The Cherry Tree, Anonymous 4 concert

Thanks to Villanova University's office for Mission and Ministry, Anonymous 4 performed at free public concert this evening at St. Thomas of Villanova Church. Knowing of this extraordinarily talented group that sings medieval chant, a capella, with some early American gospel music thrown in as well, we spread the word about the concert. Some friends were able to join us there for the outstanding concert. The program was entitled "The Cherry Tree," and the description from their website is as follows:

Anonymous 4's newest program, The Cherry Tree, is named for the miracle ballad of Joseph and Mary, the earliest text of which survives from a Coventry Play. of c. 1400 The Cherry Tree story persisted in many forms, making its way into medieval British carols of the mid-15th century, and into British and American traditional ballads.

In The Cherry Tree, we present medieval and traditional versions of the story, like Mervele noght iosep and As I lay up on a nyght, along with other much-loved medieval carols, like Nowell synge we, Make we joye, Synge we to this mery cumpane, and Hail Mary. We also perform the monophonic 15th-century ballad carols Newell: Tydings trew, and Lullay my child: This ender nithgt, along with the well-known lullaby carol of the Nuns of Chester, Qui creavit celum. Along with these, we also sing traditional American Christmas songs with British roots -- A Virgin Unspotted, The Shepherd's Star, Star in the East and William Billings' joyous 4-part fuging tune Bethlehem.

I bought two more CDs and look forward to their release of "The Cherry Tree." It's a keeper.