Christmas Night

“New Christmas carol recordings run the risk of sounding like at least half a dozen other similar releases.  But in the crowded and competitive field of choral Christmas CDs, Christmas Night shines brightest of all.” Digital Audio

“Rutter’s tunes are, typically, ripe and fulsome and gushing in that idiosyncratically British neo-romantic way. Highly recommended” AllMusic USA

“The theme of this album is the birth of Christ, reflected in the words and music of 22 carols spanning more than six centuries.” This description might also say that the programme contains some of the best and best-loved Christmas choral pieces of all time, presented in a pleasing mix of familiar carols and lesser-known original works. Among the best-known selections are Darke’s In the bleak mid-winter and Howells’s A spotless rose. Several original pieces by John Rutter appear here for the first time, Christmas Night, There Is A Flower, and Nativity Carol. Other notable highlights are Peter Cornelius’s The Three Kings and the lively Willcocks arrangement of Tomorrow shall be my dancing day. Of course, the singing is among the best on the planet, in fact, there may even be a few heavenly angels in the soprano section.” CD Review

“Through each of the carols, performed with utmost care, musicality, and unfailing attention to detail (unusual for a Christmas carol recording), both the joy and the tenderness of that birth in Bethlehem are brought to the listener, cast in a cozy but pleasingly resonant acoustic.  This is Rutter’s best-sounding disc to date.” Digital Audio

“For Christmas Eve, let me strongly recommend a beautifully sung full-price collection of ‘Carols of The Nativity’ with lots of favourites and some delightful arrangements. It is essentially a serene programme by the Cambridge Singers and City of London Sinfonia under John Rutter who has contributed two of the carols himself and made three of the creative arrangements.  The sound is lovely; the singing is committed, with some good articulation and some excellent solo voices.  With first-class support from the City of London Sinfonia, this is a treasure trove CD for those who like a touch of tasteful glitter with their music.” Gramophone

“…if you are after a selection with some sumptuous yet not overbearing orchestral accompaniments and beautiful choral arrangements, then John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers are a musical necessity for your collection. Christmas Night, with the City of London Sinfonia is first-rate and will not disappoint you.” Church of England Newspaper

“This recording quickly became one of my Christmas favorites, not only for its world-class singing and vocal ensemble (a young Mark Padmore is in the tenor section) but for its consistently tranquil and gently enveloping sound world – just like a lullaby, except more varied and musically interesting. Christmas Night includes twenty-two carols that range from the familiar-but-not-done-to-death to premieres of three John Rutter originals. No Frosty, Rudolph, or Hallelujah, this is smaller-scale music appropriate to the birth of a child in a stable, without bombast or triumphalism. The singing has both finely honed dynamic nuances and, for lack of a better term, a gentle swing that is apparent from the opening track, In Dulci Jubilo.” Listen