This album was originally released under the title
Noel!
in 2011 on
The Gift of Music
label, and
Naxos
, which does fewer of these reissues than it used to, did well to pick it up. The 2011 album was, in turn, based on a printed carol anthology of 2009, which, one learns from the notes, "reflected the composers, styles, and increasing demand for new compositions and arrangements." This is grammatically puzzling, but the album does contain an attractive mix of the old and the new. There are enough traditional carols, like
O come, O come Emmanuel
, and
Silent Night
, to satisfy any traditionalist, but there is also an intelligently chosen selection of newer material, from
Herbert Howells
to pieces that were brand new when the album appeared. Consider
Adrian Peacock
's
title work
. Little information is provided about the group
IKON
, which was apparently a pickup choir composed of professional English singers. However, they sound like they had been singing together for some time. Hear their unusually precise version of
Eric Whitacre
Lux aurumque
, where conductor
David Hill
gets the intended shimmering effects. The sound from the church of St. John the Evangelist in London's Upper Norwood is ideally clear and warm. A fine addition to 2023's holiday offerings. ~ James Manheim