If you own Harmonia Mundi's 1998 full-price release Carols from the Old & New Worlds, Vol. 2, then you don't need this budget reissue of the same recording. If you missed that earlier CD, then this is a must for any listener who wants a Christmas recording that truly fills some gaps in the repertoire and offers some extraordinary choral singing and arrangements. Director/singer Paul Hillier, an Englishman who has lived in the U.S. for years, developed a strong interest in traditional American music, from the Shakers and early denominational hymns to the somewhat more formal compositions of William Billings. Combining this with his already well-formed love of early English songs, carols, and hymns, he has put together a really fascinating program that incorporates ancient and anonymous pieces--Ecce, quod natura; As I out rode this enderes night; Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child--with more recent tunes, including Elizabeth Poston's oft-heard Jesus Christ the Apple Tree, Howard Skempton's To Bethlem did they go, and Hillier's own setting of I sing of a maiden.

There are Shaker hymns--the opening track, This is Jesus' birthday, really rocks!--along with more sedate pieces, such as Ravenscroft's classic Remember, O thou man (mentioned in Hardy's novel Under the Greenwood Tree), John Jacob Niles' I wonder as I wander, and the lovely 16th-century consort song, Swete was the song the Virgin sang. There are many highlights here, but two of the more notable are the beautiful 15th-century carol Ecce, quod natura and the Celtic-flavored The darkest midnight, which opens with a suitably mystical, atmospheric soprano solo (strangely uncredited) and ends with the same, this time with unison female voices. Although the liner notes here are essentially the same as with the earlier release, annoyingly the texts for the 22 carols aren't included--you have to download them from the website www.classicalexpress.com. Nevertheless, for sheer musical quality and listening enjoyment, this remains one of the top Christmas discs in the catalog. [10/26/2002]

--David Vernier