Volume 10 Issue 4 - December 2004

Ensemble recreates his Midnight
Mass for Christmas Eve, perhaps
first performed in 1694. The recording
opens with a surprisingly
martial roll of drums for the Prelude
to the Te Deum (the rest is much
more restful!). The Mass itself,
written for eight soloists, chorus
and orchestra, includes ten noels or
popular carols of the period, interpolated
between liturgical pieces.
These are darker, older tunes that
spring from plainsong and folk
music, and their inclusion imparts
a rich texture to the work. Canadians
will recognize the Advent tune
"O Come, Divine Messiah" (very
much better known in French).
And, since the work was performed
in a Jesuit church, it
should not seem so surprising to
hear Jesus Ahatonhia ("The
Huron Carol") with its original
Huron lyrics: even before 1700,
Canadian culture was evidently
making its way to Europe.
Concert Notes: The Toronto
Chamber Choir presents "A Renaissance
Christmas" on December
5 and The Toronto Consort
presents "The Praetorius Christmas
Vespers" on December 10
and 11. There will be a number of
performances of Charpentier's
Christmas music this month: Tafelmusik'
s "A French Baroque
Christmas: Celebrating Charpentier"
December 1- 5; Scarborough
Philharmonic's "A Baroque
Christmas" on December 4; and
Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir
December 11. Aradia performs a
"Christmas Concert: Vivaldi Sacred
Music" on December 12.
Mistletoe & Wine
Medieval Baebes
Nettwerk 30330
For the Wiccans and Goths sets,
perhaps, a CD of mainly Christian
content, but with a pagan heart.
The Medieval Baebes are an ensemble
of musicological minxes
who specialize in songs of the Middle
Ages: as in a bevy of Kate Bush
clones who are really into madrigals.
This disc combines many previously
released selections with
some new content, little of which
would otherwise be familiar to
most listeners (except The Holly
and the Ivy and Coventry Carol).
Accompaniment includes recorders,
glockenspiel and bodhran-style
percussion, which nicely offsets
the Baebes' rather breathy and occasionally
treacly trademark sound.
One caution: the CD is imprinted
with its own player, which may
take ages to unload on a PC if
you• re listening on your computer.
The Storyteller's Bag
Text by Mark Brownell;
Music by Ronald Royer,
Alexander Rapoport,
Keith Bissell
Chamber Music Society of
Mississauga
Independent 6 23235 6104 2
(www .chambennusicmississauga.org)
Finally, this one's not just for
Christmas, except in the sense that
this is also a season of storytelling
on chilly nights. It's a recording of
three fully-narrated Ojibway tales
as performed by Lome Cardinal (a
regular on CTV's Comer Gas) and
Cheri Maracle, with full musical
scoring by Royer. Rapoport and
Bissell, courtesy of the Chamber
Music Society of Mississauga, who
conceived the project. Probably
most effective with preteen children
(and adults), the stories are
funny, lively and sweet. Royer's
haunting score for The Star Lily is
the most instantly captivating, but
the whole disc has merit and considerable
charm.
Concert Note: The Chamber Music
Society of Mississauga presents
"Comical and Conical", a program
of wind octets on February 6.
Yo-Yo Ma
The Dvorak Album
Marcelo Alvarez
The Tenor's Passion
DECEMBER 1 2004 - FEBRUARY 7 2005