A Pembroke Christmas

Name: A Pembroke Christmas
SKU: SIGCD724
Availability: InStock

£8.00 – £14.00

Returning for their third album on Signum Classics, Anna Lapwood and The Choirs of Pembroke College, Cambridge present their first Christmas album featuring a wide range of festive repertoire from traditional carols to works by contemporary composers including Sir James MacMillan and Melissa Dunphy. In addition the album premieres three new works written by the Pembroke Girls’ Choir including an arrangement of the familiar carol Gaudete.

Anna Lapwood is a trailblazing musician. Alongside her work as a conductor, Director of Music and public speaker, she performs an extensive number of organ recitals on some of the greatest instruments across Europe each season. In 2022 she was announced as Associate Artist of the Royal Albert Hall and Artist in Association at BBC Singers.

Directed by Anna Lapwood, The Chapel Choir of Pembroke College has one of the most exciting and varied ranges of choral endeavours among Oxbridge choirs. Alongside their primary responsibility of contributing to worship in the College’s Chapel, they engage in regular artistic collaborations, media appearances and outreach.

★★★★ “Highlights include a numinous take on MacMillan’s ‘O Radiant Dawn’, Ailsa McTernan’s soaring solo in Patricia Van Ness’s ‘Archangelus’ and a performance of Kerensa Brigg’s ‘A Tender Shoot’ which shows the Chapel Choir’s vibrant tonal blend and intelligent enunciation at their best…an inspiring recital” – BBC Music Magazine

“In the latest recording released on Signum by Anna Lapwood and the Chapel Choir of Pembroke College, Cambridge, the soft smooth sounds of the central chorus combined with the crystal clear lines of the upper voices makes for a reflective experience. I’ve listened to it repeatedly over the past few days” – Thoroughly Good

“What makes this album unique is a trio of carol arrangements developed in rehearsal by the choristers themselves” – Gramophone

SKU: SIGCD724

Anna Lapwood

The Choirs of Pembroke College, Cambridge

Release date: 14/10/22

Catalogue number: SIGCD724

Barcode: 635212072424

[1] – The Nine Orders of the Angels: II. Archangelus – Patricia Van Ness

[2] – Venite, Gaudete! – Adrian Peacock

[3] – Halcyon Days – Melissa Dunphy

[4] – O Oriens – Melissa Dunphy

[5] – O Radiant Dawn – James MacMillan

[6] – I Sing of a Maiden – Emma Johnson

[7] – A Tender Shoot – Kerensa Briggs

[8] – Gaudete – Pembroke Girls’ Choir

[9] – My Heart, O God – Lucy Walker

[10] – On Christmas – Kethaki Prathivadi

[11] – O Adonai – Roderick Williams

[12] – My Lord has come – Will Todd

[13] – Huron Carol – Eleanor Daley

[14] – The Pembroke Carol – Pembroke Girls’ Choir

[15] – Serenity – Ola Gjeilo

[16] – Lo! He Slumbers – Cecilia McDowall

[17] – Seeing the Star – Ben Ponniah

[18] – The Evening Star – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

[19] – Lux Aurumque – Eric Whitacre

[20] – Silent Night – Pembroke Girls’ Choir

[21] – The very best time of year – John Rutter arr Park

“The repertoire has been well chosen in such a way as to separate the disc out from the usual run of Christmas fare. The quality of every piece… is very high and though the music is largely contemporary it’s all accessible and enjoyable to hear. The performances are uniformly excellent. The two Pembroke College choirs have clearly been prepared very well by Anna Lapwood; the singing is disciplined and accomplished…The programme contains many challenges but all of them are successfully met…This is an enterprising disc which will give a lot of pleasure at Christmas”. – Musicweb International

10/10 “A splendid album that contains so much more than I have space to describe. To sum up, there is nothing here that is not worth hearing and everything is performed to the very highest standards” – Cross Rhythms

“It’s a very personal compilation of cold and crisp carols that feels just as right now between Christmas and Epiphany as it did before the big day and the Choir are sublime…their crystal-clear consonants lend effortlessness and clarity to a plethora of recently written carols by the likes of Melissa Dunphy, Emma Johnson and Kerensa Briggs.” – BBC Radio 3 Record Review

“This disc takes a refreshingly inventive approach to Christmas repertoire…There is so much [else] to enjoy, both in terms of interesting music and well-blended singing…Anna Lapwood draws from her musicians an impressive dynamic range and a sense of strong performance commitment” – Organists’ Review