Album: Anonymous 4, The Cherry Tree: Songs, Carols & Ballads for Christmas (Harmonia Mundi)

Their name might be derived from a musicological reference to a 13th-century musical theorist, but Anonymous 4 could easily serve as an indication of how seamlessly the four womens' voices blend together in these acappella arrangements of 15th-century carols.

Though each is showcased on solo ballads, it's their facility with harmonies, whether the English triadic form of "Nowel Syng We Bothe Al And Som" or the more intricate polyphonies of "Mervele Noght, Iosep", which impresses, as does their inference of the subtle differences between the European singing style and that of the New World used in "The Shepherd's Star".

DOWNLOAD THIS Nowel Syng We Bothe Al And Som; The Shepherd's Star; Mervele Noght, Iosep