Benedict Sheehan: A Christmas Carol

by Sarah Walker, Skylark

Overview

Here is a 2022 holiday release that has quite a bit of interest beyond its entry into the round of seasonal realizations of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The small choir Skylark, its director, Matthew Guard, composer Benedict Sheehan, and storyteller/narrator Sarah Walker offer a unique treatment of Dickens' text, which was abridged by Guard down to a few familiar chunks. All the words, remarkably, are Dickens' own, which shows one how tightly this beloved tale is woven. The text excerpts are interspersed with adaptations by Sheehan of Christmas carols, some of them familiar, some, like Poverty, less well known to audiences outside Britain. These run without a break into the text, and the choir morphs into a sort of vocal orchestra, with vocalises or parts of the carols; the famed "God bless us, every one" text is backed with a foreshadowing of the concluding It Came Upon the Midnight Clear. Listeners may love this or find it just the slightest bit cheesy, and they may make their choice, but it would be difficult for even the detractors to argue that this is anything less than an original concept. The overlapping of the carols and the text sections may make this material difficult for radio broadcasters or podcasters; some sections don't have natural breaks. Sono Luminus, as usual, provides excellent sound from its Virginia studio, and Walker is an effective narrator, offering just a hint of an English accent. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	09/23/2022
Label:	Sono Luminus
UPC:	0053479226204
Rank:	8794

Tracks

1. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: The Truth from Above
2. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: In the Counting House
3. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: Surplus Population
4. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: God Rest You Merry
5. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: Marley's Ghost
6. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: Mankind was my Business
7. A Christmas Carol~Stave One: Marley's Ghost: Remember
8. A Christmas Carol~Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past
9. A Christmas Carol~Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits: Little Fan
10. A Christmas Carol~Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits: Sussex Carol
11. A Christmas Carol~Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits: Fezziwig's Ball
12. A Christmas Carol~Stave Two: The First of the Three Spirits: Gain is Loss
13. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: The Ghost of Christmas Present
14. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: Not a Handsome Family / Silent Night
15. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: A Child Himself
16. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: Deck the Halls
17. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: The Bell Struck Twelve
18. A Christmas Carol~Stave Three: The Second of the Three Sprits: Ghost of the Future
19. A Christmas Carol~Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits: The Body of a Man
20. A Christmas Carol~Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits: My Little Child
21. A Christmas Carol~Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits: Coventry Carol
22. A Christmas Carol~Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits: The Spirits of All Three
23. A Christmas Carol~Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits: Poverty
24. A Christmas Carol~Stave Five: The End of It: Christmas Day
25. A Christmas Carol~Stave Five: The End of It: Back Payments
26. A Christmas Carol~Stave Five: The End of It: God Bless Us, Every One
27. A Christmas Carol~Stave Five: The End of It: It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sarah Walker   Primary Artist,Conductor
Skylark   Primary Artist,Vocal Ensemble
Peter Walker   Bass Baritone,Bass (Vocal)
Paul Darey   Tenor (Vocal)
Clare McNamara   Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
Sarah Moyer   Soprano (Vocal)
Helen Karloski   Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
Robbie Jacobs   Tenor (Vocal)
Nathan Hodgson   Tenor (Vocal)
Sophie Arnelkin   Soprano (Vocal)
Carrie Cheron   Mezzo-Soprano (Vocal)
Dana Whiteside   Baritone (Vocal)
Michael Hawes   Bass Baritone,Baritone (Vocal)

Technical Credits

Daniel Shores   Mixing,Engineer,Mastering Engineer
Thomas Oliphant   Text
Heinrich Seuse   Text
Matthew Guard   Editing,Liner Notes,Artistic Director
Benedict Sheehan   Composer,Revision,Original Material
Sarah Walker   Narrator
Jane Ellis   Text,Original Material
Charles Dickens   Story,Text
Dan Merceruio   Producer,Editing
Richard Storrs Willis   Original Material
Thomas Ravenscroft   Text
Joseph Mohr   Text
Franz Gruber   Original Material
Edmund Sears   Text
Isaac Watts   Text
Bishop Luke Wadding   Text
Collin Rae   Executive Producer
K.E. Roberts   Text Translation