A Christmas Carol

The Truth from Above; In the Counting House; Surplus Population; God Rest You Merry; Marley's Ghost; Mankind Was My Business; Remember; The Ghost of Christmas Past; Little Fan; Sussex Carol; Fezziwig's Ball; Gain is Loss; Auld Lang Syne; The Ghost of Christmas Present; Not a Handsome Family; Silent Night; A Vacant Seat; A Child Himself; Deck the Halls; The Bell Struck Twelve; Ghost of the Future; The Body of a Man; My Little Child; Coventry Carol; The Spirits of All Three; Poverty; Christmas Day; Back Payments; God Bless Us, Every One; It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.

Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Matthew Guard (conductor)
Christine Baranski (narrator)
Original score: /Benedict Sheehan
(LSO Live) ARR-0001
https://lsolive.lso.co.uk/

Amid the avalanche of seasonal releases, here's something genuinely distinctive: a recording that will captivate literature enthusiasts as much as music lovers. Skylark Vocal Ensemble's new A Christmas Carol marries Benedict Sheehan's imaginative score with Christine Baranski's magnificent narration to create what the composer aptly terms a "choral movie score"—a continuous 75-minute experience that reimagines Dickens's beloved tale.

Conceived during the pandemic's darkest days in 2020, the project saw Skylark's artistic director Matthew Guard distilling Dickens's 30,000-word original into a dramatically potent abridgement, leaving space for music to breathe. Sheehan's masterstroke lies in weaving traditional carols seamlessly with newly composed bridges, creating an organic tapestry where familiar melodies and original material flow as one.

The ensemble's singing is exemplary throughout, all parts blending with wonderfully controlled tone. Traditional carols like The Truth from Above and God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen establish the atmosphere perfectly, whilst Sheehan's original music fits the narration like a glove. His integration of the familiar with the new proves inspired: Silent Night steals in quietly beneath Baranski's description of the Cratchit family dinner before flowering into full voice, while the deployment of Auld Lang Syne is nothing short of brilliant. As every bell rings out through the house, the choir capture the excitement with their chiming words "Ding Dong" and the resonance of the basses superbly communicates the drama.

But it's Tony Award winner Baranski who brings the magic. Her inflections capture every dramatic nuance—listen to her vigour as she describes Master Peter mashing potatoes—whilst her characterisations of Scrooge and the other voices demonstrate staggering range. She conveys both gravitas and warmth, drawing listeners irresistibly into the story, whilst Sheehan's score forms an unassuming but inspired backdrop, enhanced by subtle sound effects.

The soloists shine too, and the penultimate track, God Bless Us, Every One, draws everything to a deeply satisfying conclusion with the final beautiful new setting of It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. This magical presentation offers something genuinely special to the Christmas catalogue: intelligent, beautifully crafted, and utterly absorbing.