubert and Charles Gounod; from songs of piety like O Come all ye faithful, Panis Angelicus and Joy to the World, to tradi-tional folk carols such as the Sussex Carol, The First Noel or Silent Night. And we should not forget little-known Negro spirituals with a Christmas theme, such as Go Tell It on the Mountain and Mary Had a Baby.
In the company of Barbara Hendricks we travel from Germany to England, from France to the United States, with this varied collection of famous carols showing that the Christmas tradition is universal: “I have always associated Christmas time of the year with visits to my maternal grandparents’ farm in Stephens, Arkansas, and the warm family gatherings around tables covered with homemade food, animated conversation, laughter and, above all, the songs. I cannot imagine Christmas without music and singing, the singing of Christmas carols, and carolling.”
Whether with a large baroque orchestra or accompanied by organ, string quartet, hurdy-gurdy or guitar and bass, we will find some of the best-known Christmas songs in a disc full of happiness, colour and vibrancy. Fifteen years after the release of her first Christmas album (and more than 450,000 copies sold all over the world), the Swedish soprano and her musician friends propose an ideal musical companion for celebrating Christmas 2010 in music. ( Arte Verum )
