La Ballade De Jesus Christ

This French carol from the seventeeth century or earlier is well known as the hymn Let all mortal flesh keep silence and this arrangement was commissioned in 2007 by the Oxford choir, Sospiri, for their CD of Christmas music,Videte Miraculum. The text, a miniature morality tale, has a simple, almost childlike quality to it and this is reflected in the shimmering harmonies and soft, fleeting dissonances, presenting the story as a bittersweet fairytale.