Cherry Tree - Songs Carols & Ballads for Christmas

Back in the studio after a four year hiatus Anonymous 4 returns with
The Cherry Tree an instant holiday music classic featuring medieval
English carols and Anglo-American spiritual songs. It is the
eighteenth original recording for the renowned vocal ensemble and
their first since 2006 s Gloryland which debuted at number three on
the Billboard classical chart. Anonymous 4 has been a perennial
presence on Billboard s Top Classical Albums chart and hit number one
with their folk-inspired American Angels in 2004. The Cherry Tree is
named after the miracle ballad of Joseph and Mary, the earliest text
of which survives from a Coventry Play from around 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 it, Joseph doubts the divine origin of Mary s
pregnancy only to hear Jesus speak from within Mary s womb, causing a
cherry tree to bend its branches and offer his mother its fruit. The
2011-12 season marks Anonymous 4's 25th anniversary and the group will
be on tour in the US this fall.