Par TEMPERLEY N.. Both a dedicated carol singer and an authority on the history of English music, Nicholas Temperley here offers a unique book of 37 carols dating from the fifteenth century to the present. For over fifty years he has sung, edited and composed carols each Christmas, and in Christmas is Coming the fruit of his enthusiasm is combined with his wealth of knowledge to produce an outstanding and original new collection. As John Rutter observes in his Foreword, the book does not pointlessly duplicate what can be found in many other carol books, but has a personality and purpose of its own. Twenty-two fresh and practical arrangements include carols from Austria, France, Germany, Mexico, Poland and the USA, alongside music both rare and familiar from the rich heritage of the English carol tradition. As well as eight of his personal favourites, from J. S. Bach to Charles Ives, the author includes seven new compositions of his own, settings of medieval and traditional texts that reveal his skill as a choral composer whose command of style ranges from the humorous to the profound. In addition to sample programmes and translations, there are invaluable notes on the performance and history of individual items, plus an historical summary of the genre as a whole: everything in fact to make Christmas is Coming an indispensable companion for singers who wish to enrich the seasonal repertoire for concerts, churches and traditional Yuletide carolling./ Recueil / Chorale

The Choir of Royal Holloway, directed by Rupert Gough, with Prunella Scales and Timothy West.The Choir of Royal Holloway is one of the finest mixed-voice collegiate choirs in Britain. Its first recording on Edition Peters Sounds brings together the music, atmosphere and ethos of Christmas at Royal Holloway in the Chapel, celebrating with both sacred and secular music.The album presents a broad mix of old and new complete with contemporary arrangements of familiar carols and pieces the Baltic states. Several pieces have not been recorded before, including an upper voice setting of William Blake's The Lamb by American composer George Whitefield Chadwick. New contemporary arrangements include Away in a manger by the Norwegian-born composer Ola Gjeilo. There are three arrangements by Royal Holloway musicians: O little one sweet (by a Royal Holloway choral scholar), Silent Night (by Rupert Gough) and Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by a former choral scholar. Also previously unrecorded are original compositions by James Burton and Rihards Dubra. / Choeur Mixte