Rutter: Orchestral Carols (Bonus Track Edition)

As this beautifully performed EP amply demonstrates, the musical landscape of Christmas would be quite different without English composer John Rutter. Each of these seven carols, whether a Rutter original or one of his typically thoughtful reworkings, is presented in dream performances by musicians who have this music running through their veins—the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge under its music director Daniel Hyde, alongside the Britten Sinfonia. Despite making the recording in the breathtaking Chapel of King’s, Hyde decided against using its superlative Harrison & Harrison organ, and to present each piece in Rutter’s own orchestral arrangement. “Dan [Hyde] felt he wanted to do something different,” Rutter tells Apple Music Classical, “but that gave me that extra little tinge of excitement, because my preferred accompaniment medium is orchestra.” Rutter was just 18 when his “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol” caught the ear of that doyen of former King’s College music directors, the late Sir David Willcocks. Willcocks suggested it be published in the second volume of the hugely popular choir books, Carols for Choirs, and invited Rutter to be part of the editing and arranging team. From there, through dozens more carols and arrangements, Rutter forged a reputation for his melodic gift, instinct for the perfect harmonic treatment and luscious vocal scoring. There is, of course, more to Rutter than Christmas, and his non-festive works—including a Requiem, Magnificat and Gloria—easily outnumber his carols. Rutter doesn’t mind one bit. “There comes a point where you want to say, ‘Hey, folks. I'm active in the other 11 months of the year as well!’,” he says, “but I love being associated with a time of happiness and joy. Christmas music is something that I think has a place in many people’s hearts, and it is of course, the one time of the year where many people who never experienced the sound of a choir, or any sort of a classical musical event, will come to church. “Compo