Event

A Canticum Novum Christmas

This is the time of year when Christmas music makes its way into concert halls, but it would be hard to imagine a more pleasant evening of these folk and religious works than the program sung by the Canticum Novum Singers under the direction of Harold Rosenbaum at the Abraham Goodman House on Sunday night. Whether intoning the graceful imitations of Josquin or Gustav Holsts more contemporary settings, whether singing an early Yankee choral work by William Billings or Felix Mendelssohns version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, the group was sensitive and controlled. In soft transparent settings, the textures were almost tactile. Even Frans Grubers Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht sounded freshly musical. The style of the singing shifted to suit the program. The English version of Haydns canon Die Gewissheit, with its repeated line If I get a Christmas present, I will really not deserve it: This I know full well! fully deserved the audiences accolades. Anonymous medieval songs were simply declaimed with a folk like elegance. The concert was a fine beginning to this part of the musical season.
-The New York Times