Christmas Around Europe 18.xii.16

[DracoM]

A number of choral delights to be tasted on Sunday, 18th Dec, starting at the Kallo church in Helsinki.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0855ynl

[BBMmk2]

Not a bad programme there DracoM

[oddoneout]

Something I look forward to each year. I may not like all of the music or performances, but enjoy the opportunity to hear different repertoire and choral styles.

[DracoM]

[Nick Armstrong]

Wow.... a deafening silence on the Choir board!

Only managed to hear the first concert, from Finland - engaging singing I thought.

Can't resist saying that the Nunc Dimittis by one Eric Tuan of Stanford University, California sounded - how can one put this politely? - deeply indebted to Britten.... including one shameless rip-... er, tribute in a sequence more or less identical to the start of Hymn to St Cecilia.

It starts at 00.40 here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLP5byShpl8

(This being the choir we heard this afternoon)

[oddoneout]

Wow.... a deafening silence on the Choir board!

It ain't finished yet, I'm still listening....

[Nick Armstrong]

It ain't finished yet, I'm still listening....

Fair point, well made!

[DracoM]

Yes, listened to a fair bit on and off.
What truly caught my ear was the arrangement of Ding Dong Merrily from the Kallio Vox Aurea children's choir from Finland. In fact their whole set had drive, rhythm, sense of fun, and strong voices. Yes, it was first port of call, but I kept going back to it later.

Rather a lot of baroque wallpaper from Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Spain? Well, rather more than I recall from other years.
AMcG got through a bit of work!

[Nick Armstrong]

Yes, listened to a fair bit on and off.
What truly caught my ear was the arrangement of Ding Dong Merrily from the Kallio Vox Aurea children's choir from Finland. In fact their whole set had drive, rhythm, sense of fun, and strong voices. Yes, it was first port of call, but I kept going back to it later.

I seem to have heard the best bit then!

[DracoM]

Should have added a couple of items from much later - the Estonian segment.

[ardcarp]

the arrangement of Ding Dong Merrily

I had to chuckle about the arrangement which extended the melisma on 'Glor------ia' downwards for ever. My own kids used to do this as a joke.

[oddoneout]

The Finnish and Estonian sections were the best bits for me, I don't know about the relative quantities of baroque 'wallpaper'(perhaps because I like it so my perception would be skewed anyway?), but the final section(from Budapest) I found disappointing. The pieces performed were not the kind of thing I would necessarily choose to listen to but it was the choir that was the problem for me.

[DracoM]

Agreed.