Recordings

It is Good to be Merry: An A Cappella Christmas Celebration

Merry Christmas! Have you ever noticed that this greeting is unique? We say “Happy Easter!” “Happy Valentine’s Day!” even “Happy Holidays!” But “Merry” is reserved for Christmas. It Is Good To Be Merry, a setting of proverbs on the word “merry” by the German-born American composer Jean Berger, supplies the title for this program of unaccompanied choral music, selected from Greenwood’s Christmas performances in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Other contemporary American composers are featured as well, Morten Lauridsen and Moses Hogan amongst them. There is music by Canadian composers Healey Willan, Imant Raminsh, John Butler and Mark Sirett, and music from the Renaissance in England (Byrd, Weelkes, Morley) and elsewhere (Sweelinck, Victoria). Many of the texts recount events associated with the birth of Christ, or reflect upon its significance, Healey Willan’s Here Are We in Bethlehem, for example, or There Is No Rose of Such Virtue by the American composer Robert H. Young. Others, like Sing Hey! It’s Christmas Day! by Imant Raminsh, and the American James McKelvy’s clever arrangement, Deck the Halls (In 7/8), focus on aspects of the annual celebration.

It is Good to be Merry: An A Cappella Christmas Celebration is available now, for only $10.00. To order yours, contact the Greenwood Singers.
Email: contact@greenwoodsingers.ca

Joy to the World: Music for Advent & Christmas

Each Christmas since 1981, Greenwood Singers has presented Edmonton audiences with a program of seasonal music, a varied and eclectic selection including Renaissance motets, arrangements of traditional carols, and recent popular songs. For this recording, the choir has gathered some of its favourites amongst the sacred music sung in those concerts, pieces that anticipate, announce and reflect upon the birth of Jesus Christ.

Included on the CD are pieces by Canadian composers Eleanor Daley, Diane Loomer, Brendan Lord and Healey Willan, Gloria by Randol Alan Bass and the choral suite Gaudete by Anders Öhrwall. Several local musicians took part in the project:

Jeremy Spurgeon (Organ)
Helen Stuart (Piano)
The University of Alberta Faculty of Education Handbell Ringers
Elizabeth Koch, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (Flute)
Shelley Younge, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (Flute)
Edith Stacey, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (Bassoon)

Joy to the World: Music for Advent & Christmas is available now, for only $10.00. To order yours, contact the Greenwood Singers.
Email: contact@greenwoodsingers.ca

Randall Thompson: Ode to the Virginian Voyage, Frostiana

This recording is now conveniently available online through Amazon,  iTunes Canada, or iTunes US.

The CD contains two major works by well-known American choral composer Randall Thompson — Ode to the Virginian Voyage for choir and organ and Frostiana for choir and piano.

The never before recorded Ode to the Virginian Voyage tells the tale of British settlers setting sail for America on New Year’s Day, 1607. The text is by Michael Drayton (1563-1631) and is partially based on descriptions of America by the Reverend Richard Hakluyt. Originally for chorus and orchestra, Edmonton organist Jeremy Spurgeon adapts the orchestral reduction for organ.

Randall Thompson’s Frostiana “warms like a fireside.”—Steve Schwartz, ClassicalNet. It is a setting of seven poems by Robert Frost including “The Road Not Taken” and “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” In the Greenwood Singers rendition of the popular piece, the choir recruited the talents of Edmonton dramatic speaker, the late Dr. Walter Kaasa, to read each poem before the choir sings it to Thompson’s musical setting. The choir’s resident accompanist and répétitrice Helen Stuart provides the piano accompaniments.

Home for the Holidays

In the Baby Boom years following World War II, hope for a new era was expressed in songs, both spirited and sentimental, for the Holiday Season. It is interesting to note that of the 27 well-known songs on this disk, over half were written from 1945 to 1954. These selections from “the golden age of Christmas popular song” are a perfect accompaniment to good times shared with family and friends in the glow of a festively decorated tree. We hope you will enjoy these season favourites as much as we’ve enjoyed performing them and that listening to Home for the Holidays every December will become a tradition in your home.

Home for the Holidays is available for $10.00. To order yours, contact the Greenwood Singers.
Email: contact@greenwoodsingers.ca

WinterGreen: Songs of Christmas

WinterGreen: Songs of Christmas, directed by Robert de Frece, is a collection of Greenwood Christmas favourites. Included on the CD are audience favourites such as O Holy Night, Carol of the Manger (Away in the Manger) and the first ever Canadian Christmas Carol Jesous Ahatohnia. Produced by Arktos Records, several local musicians took part in this project:

The University of Alberta Faculty of Education Handbell Ringers
Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht, University of Alberta Department of Music (Organ)
Trudy Olford (Organ)
Christine Enns, Edmonton Symphony (Flute)
Heather Haydu, Edmonton Symphony (Oboe)
Helen Stuart (Rehearsal Accompanist and Répétitrice)

WinterGreen: Songs of Christmas is available for $10.00. To order yours, contact the Greenwood Singers.
Email: contact@greenwoodsingers.ca