Benjamin Britten's A Ceremony of Carols was composed on board ship as he returned to England from the USA in 1942.
Written during a time of personal and professional upheaval for the composer, it is a touching evocation of boyhood lost but never forgotten. Based on medieval texts and written for harp and treble voices, the masterpiece consists of a series of carols which provide a narrative of the traditional story of the birth of Christ.
Dylan Thomas’s short story A Child’s Christmas in Wales is one of the 20th century’s favourite works of literature, a loving, nostalgic look back to the childhood of a Welshman who went on to conquer the world with his magnificent poetry. This is a Wales of the imagination, a beautiful, timeless place where the bustle of Christmas is captured in poignant detail. Narrated in a glorious Welsh lilt by respected literary professor and experienced Thomas-reader, Gareth Griffiths, and with musical interludes from Carisma, this recording captures all aspects of the season as perceived by a happy young child revealing its wistful, tender and wide-eyed wonder at sights, smells and sounds of Christmas.
A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 [22'53]
Janna Hovhannisyan (harp) + Little Singers of Armenia Choir
Britten: A Ceremony of Carols, Op. 28 - Missa Brevis, Op. 63 - Friday Afternoons, Op. 7 - Three Two-Part Songs, VDE-Gallo VDECD1452
Dylan Thomas: A Child’s Christmas in Wales [28'18]
Carisma + Louise King (cello) + Janice Preece (harp) + Gareth Griffiths (narrator) + Anna Stoddart (flute)
Dylan Thomas: A Child's Christmas In Wales, ABC Classic ABC4813345
Four Welsh Dances, Op. 138: selection [04'22]
Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Sir Malcom Arnold: Dances, Naxos 8.553526
- Mairi Nicolson, presenter