Bob Chilcott Carols 1 9 carols for mixed voices
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Bob Chilcott has become one of the world's most widely performed composers and arrangers of choral music. His compositional output reflects his wide taste in music styles and his commitment to writing music that is both singable and communicative. He has been involved in choral music most of his life he was a chorister and then a choral scholar in the choir of King's College, Cambridge, and was a member of the British vocal group The King's Singers for whom he made a number of popular arrangements of well-known songs from all genres. As well as being a full-time composer he is also a highly acclaimed choral conductor. He has been privileged to conduct many choirs all over the world. He is Principal Guest Conductor of The BBC Singers and in 2019 he was appointed Principal Conductor of Birmingham University Singers. His music has been widely recorded by many choirs and groups including The King's Singers, Tenebrae, and The BBC Singers.Permeating the whole volume is an approachability that explains Chilcott's popularity with choirs and audiences. The vocal writing displays a singer's understanding of what is possible (and grateful to sing), and never more so than in the several pieces written for youth choirs where the tenors, for example, are rarely asked to sing above F.
Christopher Field, Music Teacher, Feb 05
The back cover blurb's description of the music as 'fresh, arrestingly beautiful and exquisitely crafted' is certainly on the mark. Chilcott is a gifted melodist, and his peculiarly touching brand of gentle sentimentality is deployed to good effect in several of the numbers . . . But these miscellaneous carols are, one presumes, not intended to be heard one after another - programmed individually, in the right context, they will almost unfailingly be effective . . . Perhaps the best number, however, is one of the simplest - 'The Shepherd's Carol', written for King's College Cambridge, a deceptively simple achievement in its unforced, affecting lyricism. None of the pieces in the volume makes great technical demands on either singers or accompanist; the settings are in the main SATB, with some modest splitting of parts.
Matthew Greenall, The Singer, December 2004
All but two of these nine carols have been previously published (and are still available separately), but any choir that buys this collection for one or two pieces is likely to go on and sing them all: Chilcott writes the sort of music that it is difficult not to like. The book represents almost all the mixed-voice carols he has written over the past ten years. All are characterised by unerring craftsmanship, attractively mobile rhythms sometimes generating intriguing textures, simple tunes, and approachable harmonies - a gift to both choirs and audiences . . . Chilcott's version of the 'Coventry Carol' is a different matter. He preserves the traditional spare texture in the verse but alternates it with richer, faintly Warlock-like harmonies in the refrains. The result is a song that has not only an attractive surface but also a really distinct musical personality.
Peter Dale, Choir and Organ Nov 04