The octet
Voces8
has recorded Christmas music before on the 2011 release
Christmas
, but fans of the group can rest assured that
A Choral Christmas
, issued for the 2023 holiday season but relevant well beyond, is quite a different animal and that nobody will find any redundancy in hearing both. Where the earlier release was spare, chromatic, and inward,
is big, diatonic, and cheerfully celebratory, with the
Voces8 Foundation Orchestra
present on many of the tracks and offering festive arrangements for brass. The precise singing of
is common to both, of course, but another major presence is composer
Taylor Scott Davis
, who contributes a new
Magnificat
that recalls the joyous spirit of
Bach
's and arranged most of the carols. The hefty
Silent Night
might seem a little strange, but for the most part, the arrangements are full and jubilant, imbued with what people like to call the Christmas spirit. There are a few a cappella pieces to break up the bursts of energy, and those are fine specimens of
's trademark slinky vocal blend. Everything hangs together even though the album is made up of music from two different sessions, one from before the COVID-19 pandemic and one from its heart in 2021. The sound from a pair of London churches is excellent, keeping the big arrangements clear;
director
Barnaby Smith
had a hand in the production and editing, and this was all to the good. A standout holiday album for present and future holiday celebrations. ~ James Manheim