Christmas Day
Ranging from a cappella singing to full orchestral colour, these carols make an ideal gift for music-loving friends. The programme is mostly modern, yet warmly listenable.
Sir John Tavener composer
Niels La Cour composer
Michael Fink composer
John Rutter composer
Peter Sculthorpe composer
Moya Henderson composer
Colin Brumby composer
William Lovelock composer
Robert Boughen composer
Francis Poulenc composer
Hugh MacKinnon composer
John Gardner composer
Gustav Holst composer
Mack Wilberg arranger
Richard Proulx arranger
Noel Goemanne arranger
Norman Luboff arranger
Directed by Ralph Morton, The Quodlibet Singers present American, European and Australian carols, some unaccompanied and others with the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra.
Familiar seasonal pieces sit beside newer Australian settings, and the disc closes with Holst’s Christmas Day.
Artists
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Queensland Symphony Orchestra is the professional symphony orchestra of Queensland, based in Brisbane. It gave its first concert in 1947 and has become a central voice for orchestral music in the state.
Tracks
- I Saw Three Ships Arr: Mack Wilberg 3:07
- Hodie Christus Natus Est Niels La Cour 2:10
- Infant Holy Infant Lowly Arr: Richard Proulx 2:55
- What Sweeter Music Michael Fink 3:01
- Angels' Carol John Rutter 3:00
- Unto us a Boy is Born Arr: Noel Goemanne 3:30
- Morning-Song for the Christ Child Peter Sculthorpe 2:52
- O Joyous Child of Poverty Moya Henderson 3:53
- Nowell, Nowell Colin Brumby 1:48
- I Saw a Light William Lovelock 2:37
- Peace Stephen Leek 3:07
- Christmas Gloria Robert Boughen 3:30
- Hodie Francis Poulenc 2:10
- Sleeps Judea Fair Hugh MacKinnon 3:02
- Still, Still, Still Arr: Norman Luboff 2:27
- Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day John Gardner 2:04
- The Lamb Sir John Tavener 2:57
- Christmas Day Gustav Holst 6:42
Performers
- Ralph Morton · directed by
- Queensland Symphony Orchestra · orchestra
- The Quodlibet Singers · choir
Composers
Colin Brumby
Colin Brumby (1933–2018) was an Australian composer and conductor whose prolific catalogue ranges across opera, concertos, chamber music, choral works and songs.
Francis Poulenc
Francis Poulenc's music swings from boulevard wit to peasant devotion. Perpetual-motion piano, chamber sonatas, horn élégies, Christmas and penitential motets, a Gloria, and songs that can flirt, mourn or protest sit side by side in the catalogue.
Peter Sculthorpe
Peter Sculthorpe (1929–2014) was a Tasmanian-born composer whose orchestral and chamber music drew the Australian landscape, neighbouring Asian traditions and Indigenous materials into a clear, personal language. He wrote extensively for strings, piano and voice.
Robert Boughen
Robert Boughen's sacred writing and arrangements give choirs sturdy, singable music for the Christian year, from Advent hymns and Easter triumphs to a Christmas Gloria that rings with festive clarity.
John Gardner
John Gardner (1917–2011) was an English composer of classical music. His carol Tomorrow shall be my dancing day has become a familiar part of the Christmas choral repertoire.
Moya Henderson
Moya Henderson's music is warm, sincere and distinctively Australian: chamber works such as G'Day Africa and Cross Hatching, art songs and carols, and scores that remember Gallipoli and the land with directness.
Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst’s music moves from the cosmic sweep of The Planets to spare, singing folk and Christmas settings that choirs still reach for. His arrangements of English song and carols carry a clear line and a quiet ceremonial glow.
Stephen Leek
Stephen Leek writes choral music built for real voices in real rooms: liturgical settings with unexpected colour, carols, and pieces shaped by long work with youth, community and professional choirs across Australia and abroad.
William Lovelock
William Lovelock wrote accessible concertos, choral pieces and chamber music with a romantic bent, favouring entertainment over abstraction. His catalogue includes works shaped for Australian performers and instruments that rarely get a solo outing.
Norman Luboff
Norman Luboff (1917–1987) was an American choir director, arranger and music publisher. He founded the Norman Luboff Choir and wrote thousands of choral arrangements, among them Christmas settings still widely sung.
John Rutter
John Rutter writes and arranges choral music that sits easily with choirs and congregations: Christmas carols, hymns for the church year, and extended sacred works whose melodies are built for the human voice.
Where to listen
Christmas Day is available for streaming through Apple Music. It can also be purchased through the iTunes Music Store.
Christmas Day is available as a CD. It can be purchased online through Buywell Music or the Australian Music Centre which both offer online ordering.
Product details
- Catalogue number
- TP046
- Total playing time
- 54 minutes 52 seconds
- Contributor
- David Alan Binns
Diane Yeo - Producer
- Graeme Morton
Stephen Leek - Recording Engineer
- David Starr
- Editing Engineer
- Willowtree Recorders
- Venue
- Great Hall of Brisbane Grammar School
Thomas Dixon Centre, West End, Brisbane - Release date
- 11 Nov 1993
- Label
- Tall Poppies
- Musical work
copyright - © 1993 Tall Poppies Records
- Sound recording
copyright - ℗ 1993 Tall Poppies Records
- Categories
- Australian Classics, Great Classics
- Genres
- Christmas, Choral & Sacred
- Barcode
- EAN 9399000004622
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