Customer Reviews

The Many Moods of Christmas (1963 RCA Victor Version) Robert Shaw Chorale and Orchestra

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a classic recording that makes a lot of short lists of best Christmas music recordings. This album features the arrangements of Robert Russel Bennet from the early 60's, originally recorded by the Robert Shaw Chorale. This recording, recorded some twenty years later, is performed again by Robert Shaw, but with the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus.

As I listen to this music, I can't help thinking what this music must have sounded like in live performance. It is an impressive sound, even if I am accustomed to hearing these carols in a somewhat more intimate setting. I don't have to describe the quality of the chorus; it is after all Shaw's chorus, and he is the master of his element here. This is orchestral choral singing at its best, and we could expect nothing less than this from Shaw.

The musical selections include many pieces which never make it into the musak of the mall, which is always a treat. In addition to the familiar classics, we have Patapan, Fum Fum Fum, Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella, and a Bach chorale (Break Forth, O Beauteous Light). These pieces will be familiar to anyone versed in the Fred Waring / Robert Shaw tradition, but they will be a welcome discovery to others. The arrangements are both choral and instrumental, with no solo voices.

Personally, I prefer a smaller choral group for this music, but that is a matter of personal preference, and I can hardly hold it against this recording. This is a classic recording, one which would provide a good foundation for any collection.

This reissue of the classic 1963 recording stands the test of time for two reasons: Robert Shaw's incredible Chorale Singers and the masterful arrangements by Robert Russell Bennett. Nearly 40 years have passed, yet these arrangements still pack a wallop.

Few of today's Christmas recordings even come close to the vibrant, joyful, playful and powerful scores of Bennett. Be sure to purchase this version and not the lackluster re-recording that was made in 1983.

Total time: 47:18

I purchased the original performance of this album conducted by the arranger, "Robert Russel Bennet", (Victory at Sea, Arr.), with the RCA Symphony Orchestra and the Robert Shaw Chorale. I was so impressed by the spirit and power of the rendition that I purchase seven more albums to distribute to friends and family that holiday season. I still have the original vinyl, now taped many times, but alas, the LP has reached a senescence commensurate with it's 30 plus years. The remake by R.Shaw on CD, now conducting the Atlanta Symphony along with his esteemed Chorale, is a faithful technical duplication of R.R. Bennet's original arrangements, but the inspirational exuberance of the first flowering is absent from the Atlanta offering, even the organ is a bit insipid. This remastering of the original glorious performance should rate among the top few renderings of traditional yuletide music and should be offered every future midwinter festival to delight the ear of Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, Agnostic and/or atheist alike. Great music is truly universal and this should be a top seller for a long, long time.

V.C. Heath, USN, Ret.

There are two almost identical versions of "The Many Moods of Christmas" this is the first 1963 recording. There is a 1990 recording of the same material and arrangements on the Telarc label. I have to say I was looking forward to getting this original recording. I remember the vinyl as being quite good and many early analog recordings are spectacular. I suspect this was spectacular before the digital remastering engineers at BMG/RCA got a chance to "improve" it. The program is sadly compressed to death. The quiet parts are loud and the loud parts just get painful, shrill and unlistenable.

I also have the newer Telarc CD of the very same material. I know others have hinted that the original is better musically but I'd have to get a copy of the original on vinyl and haul out the old turntable to know. The dynamics are changed so radically on this remastering that there is no reason to buy it. Maybe one day the 1963 master tapes will be revisited by musical engineers and we'll all be able to hear the 1963 version as it was recorded with depth and musical dynamics. This CD is sad and I wish I could return it and not just throw it away.

Mitch Miller, Ray Conniff, UK's King College Choir -- while all produce nice Christmas music, none belong in the same league with the Robert Shaw Chorale's work in "The Many Moods of Christmas."

The arrangements are better than anyone else's, and the vocals are better than any other of those in this genre. And better is an understatement. I'm blown away by the quality of this recording.

One can sense an enormous amount of pride on the part of all involved with this work: Shaw, Robert Russell Bennett (the arranger), the chorus, and the RCA orchestra. No doubt, they didn't walk into the recording studio and knock this out in one take.

There are no instrumental selections; most songs typically open with some lush orchestral music shortly followed by the voices of the chorus.

