Be Gloria-Fied!

Here's the Discogs page for this well-done 1995 release. The contents:

01. Gloria Overture (1:29)

02. O Come All Ye Faithful (3:37)

03. Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming (3:01)

04. Christ the Messiah (4:22)

05. Silent Night (4:09)

06. Infant Holy (2:40)

07. No Eye Had Seen (2:36)

08. How Great Our Joy (1:59)

09. Shepherd's Pipe Carol (3:04)

10. All Is Well (3:45)

11. Gloria (2:48)

12. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (4:06)

13. We Three Kings (4:44)

14. Christmas Hymn (2:37)

15. Come Let Us Worship the King (3:33)

16. Joy to the World (2:41)

17. Gloria Reprise (5:21)

Gloria: The Sounds of Christmas

This appears to be a recorded concert –-- but I cut out the applause. My feeling is, it's reverent but a bit overblown.

See you Monday, in a New Year!  It's a date!

  

Lose Your Soul Straightway!

That statement may be a little harsh, but these arrangements do seem a little lifeless.

01. O Come, O Come Emmanuel (2:53)

02. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks (3:11)

03. I Wonder as I Wander (3:32)

04. Angels We Have Heard on High (2:57)

05. Breath Of Heaven (4:50)

06. Silent Night (4:30)

07. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (3:14)

08. What Child Is This? (3:42)

09. Away in a Manger (2:44)

10. No Eye Has Seen (3:06)

Heart of Worship Classics - A Cappella Christmas

See you on Thursday with something a bit more stirring.  Keep your Christmastime merry, despite robo-carols!

  

I Want a Ball-Washer for Christmas!

 

Or maybe Rex Fowler does.

01. Mulligans (Jingle Bells) (1:36)

02. We Wish You Would Take Some Lessons (We Wish You A Merry Christmas) (2:00)

03. Up On The Elevated Tee (Up On The House Top) (1:24)

04. O’ 19th Hole (O’ Christmas Tree) (1:37)

05. Check The Balls (Deck The Halls) (2:02)

06. So Blame It On My Mid Life, Dear (It Came Upon A Midnight Clear) (1:36)

07. The Twelve Days Of Christmas (1:38)

08. The Gals Of Old Lang Syne (Auld Lang Syne) (2:18)

09. Colorful Christmas (2:32)

It’s kind of cute.  Strangely, most tunes make slight but obvious changes of a note here or there—I assume so as to not “infringe” on a copyrighted tune, or perhaps so as to copyright these particular arrangements?  Who knows?

The last song, however, is an original.

A Golfer’s Christmas Carols

Make a drive down your Yuletide fairway to a Merry Christmas!  Don't brain any shepherds with your chip shot.

Merry Christmas, campers!

  

A CORNY NEW CHRISTMAS!

It's super-duper cheesy because of over-the-top pseudo-sincerity.  The Caroling Party is more processed than Velveeta!

01. Sleigh Ride (2:05)

02. 50's Christmas (4:17)

03. The Christmas Song (3:47)

04. Hark The Herald Angels Sing (2:54)

05. Let It Snow, Let It Snow (2:22)

06. This Is Christmas (2:10)

07. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2:45)

08. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (3:57)

09. Rudolph Bells Frosty Town (2:16)

10. Carol of the Bells (1:36)

11. White Christmas (3:12)

12. The Christmas Waltz/Silver Bells (2:30)

13. O Holy Night (2:24)

14. Caroling, Caroling (1:30)

15. I Wish It Could Be Christmas Forever (1:53)

A Shiny New Christmas

Get your sunglasses out for this one!  See you Thursday.

  

Somebody Explain It to Me!

The title of this compilation, I mean.

Seriously.  There are more than 12 days in December, last time I looked.

