Narada Presents: The Best of Celtic Christmas

Various Artists (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Narada
• ASIN: B00006LHW7
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,336 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear - Cathie Ryan

2. Christ Child's Lullabye - Kathy Mattea

3. Christmastime In Ashland - Cormac Breatnach

4. Nowel: Owt Of Your Slepe Aryse - Anonymous 4

5. The Mummer's Fig - Christmas Eve - Boys Of The Lough

6. Get Me Through December - Natalie MacMaster

7. I Saw Three Ships - Maddy Prior

8. Silent Night - William Jackson

9. The Snowy Path - Altan

10. Away In A Manger - El McMeen

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Enniscorthy Christmas Carol - Dordan

2. Leanbh Ghil Mhilis (Bright Sweet Child) - Dordan

3. Christmas Eve Reel (Tommy Coen's Reel) - Dordan

4. Mistletoe Waltz - Dordan

5. Draiocht Na hOiche (The Magic Of The Night) - Dordan

6. Winter Solstice - Dordan

7. Oiche Nollag (Christmas Eve) - Dordan

8. March Of The Dreoilin - Dordan

9. Oiche Chiuin (Silent Night) - Dordan

10. Failte An Fhanai (The Wayfarer's Welcome) - Dordan

See all 15 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Best of Celtic Christmas is a captivating double CD that is sure to set the right tone for a more reverential Christmas feast, and/or revelry. Packed with fiddles, flutes, and angelic voices, the first disc features a variety of Ireland's most loved traditionalists, from Altan and Natalie MacMaster to the Boys of the Lough and De Dannan's Frankie Gavin (in a spirited version of "Ding Dong Merrily on High" with the Irish Chamber Orchestra), plus many others, among them American country singer Kathy Mattea. Disc 2 highlights the award-winning Galway group Dordan, in a collection of jigs, reels, and carols, many sung in Gaelic, such as "Silent Night" and "Christmas Eve." There's a powerful magic to Irish music, with bright bursts of joy and merriment always tinged with a suggestion of melancholy and contemplation, and this set readily demonstrates it for the most magical time of the year. Recommended. --Martin Keller

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars More Isn't Necessarily Better, December 23, 2005

By 

Pileated (CT, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Narada Presents: The Best of Celtic Christmas (Audio CD)

I've enjoyed the Windham Hill Celtic Christmas recordings for years, so I had high hopes for this one from Narada, particularly since Altan and Boys of the Lough are featured on it. The first thing I noticed is that the quality of the sound on this recording is just awful on just about every track. I have no idea whether I received a defective copy or if the overall production values on the CD are inferior, but the sound quality is unsatisfactory by any standard. Secondly, the songs themselves are just not up to the quality of others of this genre----rather a B list of Celtic holiday recordings. If you're buying your first Celtic holiday CD, start with the Windham Hill recordings, or the Chieftains' The Bells of Dublin.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly Celtic Christmas, December 10, 2003

By 

jirandele "jirandele" (New Albany, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Narada Presents: The Best of Celtic Christmas (Audio CD)

If you want to listen to Christmas Celtic style, this is it. We have purchased a couple of other "celtic" Christmas albums in the past, but all they consisted of was traditional Christmas tunes played on the bagpipes. This album has a great mix of music with some traditional Christmas songs as well as some orignals by the various artists. The music styles range all over the celtic genre from Altan to Kathy Mattea.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff, December 5, 2008

By 

michellehz (maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Narada Presents: The Best of Celtic Christmas (Audio CD)

I agree with all the good reviews, this is less common, soothing, beautiful celtic music with a holiday spirit. It's something I listen to all year, it doesn't have many of the classic carols that get stuck in your head. My copy sounds great, I think the one bad review got a bad cd and should ask for a replacement.