Until now, I've not been a fan of chorale type Christmas CDs. In most instances, either the music or the voices fell short. Not this time. Not only do they fail to fall short, they start at the top of the game, and stay there throughout the album -- never hitting so much as one false note.

Other reviewers are correct; this is not a shy collection of songs. They announce Christmas with great exhuberance. But they do it better than anyone before this recording was made (1963), and most certainly, better than any who have come after.

There are better Christmas albums in my view: Those by Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Alan Jackson (Let It Be Christmas), and Patty Loveless. But if you're looking for a Christmas CD that features an orchestra/chorus, stop looking. You found the best you're going to find.

This is the best classical style Christmas album that I have ever heard. Robert Shaw, as always, does a great job of conducting both his chorale and the Atlanta Symphony. This is a must buy for your holiday music collection.

Most that are familiar with this album rank it amongst the best Christmas recordings of all time. That said I strongly suggest purchasing Robert Shaw's "A Festival of Carols" instead. Why? Because it contains ever track on this album + 11 others, including the best version of Carol of the Bells ever recorded, for about the same price.

While in seminary, in the 1950's Shaw Chorale was in midst of tours and recording of those great Deep River Spirituals! Then suddenly in 1963 they introduced, "The Many Moods of Christmas." All 'good church musicians' placed them in their FBC, First Meth Church, First Pres, etc. Two GA churchmen got his "permission" to use copies of instrumental groups of Brass and Woodwinds. We kept them in our church libraries for all these years.

My favorite groups of Sir Robert and Robert Russell Bennett whom Shaw greatly admired has to be, No III and No IV: "What Child is This?" "Bring A Torch; Angels We Have Heard On High; Break Forth, O Beauteous Light; I Saw Three Ships!" Those in his ASO Chorus had the fun of doing bits of those, and some parts of all four! No other chorus likely had the luxury of Sir Robert's clearly perfected choral approach.

Not ever again can we hear his husky-voiced words giving us his deeply placed whispering but clearly inspired magical direction ..."This is the way we want to sound." Like his early Robert Shaw Chorale! It's super-clear to read in this CD's 1998 interview with the choral genius & Lucy Cross: the facts of his original, "Many Moods, and (uh-mm-uh) maybe our very BEST!
Retired Singer-Chaplain Fred W Hood

Of the many moods of Christmas featured here, you will have to look hard for "peaceful". The grandiose orchestration overwhelms the choral effort. I was finally done in by "I Saw Three Ships", which is taken at a galloping pace and features over-the-top orchestration more befitting of a Broadway finale. If you are a fan of big production musicals, this could be the CD for you, but if you are more a fan of the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers sound, look elsewhere.

First off, I find it very interesting that Amazon recommends that you pick up this CD as part of a threesome along with the Telarc label 1994 Songs of Angels - Christmas Hymns and Carols which features later recordings of vocal only tracks and the RCA Gold Seal recording A Festival Of Carols / Robert Shaw Chorale. It's a redundant recommendation as the "Festival of Carols" disc contains the ENTIRE contents of this disc (yes, the very same 1963 recordings) plus an additional eleven must-hear tracks (24 minutes) of chorus only tracks from the sadly out-of-print 1957 RCA LP "Christmas Hymns and Carols", including Shepherd's Carol, My Dancing Day, God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen, Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming and my favorite choral rendition of Carol of the Bells.

"The Many Moods of Christmas" is certainly a classic holiday album which I, like other reviewers, recall hearing often during the holidays of my youth and belongs in the collection of any lover of choral Christmas music. The orchestral and choral arrangements by American composer Robert Russell Bennett are first class as are the playing by the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra and the singing of the Robert Shaw Chorale. But, again, the RCA Gold Seal "A Festival of Carols" gets the nods since for less money you get "The Many Moods of Christmas" in its entirety and the additional eleven choral tracks: a total of 71 minutes of music. You can always program your player to hear the four "Many Moods" medleys if that's your all in the mood for.

Another option is the Telarc disc The Many Moods of Christmas which is a 1983 DDD rerecording with Shaw leading the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. It is a sonic powerhouse and the all-digital recording sounds wonderful if state of the art sound is what you're interested in. However, and it may be a hint of nostalgia coming into play, I personally prefer the smaller forces of the 1963 recording in terms of both sound and performance, which are warmer and more intimate. Go for the '63 recording but pick up A Festival Of Carols / Robert Shaw Chorale: less money plus more music.