DISC 1:

01 - O Come All Ye Faithful - Herb Avery

02 - Carol of the Bells - Robert Strickland

03 - O Little Town of Bethlehem - Robert Strickland

04 - Good King Wenceslas - Herb Avery

05 - Green Sleeves - Herb Avery

06 - O Tannenbaum - Herb Avery

07 - Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Herb Avery

08 - The First Noel - Robert Strickland

09 - When Christ Was Born of Mary Free - Robert Strickland

10 - O How Joyfully-Deck the Halls - Robert Strickland

11 - Go Tell It on the Mountain - Robert Strickland

12 - In the Manger - Herb Avery

13 - Whence Is that Goodly Fragrance - Herb Avery

14 - Born on Earth the Divine Christ Child - Herb Avery

DISC 2:

01 - Hark, the Herald Angels Sing - Herb Avery

02 - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - Herb Avery

03 - March of the Three Kings - Robert Strickland

04 - Silent Night - Herb Avery

05 - Jingle Bells-Jolly Old Saint Nick - Robert Strickland

06 - Rocking Toyland - Robert Strickland

07 - Here Is Joy for Every Age - Herb Avery

08 - Sans Day Carol - Herb Avery

09 - Here We Come a Caroling - Robert Strickland

10 - Away in a Manger - Robert Strickland

11 - Angels We Have Heard on High - Robert Strickland

12 - Coventry Carol - Herb Avery

It’s got the same performances from Avery as his New Age Noel  https://www.discogs.com/Herb-Avery-New-Age-Noel/release/15330875   -- (except for “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen”; Bach’s “Prelude in C”; and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”)

And it may contain performances from Strickland’s album 12 Days in December https://www.discogs.com/Robert-Strickland-12-Days-In-December/release/14724322 – I haven’t heard Strickland so I cannot say for sure. 

This cassette may be a shortened version of:  https://www.discogs.com/Robert-Strickland-Herb-Avery-Silent-Night-Carols-For-Solo-Piano/master/1747103 – but for example the cassette’s final listed track is “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which isn’t present in the CD set.

Track 3 of Disc Two is called “March of the Three Kings” – it is really an arrangement of the Farandole from Bizet’s L'Arlesienne Suite No 2.

Track 4 of Disc Two, Herb Avery’s “Silent Night,” also interweaves the second movement of Beethoven’s “Pathétique” piano sonata.

It's all in one file.

The 12 Days in December

Happy whatever-day-this-is.  See you on Monday.
  

Smooth, Baby!

The arrangements on this 1998 disc are so smooth and creamy, you'll think you're in an alternate dimension in which the century-old Jackie Gleason is still laying down tracks.

01. White Christmas (3:32)

02. The Holly & the Ivy (2:04)

03. Away in a Manger (2:22)

04. Deck the Halls (1:17)

05. O Holy Night (3:11)

06. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (2:20)

07. Hark the Harold Angels Sing (3:26)

08. We Three Kings (3:28)

09. The First Noel (2:41)

10. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear (3:03)

11. Ave Maria (5:16)

12. The Little Drummer Boy (2:39)

White Christmas and Other Yuletide Favorites

Let me know if you're soothed and smoothed.  See you Thursday!

   

Have Some Merry Weihnachtslieder

(That's "Christmas Songs," in case you weren't sure.)

As the cover says (in so many words), lyrics are included for singing together.

01. Stille Nacht (3:11)

02. Leise rieselt der Schnee (1:26)

03. O Tannenbaum (3:13)

04. Ihr Kinderlein kommet (3:14)

05. Kommet, ihr Hirten (2:30)

06. Süßer die Glocken nie klingen (3:17)

07. Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann (2:21)

08. Kling, Glöckchen, klingelingeling (2:41)

09. Laßt uns froh und munter sein (3:22)

10. O du fröhliche (2:37)

11. Alle Jahre wieder (2:15)

12. Es ist ein Ros' entsprungen (2:02)

You might expect "oom-pah-pah," but these are cheesy, obviously synth arrangements.  Try singing them in Deutsch anyway -- I dare ya!

An interesting listing for this disc may be found here.  What makes it interesting is when you try auto-translate.  I suppose in this case, "Lowdown" means "details."  The original Deutsch label is "Infos."

