Noel Nouvelet is a typically vibrant Vasari mix of traditional carols and exciting arrangements of familiar tunes, reflecting the choir?s ongoing desire to dress up the traditional in new clothes, to blend tradition with innovation. So, for example, alongside Kenneth Leighton's beautiful Coventry Carol, Naji Hakim?s exuberant version of Ding dong! Merrily on high and Morten Lauridsen?s powerful O magnum mysterium sits Ward Swingle?s arrangement of Mel Torm?'s Christmas Song, Jonathan Rathbone's sumptuous arrangement of Silent Night and Nigel Short's equally lush adaptation of Away in a manger. The CD also includes several world premiere recordings, including Love came down at Christmas by Humphrey Clucas and Andrew Carter's firmly tongue-in-cheek showpiece arrangement of The Twelve Days of Christmas.

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