This new recording on the Naxos label makes a pleasant change from the usual seasonal compilations of hymns or pop songs. It takes its name from the most substantial work on the disc--Victor Hely-Hutchinson's A Carol Symphony--which is complemented with three other symphonic pieces based on Christmas music.
First up is Bryan Kelly's Improvisations on Christmas Carols, a five-movement work based on well-known tunes such as "Past three o'clock" and "I saw three ships". Hely-Hutchinson's work follows. It is symphonic in structure and based on popular carols too, the highlight being the slow third movement where the spine-tingling "Coventry Carol" melts into ...
Tis the season to be jolly, and what better to kick of the proceedings than Slade and Wizzard with those perennial seasonal favourites "Merry Xmas Everybody" and "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The Now Christmas collection stands head and shoulders above the field of festive compilations as it actually has a lot of unusual tracks--the titles may be familiar, but the artists doing them are all quite unexpected. Hence you get Kylie purring her way through "Santa Baby", the Spice Girls indulging in some "Christmas Wrapping" before taking you on a "Sleigh Ride", Samantha Mumba telling us "All I Want For Christmas", Billie Piper casting her eye back to "Last Ch...
