What the world needs is yet another winter holiday album, more specifically: this holiday album. Jennifer Cutting’s Song of Solstice cannot fairly be called a Christmas album, but it will likely be appreciated by families of mixed religions and as well as those who acknowledge that in mid-winter we all need community and both physical and metaphorical light. I expect it will also become an instant classic for Wiccans.
The album is subtitled, “Celtic Music for Midwinter” but “Celtic” is using a broad definition: a majority of the traditional songs are French, with one each from Scotland and the Shetlands. The album mixes original compositions with mostly-traditional northern European Christmas tunes, sensitively arranged.
One of the great strengths of Song of Solstice is that there’s enough bitter to cut the sweetness, with recognition of the sometimes malevolent darkness, the nearness of death, and the cold weather that can be a misery for those without resources for shelter and warmth.
The sound and mix will be very familiar to anyone who has attended Revels, with its wide mix of performers and assortment of pieces all loosely tied together by an overarching theme. It is a lovely mix of solo and chorus vocals, along with gorgeous Celtic harp, one song with full orchestration, and excellent (i.e., restrained) use of Highland bagpipes.
The closest the album gets to a single star performer is Sue Richards on Celtic harp. She solos on traditional songs “Christmas Day in the Morning” (not the version you are familiar with), “Voici La Noel”, “Quelle Est Cette Odeur Agreable?”, and “Baloo, Lammy”, as well as accompanying singers on the Rossetti/Holst “In the Bleak Midwinter” (yes, the one you are familiar with).
The best song on the album is the title track. John Roberts and Tony Barrand are in excellent voice, as are the backing chorus and musicians. “Welcome Yule with frost and fire/And sing we all together” goes the chorus, and the song is eminently singable. Moreover, the tune sticks in one’s head, as infectious as the best Christmas carols.
As the most powerful track, “Song of Solstice” only slightly edges out the fabulous “Time to Remember the Poor,” an eerie, foreboding song reminding us of the danger of winter and the imminence of death. The album notes say this is a Victorian broadside song, but it is clearly re-imagined, transformed so that lyrics like: “All nature seems touched\By the finger of death” run icy fingers down your spine. Everyone will be equal in the grave, the lyrics tell us (and charity is expected of any worthwhile person with enough resources for comfort).
Another excellent piece that acknowledges the nearness of death: “Fall Leaves Fall” sets to music a dark poem by Emily Brontë with vocals by Annie Haslam (of Renaissance fame). The arrangement sounds like the beginning of a movie score, complete with lush orchestration and soaring descant. It’s a forceful march that would not be out of place as the theme for the White Witch who brought everlasting winter to Narnia.
Other stand-out tunes include the ecumenical “Light the Winter’s Dark” performed a capella in close harmony by Coope, Boyes, and Simpson, and “Green Man” with its (intentionally) somewhat abrasive sound. But really, there’s not a bad track on here. The final cut on the album, “Summer Will Come ‘Round Again” is a lovely waltz that seems necessary to close out an album about winter, but also a gentle end to a robust album, sending listeners off to dream of summer time.
An additional track is a Quicktime video. The campy “Bah Humbug” is a funny piece in itself, but seems out of place amid the more-dignified, more-produced audio-only songs.
I’ll skip the video, but the tunes — individually and as an album — are a well-proportioned, well-performed mix robust enough to keep the icy winds at bay. This album will be playing in our house this winter. It’s a keeper.
(Sunsign Records, 2010)
