Ola Gjeilo: Winter Songs – Choir Of Royal Holloway

   in Choir & Organ (Mar, 2018)
The listener who needs an escape from reality, Brexit and bad weather will find it in Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo’s Winter Songs. Indulgently rich in concept, his dreamy, romantic world flows lyrically along with nothing to mar its path. The disc features a selection of original pieces, four of them for piano and strings only, and some carol arrangements. For me, Gjeilo’s world detracts from the basic simplicity of the carol tunes except for the Coventry Carol, which sheds a new and inventive light on this old favourite. It is here that the choir gives its best performance, and performers and conductor are very sympathetic to Geilo’s music. The composer alone …