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If you enjoy a cappella women's groups, then Aquabella is a natural choice. This female vocal quintet (Claudia Karduck, Gisela Knorr, Ulrike Siems, Bettina Stäbert, Bettina Wildtraut) hails from Bremen, Germany. The 19 songs on Kykellia, which apparently means "The Story of Christmas," pull together music from Germany, Bulgaria, Spain, Ireland, Latvia, France, Norway, Georgia, Russia, Israel, New Zealand, Argentina and North America. This stellar collection epitomizes the intense excitement and reverent solemnity that so many cultures ascribe to the birth of Christ and the winter solstice. Aquabella performs purely a capella or with minimal percussion accompaniment.

This unique Christmas CD excels on so many levels. First and foremost, these women have superior vocal abilities--so crystal clear and sweet, with a slightly haunting, exotic bent. The harmonies are almost unnaturally lovely. As for the song selection, most cuts are unfamiliar, but the disc provides so many rich opportunities for amazing revelations. My personal favorite is the rich and rhythmic "Breaths," a song sung in English with simple, but profound, lyrics that speak of the unity between life and death, bearing the message that the dead breathe in our everyday world through fire, water, everything! Other great tracks include the exquisite "El Cant Dels Ocells," which nicely captures the delicate, yet joyful, feel of singing birds, and the hypnotically chant-like "Vila Moma." Best of all, Aquabella sings perhaps the best "Wexford Carol" and "Noel Nouvelet" I have ever heard! The arrangements are gentle and innovative, maintaining the traditional songs' gorgeous framework while playing to the women's strengths. Superb!

Aquabella's Kykellia is an excellent selection for the somewhat adventurous holiday music lover, but it is not terribly easy to find. Given their wonderful musicianship, this group deserves a broader audience. For now, the CD is available from domestic retailers that specialize either in a cappella music (www.singers.com) or international folk music (www.cdroots.com).

--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Vocalists in AQUABELLA:
Claudia Karduck
Gisela Knorr
Ulrike Siems
Bettina Stäbert
Bettina Wildtraut

Percussion:
Dorothee Wesseling (3,9,10,13)
Janos Crecelius (2,14)

How does the pagan symbol of the birth of the sun find its way into a Christian Christmas carol from France? Why do the Canadian Huron Indians sing about Jesus' birth? And how is it that in Bulgaria only boys aged between eight and twelve are allowed out of the house between midnight and dusk from 25th December to 6th January?

For at least 10,000 years humankind has celebrated and feared the winter solstice. In almost every culture on Earth whose ancient lore told of sun standing still this period has very great, and indeed magical significance. The origin of the festival is the primeval, human fear of increasing darkness and the recurrent anxiety as to whether nature would ever regain its fruitfulness. And so, the turn of the year also became a time of oaths and customs designed to appease the gods and drive out evil spirits.

One of the oldest winter rituals is the Egyptian festival of Kykellia, the festival that gave this extraordinary CD its title. On 25th December the ancient Egyptians celebrated the birth of the god of light, Horus, who was born of Isis in the darkness in order to awaken the murdered god of fertility, Osiris. The image of the mother god Isis with the young Horus on her lap became a prototype for depictions of Mary and the infant Jesus. At the time of Jesus' birth Kykellia was celebrated not just in Egypt, but throughout the Mediterranean and Near East. Like the "raw nights" of the Germanic tribes, it lasted 12 days, ending on 6th January, the day of the first sowing. From pagan Rome it spread out across all of Europe. The Christians subsequently adopted the tradition and ever since have celebrated the birth of the Saviour at this time.

With the advent of Christianity the Kykellia festival spread to the entire world. Missionaries carried the originally pagan custom to the remotest corners of the globe where, in turn, the Christian message melded with the religions and rituals myths and customs of the converted peoples. And so, still in the present day the Christmas period is not just a time for songs honouring Jesus Christ and the three kings: in song it has also partly remained a pagan spectacle. Symbols so familiar to us today, such as fireworks on New Year's Eve, joss sticks and the pre-Christian Christmas tree, recall times long past in which demons were driven out with noise, houses protected by smoking out dark forces and the pleas issued to the gods to make the earth fruitful once more. And so when we light candles today, when our children sing to the glory of God, when we set our tables and decorate our homes with evergreens, we are following an ancient, pre-Christian impulse from thousands of years ago.

And AQUABELLA is lighting candles and bringing light into a time that is so full of wonderful rituals and significance. Their worldwide hunt for winter and Christmas songs took this female quartet from Germany to Bulgaria, Spain, Ireland, Latvia, France, Norway, Georgia, Russia, Israel, New Zealand, Argentina and North America. The souvenirs they brought back from this musical tour make up a wonderful collection of Christmas world music featuring fascinating songs which, although initially perhaps a little distant, always speak to us of home and find their way into our hearts.

Aquabella

Kykellia

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Track List