CCMusic.com

One of Britain's most popular contemporary composers; Patrick Hawes; has teamed up with the excel- lent Voce Chamber Choir of Connecticut to create an album of twenty brand-new Christmas choral works. Specially written for the choir; the first collection and album title; sets words by Patrick's poet brother Andrew. The Nativity; for unaccompanied choir; moves through the Christmas nativity scene exploring the drama of this momentous moment in human history. For the second collection; Patrick has set Four Christmas Motets; the fragile ancient poetry giving rise to tender and heartfelt music for unaccompanied choir. The album goes on to explore the Christmas story through various texts; old and new; in works that are set to become extremely popular with choirs around the world. Of the new album Patrick says "Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year and it has been a joy to set such inspiring and dramatic words to music. The variety of texts - from ancient to modern - are all so relevant for today because they speak of eternal truths and the mystery of the Christmas story. I am thrilled with how Voce and their director Mark Singleton have brought a freshness of approach and musical excellence to their interpretation of this exciting project."