Customer Reviews

Great Orchestral Music of Christmas

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I look forward to the holidays each year just to listen to this music. This was my favorite Christmas album in the 60's and until recently listened to it on by parent's original vinyl recording! The music is traditional, full and grand. Purchase it!

I grew up on this LP in the 60s. I have not heard since then any instrumental Christmas recording equal to this in orchestration. It is superb and, to this day, holds the strongest muscial memories for all ten of us in our family.

I purchased the audio cassette of this recording ten years ago. Every year with the purchase of new Christmas music, this tape has always managed to be my favorite! Just this season I lost the tape and was estatic to find that the CD was available (which I now have). This is probably the most beautiful Christmas music I have ever heard. The arrangements are very thought provoking and filled with emotion. In ten years I have not gotten tired of listening to this music and I don't anticipate ever doing so. Merry Christmas!

The words spring immediately to mind. The master Carmen Dragon weaves his magic baton... and the whole world seems to come alive. His collection of Christmas music (at long last on CD) is very well arranged, played and recorded. The versions of O TANNENBAUM and DECK THE HALLS in particular are the most infectious versions I have ever heard. Bravo maestro. It would not be Christmas without you and the Hollywood Bowl Symphony.

I am thrilled that Angel decided to reissue these vintage stereo 1957 performances under the baton of Carmen Dragon on CD. Don't let the standard track listing deceive you: Dragon's arrangements are positively wonderful with original twists, progressions, and harmonies, that keep these lush performances from ever sounding like tired rehashes of overplayed carols. Also the 20-bit digital remastering is superb. I can now safely retire my old and worn LP.

while the Percy Faith Christmas albums are the all time best,this collection is just a notch below.

if you like your Christmas music more Orchestral/Classical in nature, you will love it.

It seems we have come full circle with this 20-track release which contains the complete contents of the 1970's era 2 LP set: "Great Orchestral Music of Christmas". The set includes orchestral recordings of the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra performing under the batons of Carmen Dragon and Alfred Newman. In 1996 the Carmen Dragon arranged/conducted tracks (the 1st LP in the set) were issued on CD for the first time on the Angel label as The Music of Christmas, along with two additional carols which did not appears on the LP set from the '70s. "The Music of Christmas" (originally recorded in 1957) was, and is, in my mind, simply the finest orchestral recording of traditional Christmas carols. There is nothing pedestrian about these performances: they are splendid and rich interpretations in every sense. Carmen Dragon's arrangements take each of the familiar carols through various moods and styles often incorporating beautiful transitions.

In 2008 DRG (not familiar with this label) has once again supplemented the Carmen Dragon tracks with the Alfred Newman conducted tracks that appeared on disc 2, basically issuing for the 1st time on CD the "complete" "Great Orchestral Music of Christmas" 2-LP set. Even the original LP artwork is restored.

Personally I think 13-track "The Music of Christmas" is a stronger and more concise collection. First off, the Dragon-arranged tracks are all Christmas related and, sadly, we lose two of them on this version as we did on the 2-LP set ("Carol of the Bells" and "Silent Night"). Also, in my opinion, Dragon's arrangements are superior to those provided for the Newman conducted tracks, which rely more on brass instruments and lack the warmth of the beautiful string-focused sections and transitions found in Dragon's arrangements. Finally, most of the Newman tracks are not exactly "Christmas" numbers (Christ the Lord is Risen Today; Be Still, My Soul (based on Jean Sibelius' "Finlandia"); The Lord's Prayer; David and Bathsheba; A Mighty Fortress Is Our God; etc.), although they all have a religious inspiration.

Bottom line: "The Music of Christmas" CD sadly has been out of print for some time and Amazon doesn't even have any used copies available through their Amazon-market place vendors (at the present time: please check back). Given that, I can unreservedly recommend this "Great Orchestral Music of Christmas" reissue to all lovers of quality orchestral music for the 11 Dragon arranged tracks that are present, which alone are worth the price of admission. Consider the Newman conducted numbers an added bonus.

Get it before it also goes out of print.

This Christmas album (circa 1950s) is probably the last by a major symphony orchestra that hasn't been watered down with token secular carols. The jacket says it's a "very unusual" arrangement, and it is: it's the only Christmas album that you'll want to crank the volume way UP. There isn't another Christmas album that comes close to "The Music of Christmas" by the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra.

I love orchestra music so ordered some in Christmas music. I share my cds with my sisters and they love them too.

I have spent many years hoping for a cd version of the HALLELUJAH album by the Brass of the Hollywood Bowl S.O., conducted by Alfred Newman. Unfortunately, this album has never been issued on cd. A friend told me to check out this cd, GREAT ORCHESTRAL MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS.
Surprisingly, it has 10 of the 13 selections from the original HALLELUJAH album. The first half of this cd has 10 of the 13 selections from the original THE MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS, by the Hollywood Bowl S. O., conducted by Carmen Dragon, which has been issued in its entirity on cd, but is now disconntinued. So, on this cd you get 10 of the 13 selections from THE MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS album, AND 10 of the 13 selections from the HALLELUJAH album. In my opinion, the HALLELUJAH album is the best music EVER recorded. The music is powerful, majestic, and yet tender when required. The arrangements are all fantastic, as is the playing by the brass and organ, and the conducting by Newman is great. Even the first 10 selections from THE MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS is great. And why not. It is by the Hollywood Bowl S.O., conducted by Carmen Dragon. Together, they made some of the best recordings ever. But the best thing about this cd is that it has 10 of the 13 selections from HALLELUJAH. So for those that have been looking for HALLELUJAH on cd, this is perhaps as close as we are going to get. It's a shame that EMI didn't give us both albums complete, as this cd is only 57:18 in duration. BOTH albums would have fit on this one cd.
It is a shame that somehow it is not noted that this cd cd contains selections for the HALLELUJAH album. I've seen this cd numerous times, but never imagined that it contained some of the selections from the HALLELUJAH album. Hopefully, this review will inform others that are looking for this album on cd.