Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Instrumental Christmas albums seldom make for the most exciting listening but, on the whole, this set from the increasingly popular British ensemble is a pleasant selection of seasonal material which would sound pretty good as an accompaniment to that turkey lunch. As well as the usual suspects ("O Come All Ye Faithful", "Ding Dong Merrily On High" and "O Little Town Of Bethlehem") the orchestra takes in contemporary material from the likes of Chris Rice and Graham Kendrick. There is also a version of "O Little Town" by James Horsfall (who, the sleeve note helpfully tells us lives on the island of Jersey). If truth be told there are better chamber orchestras than Kings making CDs at the moment and once or twice the interplay between the violins and the celli is a tad ragged. But with the heartening desire of the orchestra's director Gererd le Feuvre to lift up Jesus' name, and the warm ambience these seasonal renditions often convey, 'Christmas String Heaven' would make a very acceptable stocking filler.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.