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Christmas in the British Isles
The
Chorale's First CD - Now Available!
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The Chorale's first CD is now available -
both through the RDC Office as well as at all concerts and
events.
Christmas
in the British Isles, the Robert Dale Chorale’s first CD
recording, explores the long and rich tradition of carol
singing in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Cornwall.
The practice of singing carols began in the medieval period,
and a number of the works on this recording trace their
roots back to that time. For many of these old carols, the
texts have been preserved but the music has not. There are
therefore two types of carols included on this CD: those
that use both the ancient texts and the original melodies,
and those with an old text but with completely new music. In
some cases the text and the music were written independently
and only married together at a later date.
The carols are arranged into a narrative of sorts: the CD
begins with carols that evoke the joy of the Christmas
story, then continues on to sample a few of the many carols
that focus on Mary. We follow that with carols that describe
the journey visitors took to the manger, guided by a star.
The second half of the recording begins with two carols that
treat the entire story of Jesus’ life, including his
crucifixion as well as his birth. We then return to the
manger where we hear lullabies sung to the baby Jesus, after
which Jesus awakes and speaks.
The final four carols focus
on the festive aspects of the Christmas season, bringing us
full circle in our celebration of the yuletide.
CD PRICES:
$15 at any RDC event
$20
through the RDC Office (includes shipping/handling)
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