Customer Reviews

The Christmas Revels: In Celebration of the Winter Solstice

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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This is without a doubt, hands down the VERY BEST Christmas CD in existence. And no, I'm not being dramatic. This music has actually become part of my family's Christmas tradition. We keep ourselves in suspense until Christmas Eve, and then we finally put on the CD and listen and dance and sing along together. Please give yourself and your family the gift of this music. It is worth every penny, 20 times over.

If you've seen any of the Christmas Revels live performances, which appear in a number of cities during the holiday season, you'll see an intimate performance of singers, choruses (including children's), dancers and instrumental ensembles, all of it first rate. The Revels are meant to evoke an earlier Christmas, the solstice celebration of the end of the year, of death and rebirth, as celebrated in feasting and cameraderie of a small village.

This album is the stereotypical Revels, and begins with the haunting Abbot's Bromley Horn Dance for the Morris dancers (typically in the show), and the spoken introductions that would open and carry the show throughout. The sword dance is there, as is the Lord of the Dance (to the tune of Simple Gifts) that marks the end of the first act -- and in which the entire audience dances out through the theater to the lobby, led by the cast.

There's also the majestic Sussex Mummer's Carol ("God bless the master of this house ...") at the end, in which the audience joins, and here it is sung in its typical arrangement. This carol ends all Revels Christmas shows, whatever the show's theme, and it is as moving a carol as you'll ever hear.

I have this album in CD -- same material -- and I recommend you buy it in full if you're downloading it, since it is the full show and worth the experience.

Christmas Revels is an experience like no other. In the truest form of community theater the cast develops a neighborhood of families of all ethnic and material standing and presents Christmas as it may have been. Come with us, and celebrate the shortest day! Go Yule!

This is a neat CD - its very down to earth - very renaissance sounding with trumpets, flutes, and voices that are more like those out of a play than a usual holiday cd that is dense with choirs, polished singing. Most all the songs are all up-beat and while some might be familiar (e.g. here we come a wassailing, 12days of christmas) many were new to me. Really a fresh way to celebrate. All the songs seem to be very traditional in terms of toasts that might be given at a feast or songs that would be sung at a celtic feast. There were some songs that I prefer to skip over that talk to killing animals for the feast etc.

The main reason to buy this cd is for "Lord of the Dance" (which technically isn't a Christmas but rather an Easter song). This is still the best version of the song out there.

This is the first and the best of the CD's issued by the Christmas Revels. It is a concept CD with a wonderful flow from beginning to end. It sounds as if it were a live performance, even though it is not, with songs, readings and staging that is quite remarkable. It is not a very easy CD to find, but it is well worth seeking out...even if you have to buy it used!

This album is full of old world english traditional holiday tunes, but its arrangement is based on a participatory holiday event that only started in the early 1970's. Still, it's fun to listen to -- almost like you're listening to a village processional from the 15th century. I especially enjoy the Lord of the Dance, sung by the man who put the whole show together.

I was so pleased to find this on CD. My family has listened to this on LP every Christmas morning for as long as I can remember. The music is fun and upbeat and really sets the festive mood.

This is a recording of a stage production with a cast of a hundred or so. It is celebrating Christmas, and the Winter Solstice, in the Victorian Age. If you find most Christmas Carols boring after a while, this music is for you. The Lord of the Dance is particularly stirring as the cast brings the audience into the music. It's wonderful!

A joyous romp through a "historical" Christmas - leaves you wanting more.