Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

By and large, the content of Christmas releases hits any of three targets: music that congregations enjoy singing, repertoire that choirs enjoy learning, and performances for listening pleasure. This enjoyable album of newly recorded works by the as yet little-known composer Kristina Arakelyan hits the latter two of my arbitrary targets. In other words, I cannot imagine any of the 19 pieces being sung by the congregation in a Christmas service but there are some settings that would be within the ability of many amateur choirs and all of it can be listened to with pleasure by those who enjoy contemporary choral music. The top and tail are both settings of poems by Christina Rosetti and neither of them are "In The Bleak Midwinter". The opener is "Echo" (from 'Seascapes') and we close with "Dreamland". In both text and tune fit together very well with the music bringing out the beauty of the words which is as it should be and right from the start we can hear that The Choir of King's College London is in good voice under conductor Joseph Ford. Esther Beyer contributes some outstanding work on the harp in several of the pieces, lifting them from the interesting to the exceptional. Kristina Arakelyan was born in Budapest but spent her childhood in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, being immersed in the music of the Armenian Apostolic Church where, as a chorister, she sang the ancient Sharaknots, modal chants dating from the fifth century. However, in more recent years, she has been based in England, studying at the Purcell School for Young Musicians, the Royal Academy of Music, the University of Oxford, and now King's College, London. Thus she understands the Anglican choral tradition and, if you want a somewhat superficial comparison, try to imagine John Tavener writing in the style of Benjamin Britten with Joanna Forbes-L'Estrange acting as arranger. If that does not help, Arakelyan's music is melodious, pays careful attention to the well-chosen texts she is setting, and rewards the careful listener.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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