Track Listing

1. Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh
2. The Carnal and the Crane
3. The Oxen
4. Hark! Hark! What News
5. Bethlehem Down
6. Entre Le Bouef et LÂ’Ane Gris
7. Rorate Coeli de Super

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112885 in Music
• Released on: 2008-12-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: CD
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Review
If you're looking for a new and refreshing musical course through Christmas, then Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh may just do the trick. Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band extend their musical relationship to a sixth album together, this time based on a Christmas theme that investigates the well-known Nativity tale from the perspective of the many cultures and traditions that gave it birth and sustenance over the last two millennia. Themes, rhythms, melodies and words reflecting African, Near-Eastern and Arabic heritages can all be found here, reaching back to Zoroastrian traditions and beyond. So Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar tell their own stories and give their own explanations for their journeys and even the animals in the manger pass on their points of view. Prior and the Carnival Band, practised hands at performing together live and in the studio, put together a seamless narrative event that captures the imagination and also has a textural graininess sufficient to repel all accusations of sentimentality or roseate visions. This music reflects the stuff of ordinary lives caught up in extraordinary events--exactly what Christmas is all about, you might well say. --Keith Shadwick