Browsed by
Category: Christmas

Christmas Is Here

Christmas Is Here

  It is that time of year again, and all my posts are over at https://ultramaroon.net/goodstone-christmas/ .Head on over for all things holiday, and this year there are some special bonuses [be sure to check out the comments…]

Deller Consort Christmas

Deller Consort Christmas

Alfred Deller and the Deller Consort recorded 4 Christmas theme albums for the Bach Guild / Vanguard in the 50’s and 60’s: ‘The Holly and the Ivy’,’Hark Ye Shepherds’,’Carols And Motets For The Nativity’ and ‘Carols and Motets of Medieval Europe’. The Bach Guild has released a Christmas Big Box as a download, and it includes all 4 albums, plus other works at http://amzn.to/1yKcXQx . The MP3 download contains over 13 hours of music, and at the almost free price of 99 cents….

Read More Read More

Medieval Christmas 2

Medieval Christmas 2

Here is another oldie, but being my first Medieval Christmas album, it has always been my favorite. They do get a bit heavy on the sackbuts and such, but still a fun record. At Amazon: http://amzn.to/1ahMHg2 iTunes download:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-medieval-christmas-feast/id265297033

Medieval Christmas 1

Medieval Christmas 1

Joel Cohen and the Boston Camerata recorded this Christmas LP in 1975. A great mixture of ancient texts and melodies. From the album notes: The midwinter date of the festival of Christ’s nativity coincides with many pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, and most particularly with the Roman Dies sol invictus (“the day of the unconquered sun”), December 25. Certain pre-Christmas forms and practices survived and intermingled with the Christian holiday, and elements of the Roman Saturnalia, a year-end bacchanal,…

Read More Read More

Big Christmas Box Bargain

Big Christmas Box Bargain

The Bach Guild has a new MP3 release for the holidays, the “Big Christmas Box”, featuring classical recordings from the old Vanguard label. Included are a massive collections of works at 281 tracks. The Nutcracker, Messiah, various choral works, Bach’s Magnificat in D. All this for the bargain price of $0.99. Yep. 99 cents for over 13 hours of music. And these are not no-name performers, all were well-regarded in the 1960’s when most of these recordings were made. And…

Read More Read More

Percy Faith – Music of Christmas

Percy Faith – Music of Christmas

A classic that was heard in stores over the holidays from the 1950’s on, Faith’s arrangements of holiday songs is the very definition of Christmas Music. Originally recorded in 1954, it was later re-recorded in stereo in 1959 and this is the version that most people now know, [with the poinsettia cover] although there is not too much difference in the versions. A few years later Faith released ‘Hallelujah’ which was later renamed ‘Music of Christmas Volume 2’. It is…

Read More Read More

THE Christmas Album

THE Christmas Album

This is THE Christmas Album. Johnny Mathis with the Percy Faith Orchestra is a staple of my holiday music listening, and one that I could not do without. Others albums are essential listening, but this is on the top of the list. Johnny’s voice and the Percy Faith arrangements are a perfect match. The download version is only available on iTunes. Amazon: http://amzn.to/1bxObZO iTunes: http://a.basicrep.com/chr-johnny 

Norman Luboff – Songs of Christmas

Norman Luboff – Songs of Christmas

Released in 1956, this LP is a great choral album with all of the standard holiday favorite tunes. Of course the album is not in stereo, but the sound is fine and the performances show why this was a Christmas favorite for years. The artwork is new, but this is the original LP. Several of these tracks were featured on Goodyear Volumes 1-2-3. Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/IAnYgk iTunes: http://a.basicrep.com/chr-luboff