Under the umbrella title of Christmas Collection, Yule sneaks in for review on a sunny, hot August morning: a collection of settings and arrangements by Clive Osgood (no stranger to these pages: see his interview in Fanfare 43:5, my review of that disc in that issue; his O quam tristis, 47:2, his Stabat Mater, 48:5, his Magnificat, 47:6, plus Huntley Dent’s review of Osgood’s chamber music in 48:2). 

Osgood’s recent (2024) Hodie Christus natus est was joint first prize winner at the Sir David Willcock’s Carol Competition. It begins with an explosion of joy on “Hodie” (Today). The music sits squarely in the English carol tradition. The choral ensemble Polyphony reacts with characteristic verve and accuracy, irregular (seven-beat) rhythms sprung and conveying a sense of expectancy. Staccatos and staccatissimos are brilliantly done, the acoustic (St. Jude on the Hill, Hampstead, London) resonant enough to honor the church setting while not blurring these effects (I note the recording team is the dynamite duo of Adrian Peacock as Producer and Editor, and Dave Hinitt in charge of engineering and mastering). Osgood’s 2019 setting of Coventry Carol should have won awards, too; it is notably wide-ranging (the robust stanza about Herod) while Adam lay ybounden packs extraordinary richness of texture and vitality of rhythm into a mere 1:22. Polyphony is superb here, the balance between voices constant at high velocity. There is no sense of strain from the sopranos. Sir Christëmas (2017) deals with a proto-Santa in music of near-ecstasy. 

Osgood’s expert use of texture shines again in the 2014 In excelsis gloria, in which solo voices are uniformly excellent. 

Published in 1582, Piae Cantiones offers a selection of sacred and secular songs, plus carols. Osgood takes the melodies and adds his own spice: “Omnis mundus” retains the original theme, now couched in a fiery glow and warmth; Polyphony captures this glow beautifully. Particularly impressive are Osgood’s harmonies at “Gaudete,” sophisticated and yet perfectly seasonal. “Resonet in laudibus” follows a similar scheme, the theme in soprano against the more complex lower harmonies. 

Finally, Polyphony is joined by Britten Sinfonia for a set of three carols, also taken from Piae Cantiones, collectively known as Sinfonia Cantiones. A warm French horn solo (Andew Littlemore) over strings introduces “Puer nobis nascitur” (Unto us is born a son); the blossoming of the famous melody, sung to Latin words, is most satisfying, choir and orchestra in perfect accord (and beautifully balanced in the recording). It is pretty clear Osgood had fun in fashioning his arrangement, and that comes across in the joy of discovery of the performance: old wine in new bottles, perhaps. “Personet hodie” (Let resound today) features a lovely English horn solo from Emma Fielding plus some lovely a cappella witing which morphs seamlessly into the orchestra. A rousing “Up! Good Christen Folk” closes, both voices and orchestra pointed, rhythmic, full of bubbling anticipation for the seasonal birth. 

This is a terrific near-half hour bundle of seasonal goodies. Clive Osgood is very, very good at what he does; and what a treat to hear all of this in such fine sound.