The Secret Life of Carols brings together a mixture of the earliest medieval English carols and traditional carols from across Europe performed by medieval music ensemble, The Telling. The title is inspired by the fact that many carols have intertwined roots, dating back centuries, often to the Middle Ages, with melodies being adapted and reinvented, and new sets of words written.

In the Middle Ages the term “carol” didn’t have the same meaning as today. It was merely an indication of the form of the piece which would start and end with a chorus (named a burden) and would be interspersed with verses which told the story. The word carol is derived from the Old French word carole, a circle dance accompanied by singers.

The programme on this album includes a selection of traditional carols from across Europe. Many, like the Burgundian carol Patapan, have roots going back centuries, some as far back as the Middle Ages. There is also a personal dimension to the choice of carols, drawing on three of the roots of the performers on the album, i.e. Finnish, German and Irish roots (Kaisa Pulkkinen, Ariane Prüssner and Jean Kelly respectively) to include several carols which are not well known in the UK.

The Telling has a growing reputation for creating intimate, staged concerts to bring early and medieval music off the page and reach wider audiences. They create a different concert experience, combining ancient song, ballads and upbeat instrumental dances with new writing, narrative, readings or film. They sometimes perform moving around the audience, using lighting and/or candlelight.

Formed in 2009, The Telling draw from a pool of leading musicians who perform for the Joglaresa, I Fagiolini, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Carnival Band and The Dufay Collective. The group has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and Woman’s Hour and, in December 2018, on BBC Radio 4’s flagship show Saturday Live with the Reverend Richard Coles and Aasmah Mir. The Telling’s album, Gardens of Delight, was released on First Hand Records in 2018 (FHR68).

‘...beguiling, Siren-like voices... the fervent, florid chants of Hildegard of Bingen – so fragrant you can almost smell them.... There is an ardour to these performances that is hard to resist.’ – BBC Music Magazine

Tracklisting:
1. Lullay my child
2. Es kommt ein Schiff, geladen
3. O Jesulein Süss, BWV493 (JS Bach)
4. Christmas Eve (Tommy Coen’s reel)
5. Gabriel fram evene king
6. Stille Nacht (FX Gruber)
7. Lullay, lullay, als I lay on Yoolis Night
8. El Noi de la Mare
9. Maria Durch ein’ Dornwald ging
10. Maa on niin kaunis
11. Verbum caro factum est
12. Coventry Carol
13. Hainillä härkien kaukalon
14. Patapan
15. As I lay upon a night
16. Nowell, nowell (Salutation Carol)

The Telling:
- Clare Norburn (voice)
- Ariane Prüssner (voice, frame drum)
- Jean Kelly (Celtic and medieval harps)
- Kausa Pulkkinen (baroque and medieval harps)