Pittsburgh Symphony Brass: The Spirit of Christmas

George Vosburgh (Artist), Tami Fire (Artist), Richard Webster (Composer), Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer), Benjamin Britten (Composer), Marvin Hamlisch (Composer), George Frideric Handel (Composer), Ralph Martin Hugh / Blane (Composer), Felix Mendelssohn (Composer), James R. Murray (Composer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Composer: Richard Webster, Johann Sebastian Bach, Benjamin Britten, Marvin Hamlisch, George Frideric Handel, et al.
• Audio CD (November 11, 2003)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Four Winds
• ASIN: B0000DG00F
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,072 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Beverley Ervine, WOSU, Ohio State University, Columbus

"The Pittsburgh Symphony Brass sound tidings of great joy!"

"Brass ensemble playing cannot possibly be more virtuosic or musical..."

Product Description

Pittsburgh Symphony Brass and Four Winds Entertainment are proud to present "The Spirit of Christmas." This splendid new recording features wonderful Christmas favorites arranged in magnificent settings that capture the joy and good cheer of the holidays, played as only Pittsburgh Symphony Brass can. Like their successful first holiday recording "A Christmas Concert," the new album offers popular carols in short festive arrangements for brass, but also adds to the program songs arranged for brass, organ, tympani, and voice. Sure to be a favorite is a very special new Christmas song "Take Me Back To Christmas Past," written by Marvin Hamlisch and sung by the talented young mezzo-soprano Tami Fire. Led by Grammy Award winner George Vosburgh and produced by the renowned Arnie Roth, Pittsburgh Symphony Brass performs on "The Spirit of Christmas" with the bold, virtuoso flair for which they have become so popular.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Majesty & grace; power & subtlety, December 15, 2003

By 

Donald H. Nelson "Don Nelson" (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pittsburgh Symphony Brass: The Spirit of Christmas (Audio CD)

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is considered to be one of the finest orchestras in the United States, and their renowned brass section contributes to its characteristic tight, warm sound. The Pittsburgh Symphony Brass contains members of the PSO, including trumpet wielders George Vosburgh and Neal Berntsen, who provided the arrangements for this wonderful CD. Completing the sextet are William Caballero (horn), Peter Sullivan and Murray Crewe (trombones) and Eric Bubacz (tuba).

This, their second Christmas recording, is their finest thus far. "A Christmas Concert", their other Christmas CD, plays it straight with good performances of mostly traditional arrangements. "Spirit of Christmas" adds timpani (Timothy Adams) and pipe organ (Richard Webster) to many pieces, as well as mezzo soprano Tami Fire, who joins the players to sing Marvin Hamlisch's touching "Take Me to Christmas Past." The result of the additional orchestration is a more lush and varied sound; it makes for a more interesting experience to hear these larger orchestrations interspersed among those featuring the brass alone.
The final piece, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is a particularly beautiful reading by George Vosburgh, playing solo on the Flugelhorn.

The new arrangements are superb and appropriate to the subject matter, exuding majesty without becoming bombastic. They also serve to spotlight the virtuosity and power of the PSO brass.

This is a work of brilliance that will give you chills; I give it my highest recommendation.

3.0 out of 5 stars Some great playing, some not so great, December 15, 2011

By 

E. Sikorski (South Jersey, NJ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pittsburgh Symphony Brass: The Spirit of Christmas (Audio CD)

In my quest to add even more brass Christmas music to my library, I picked up this CD. Overall the disc is just OK...nothing too great, nothing too bad. Some of the tracks are very well played with great balance and intonation. A few of the tracks suffer from some over-playing with too much emphasis on fortissimo playing. That might be personal preference, but it does not have the warm, rich brass holiday sound I prefer. (I am a huge fan of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Chicago Symphony brass CDs). A couple other tracks have some out of tune playing, particularly on piccolo trumpet. It takes away from what could have been a well done and polished CD. "Hark the Herald" and "O Come.." use timpani and organ and are interesting arrangements. I just wish the mix would have favored the organ more, which often plays the melody.

If you want definitive Christmas brass playing, this is unfortunately not your CD. But, it is worth getting if you are like me and need as much brass as possible. Just skip the less favorable tracks.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Christmas, September 28, 2010

By 

Persy - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Spirit of Christmas (MP3 Download)

I bought this item so I would have Christmas music to listen to while in Iraq. I LOVED IT! Now, I listen to it all through the holidays and can actually play it low at work since there isn't any obnoxious singing.