Wassail, wassail!

Out of the 125 or so Christmas albums I own, I really only dig out a handful to play during the season. I've already written about the Carpenters, Leroy Anderson, and the Royal College of Music Choir. Two more of my favorites are both out of print but worth searching out. "A Victorian Christmas" by the Robert DeCormier Singers, from 1984, sounds a little like a very good local church group that went into a studio and put their hearts into this one chance to cut an album. I mean that as a compliment; the performances are excellent, but the ambiance is a bit dicey at times, like it's a homemade recording. The singers are accompanied by an ensemble with keyboards, guitar, harp, flute, etc. The songs are all traditional carols, sometimes with interesting arrangements, such as a version of "Jingle Bells" titled "The One Horse Open Sleigh"--same lyrics, slightly different melody in the chorus. We used to put their boisterous "Gloucestershire Wassail" ("Wassail, wassail, all over the town...") on our answering machine in December. There's an American carol called "There's a Song in the Air" which was new to me, in addition to perennials like "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and "Coventry Carol."

The other album, from a group headed by guitarist Ed Sweeney, is somewhat misleadingly titled "A Dickens' Christmas... Inside Fezziwig's," conjuring up the festive holiday party at which the young Scrooge made merry in "A Christmas Carol." It's a fine album, with traditional carols played on "authentic acoustic instruments" such as guitar, banjo, handbells, fiddle, and concertina, but it's a far more somber affair than I imagine when I read about Fezziwig's party. I certainly don't know what English music of the 19th century sounded like, but the sound of these "authentic" instruments puts me more in mind of "A Little House on the Prairie Christmas" than Dickens. Nevertheless, as an instrumental Christmas album, it's a lovely alternative to full orchestras or the abundantly available new-agey sounds of people like Tingstad and Rumbel. There's a nice assortment of 17 songs, with many of the usual suspects and a few interesting choices, such as a medley of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and "Angels We Have Heard On High," and an Irish carol called "The Leading of the Star." Both of these albums are in high rotation on my car CD player this month, and every December.