My favorite Christmas music

I appreciate when other people recommend
favorite CDs. In that spirit, I share with you some of my favorite Christmas
CDs. (A warning: I tend to favor the less familiar over tried and true
Christmas carols. I also prefer vocal music to instrumental and a cappella to
accompanied.)

Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier, director,
Carols from the Old and New Worlds.
The Pro-Arte Singers and the Indiana University Children's Choir, Paul Hillier,
director, Carols from the Old and New
Worlds, vol. II. These recordings draw on carols based on English and
German folk tunes, as well as early American music, some from the shape-note
tradition. Unfortunately, the first volume appears to be available only used or
in the form of mp3 downloads. The second one was reissued as Traditional and Modern Carols and is
available on CD.

Chanticleer, Sing We Christmas. The sound produced by this San Francisco-based
male ensemble is about as pure as blended human voices get. The more recent A Chanticleer Christmas ends with Franz
Biebl's Ave Maria and almost makes a
Mary devotee out of this dyed-in-the-wool Protestant. But if I had to choose
between them, I'd still go with the earlier CD.