Die Schönsten Weihnachtslieder

See you on Monday ... maybe even in English!

  

Olde World, Synth Style

It's an interesting idea, trying to evoke olden times while using synths to replicate traditional instruments. It ain't necessarily a bad idea, but it's a widespread one.

01. En El Portal Abelen (In Bethlehem's Cradle) (2:29)

02. The Coventry Carol (2:17)

03. Celebrons La Naissance (We Sing in Celebration) (2:09)

04. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night) (3:05)

05. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (2:16)

06. Les Anges Dans Nos Campagnes (Angels We Have Heard on High) (2:37)

07. El Noi De La Mare (The Son of Mary) (2:46)

08. Joy to the World (2:05)

09. Still Nacht, Heilige Nacht (Silent Night) (2:26)

10. Det Kimer Nu Til Julefest (The Happy Christmas Comes Once More) (2:34)

11. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (3:05)

12. Veni, Emmanuel (O Come Emmanuel) (2:35)

13. O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) (2:26)

14. Nuar Det Juligen (Yuletide Is Here Again) (2:00)

15. Adeste Fideles (O Come all Ye Faithful) (2:49)

16. Weigen Lied Der Hirten (Shepherd's Cradle Song) (2:22)

Olde World

See you Thursday!

  

Get Ready for Some Hope!

Welcome to 2021's Spocky Christmas!

As we get ready to celebrate the greatest gift of all -- hope for everybody -- here's a new compilation of Christmas music.  Here are the tracks:

01 - Joy to the World - Cathedral Brass - 1998  (1:23)

02 - The First Nowell - The Elizabethan Singers - 1965  (4:09)

03 - I Wonder as I Wander - Radhika Miller - 1990  (3:17)

04 - Away in a Manger - John Edwards-Rondal Wallace - 2003  (3:19)

05 - Lullabies for the Baby Jesus - Mitzie Collins, Glennda Dove & Roxanne Ziegler - 1986  (3:14)

06 - Gloria! To God Sing Gloria! - arr Lloyd Larson - 2008  (3:40)

07 - What Child Is This - Jill Justice - 1990  (4:48)

08 - Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - The Fab Four - 2002  (2:07)

09 - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - London Festival Choir & London Symphony Brass Ensemble - 1987  (2:19)

10 - Lux Hodie...Orientis Partibus - Joel Cohen - 1975  (3:00)

11 - Concert Variations on “Adeste Fidelis” - Anna Maria Mendieta - 1993  (4:37)

12 - Bring a Torch, Jeannette, Isabella - John Edwards-Rondal Wallace - 2003  (2:41)

13 - Sweet Child of Glory - Mary O'Hara - 1962  (2:03)

14 - Children, Run Joyfully - St. Louis Jesuits - 1977  (2:36)

15 - Fantasy on “O Come, Little Children” - Joseph Martin - 1997  (4:21)

16 - Hallelujah to the New Born King - His Love, Reaching - 1975  (1:38)

17 - Ding Dong! Merrily on High - London Festival Choir & London Symphony Brass Ensemble - 1987  (2:06)

18 - Zither Carol - James Galway Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Singers, Chapel Choir Of King's School Canterbury - 1986  (2:54)

19 - Silent Night - The Elizabethan Singers - 1965  (3:07)

20 - I Wonder as I Wander - Kathleen Battle - 1986  (2:57)

21 - Twelve Days of Christmas - The Swingle Singers - 1987  (2:56)

22 - Go Tell It on the Mountain - Cambridge Singers, City of London Sinfonia - 1993  (3:13)

23 - Sound Over All Waters - Theresa Thomason and Paul Halley - 1998  (4:12)

24 - Hark! - The Fab Four - 2008  (1:44)

25 - For All Eternity - Classic Fox Records - 2006  (1:48)

26 - All Is Well - Michael W Smith et al - 2010  (4:09)

Don't forget that things don't have to end dark and lonely.  Check out the light of the world, he's pretty cool!

MA-154 - Hopeful Christmas Time

See you on Thursday!