The Name You Trust for Classical Music

Read reviews, listen to the music, and purchase the CD Medieval Carols

Customer Service Toll Free 866.489.4152

Music AND Flowers. The Perfect Gifts.

Spend $50 or more on NaxosDirect and we'll give you a $10 coupon for 1800Flowers.com family of stores. Offer ends Feb. 12th. Need suggestions? Click here

Flash 9 required. Click to download.

Narrow your search
with our Music Browser

Classical Music

        Ballet
        Chamber Music
        Choral
        Concertos
        Film Music
        Folk Legends
        Instrumental
        Musicals
        Opera / Operetta
        Orchestral
        Vocal

Jazz

Jazz Contemporary
Jazz Icons

New Age

Wind Band

World

        Ballad
        Bhuddist
        Chinese Music
        Classical (World)
        Early Music (World)
        Folk
        Gamelan
        Gypsy
        Hindustani
        Jazz (World)
        Klezmer
        Sufi
        Vocal (World)
        World

Special Offers:

Free MP3 Downloads

Catalogs

Internship Opportunities

Celebrating Black History

Grammy Winners on Sale

Masters of American Music

Valentine�s Day Special

Clearance

Penguin Guide

200 Essential Recordings

Recently Released

Upcoming Releases

SACD

DVD

        Ballet DVD
        Classical Concert
        Classical Documentary
        Dance Documentary
        Opera DVD
        Pop/Rock Concert

Audio Books

        Anthologies / Collections
        Arts
        Biographies
        Children's Classics
        Classic Fiction
        Great Epics and Tales
        History
        Junior Classic Fiction
        Junior History
        Literature
        Music Biographies
        Music Education
        Non-Fiction
        Philosophy
        Plays - Others
        Plays - Shakespeare
        Poetry
        Religion
        Samplers
        Sports
        Wine Guide

NaxosDirect Podcasts

Video Librarian Reviews

Labels

Naxos Label

        Naxos American Classics
        Naxos Best Of...
        Naxos Box Sets
        Naxos Cinema Classics
        Naxos Classics
        Naxos DVD
        Naxos DVD-Audio
        Naxos International
        Naxos Jazz
        Naxos Limited Edition
        Naxos Milken Archives
        Naxos Night Music
        Naxos Opera
        Naxos Orchestral
        Naxos Special Release
        Naxos Wind Band Classics
        Naxos World

Composers

Conductors

Ensembles

Orchestras

Choirs

Artists

Instruments

Producers

Medieval Carols

Home

Classical Music

Choral

View large image

Total playing time: 01:09:51

$8.99
$6.74 (CD)

In Stock - Usually ships within 24 hours.

Link to this CD Link to this page

MEDIEVAL CAROLS In 15th-century England a tradition grew up for the composition of polyphonic carols. None of them is ascribed to a specific composer or...

Read more about this recording

MEDIEVAL CAROLS

In 15th-century England a tradition grew up for the composition of polyphonic carols. None of them is ascribed to a specific composer or poet, neither is their function completely understood. The form is that of alternating verses and burdens (refrains), the language generally being a mixture of Latin and English.

The majority of the carols have sacred texts and it is possible that these were designed for liturgical use. Others are moralistic or celebratory and were possibly used to enliven feasts and banquets in aristocratic households or for recreational purposes at educational establishments.

The most common type of carol is that relating to Christmas. The examples offered here are 'What tidings bringest thou?', 'Now may we singen', and 'Nowell sing we'. Not so overtly joyful but equally optimistic is 'Alma redemptoris mater' whose verses poetically paint the scenes of the Annunciation, Nativity, Crucifixion, and Resurrection respectively. After the Christmas carol the next in order of popularity was the Marian carol as represented here by 'Ave Maria', 'There is no rose', and 'Hail Mary full of grace'. In these settings the melodies are fluid and the harmonies subtle in order to portray the Virgin Mary as tender and graceful. Additionally the lives of the saints were frequently the subject of carols, none more robust than 'Eya mater Stephane' in honour of the martyrdom of St Stephen. By contrast the carol 'Be merry be merry' rejects specific subject matter altogether in favour of allusions to the many glories of Christian life as a means to universal happiness. Most memorable of all is 'Deo gracias Anglia' which recounts the defeat of the French by the English at the battle of Agincourt. King Henry sails to Normandy, takes the town of Harfleur by siege, wins the day at Agincourt, and drags the surviving French noblemen back to London; all this, of course, in the name of Almighty God. In a more popular style are the two Christmas carols 'Riu riuchiu' and 'Gaudete Christus est natus'.

Spanish and English respectively they are catchy traditional medieval melodies whose refrains were harmonized in the early Renaissance.

Also included here are three monophonic songs. The simplest, 'Planctus Guillelmus', is an anonymous strophic lament written upon the death of William the Conqueror. The form of Peter Abelard's 'Planctus David' is more elaborate, divided as it is into six sections, each containing metrical and musical repeats. Abelard's poem is a reworking of David's lament upon the deaths of Saul and Jonathan from the Second Book of Samuel. More rhapsodic still is Hildegard of Bingen's 'Oviridissima virga' which portrays the Virgin Mary as the root of beauty and fertility. This beautifully-paced meditation is one of the few surviving examples of the musical work of this remarkable medieval female mystic.

Oxford Camerata

The Oxford Camerata was formed by Jeremy Summerly in order to meet the growing demand for choral groups specializing in music from the Renaissance era.

It has since expanded its repertoire to include music from the medieval period to the present day using instrumentalists where necessary. The Camerata has made several recordings for Naxos, and future plans include discs of music by Lassus, Tye, and Faure.

Jeremy Summerly

Jeremy Summerly was a choral scholar at New College, Oxford from where he graduated with First Class Honours in 1982. For the next seven years he worked as a Studio Manager with BBC Radio and it was during this time that he founded the Oxford Camerata. In 1989 he left the BBC in order to join the Royal Academy of Music as a lecturer in the department of Academic Studies and in 1990 he was appointed conductor of Schola Cantorum of Oxford. He has recently signed a long-term contract with Naxos to record a variety of music with the Oxford Camerata and Schola Cantorum of Oxford.

Disc 1

Ave Maria

Your name:
Your email:
Friend's Name:
Friend's Email:
Write a personalized message:

Your name:
Rating:
Title:
Review:

Medieval Carols

$8.99 $6.74 (CD)

Reviews

$8.99
$6.74 (CD)