Customer Reviews

Rejoice! A String Quartet Christmas

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tired of the same old Xmas caroles sung by the same singers I decided to try something a little different. Being a chamber music fan and finding this CD at a book store I purchased it having recognized the name John Marks.This was the best thing I did all year.I listen to this CD all year long. Summer, Spring, Winter and Fall.The artistry of the players is extraordinary as is the sound.5 Stars for each.I did not buy this CD,I invested in it.The dow falls and the music soars.

These interpretations are wonderfully warm without being sentimental. The sonorities and harmonies of the string quartet add depth to familiar music. The players are sensitive musicians who seem to be good friends having fun making music together.

When the first String Quartet Christmas CD was released a few years ago, it did not immediately catch my attention, until I was stuck in a major traffic jam a few days before Christmas. WCRB, a classical music station in Boston, often plays what they call "classic clusters" of short relaxing classical pieces and one was a holiday cluster with music from this disk. This particular cluster had selections from this CD. Though horns were honking from impatient drivers behind me, I felt relaxed while listening to this soothing music. I later purchased the recording knowing that it would become a favorite part of my Christmas collection.

The concept of this collection is not all that complex. Christmas carols are arranged for string quartet. Most of the arrangements sound like Christmas music of the great classical composers. It makes for wonderful background music for more sophisticated Christmas get together, or a relaxing collection to listen to at the end of a busy day preparing for the holidays. Ideally I imagine a person putting a few logs on the fire, turning down the lights, putting the disc in the player, and simply enjoying the melodious music of the holiday season.

One doesn't think about string quartets and Christmas carols, but these folks do--and do a marvelous job of it! If you like "background music" during the Christmas season (let's trim that tree and boil the figgy pudding), this should be part of your collection. Also see the companion CD. Great set. Music well played and artistically arranged in a variety of styles.

I am an audiophile (with over 3,000 CD's in my collection) who has seen Christmas CD's come and Christmas CD's go. This CD is without a doubt absolutely the best small ensemble (string quartet in this case) Christmas CD (or record or tape) I've ever heard. I take that back. It's one of the best Christmas CD's I've ever heard. Period. Combine a workmanlike performance with just the right amount of feeling and the result is, to use the old but so appropriate cliche, absolutely delightful. The sound quality is state-of-the-art. The ultimate compliments are I have ordered this as a stocking stuffer for my daughter and I will order volumes 2 and 3 as soon as I finish this review!

This is a lovely CD. The pieces are all familiar hymns and carols in traditional arrangements, and performed nicely. The recording quality is also good.

I would have enjoyed program notes on the pieces (even though they are familiar) and background info on the performers.

Don't hesitate to add this to your Christmas collection.

This is a marvelous group of Boston area musicians who have come together and recorded beautiful arrangements of classic Christmas carols. The blending and intonation of this string ensemble is gorgeous!!

This album, the first of three volumes, teems with class and musicality. It is really something quite special. The arrangements are very traditional; the performances are first-rate, and the audio quality is excellent.

I first encountered this music on Sirius Xm radio's Holiday Pops programming. This year I bought all three albums. Amazon no longer sells them, but you can get them from Arkivmusic: arkivmusic.com. You can also hear samples there.

Highly recommended!

So someone wanted background on the musicians. I can give you some background on the second violinist, Alexander Romanul (you know the one they almost mixed out of this CD). Read it fast before he gets furious with me and tells me to take it down. (Well, I've never actually heard him even raise his voice, but even if he asks me nicely I'll honor his wishes.)

So there's the usual stuff. He was a child prodigy, won the BSO young artists at 13, debuted with some other orchestra at 11 or 12 playing the Mendelsson. Has done lots of solo performances in North America and Europe, played with the BSO a lot of years, yada. yada. A friend of his, who has been concertmaster of a couple New England orchestras once told me, "You understand, don't you, Margaret, that Alexander can really play? It's enough to drive a person completely nuts."

As a young man, he decided to try for the Wieniawski. He locked himself in a room in Germany for 5 months and played scales very slowly without vibrato seeking to play perfectly in tune. He only placed fifth, but the change in him could evidentally be felt and he caused something of a national sensation.

It was then that the process began which he describes as the quest for pure sound, something for which he has sacrificed a great deal. The process has brought him into deep states and he undergoes a constant, tortured struggle to reconcile its lure with the demands of the world. He still sometimes closes himself in a room for long periods of time, coming out only to shower and eat or take an evening stroll.

He claims to have hit a couple home runs in his life, but in my experience, he has never been fully satisfied with anything, so I wouldn't let the fact that he's not satisfied with this CD unsettle you too much. I define a good CD as one which I can listen to four times in a row and then come back to the next day. I think the difference has relatively little to do with the recording quality, the virtuosity, the genre. One can still miss even with technical perfection. It has to do with whether the performers can remain true to the calling and not go up into their heads as a refuge from doubt. I do feel that this music bears on its wings an authentic, "Peace on earth, Goodwill toward men."

Alexander has spent hundreds of hours with my son in tickle fights, swimming in the local reservoir and competing for the best rendition of Disney characters. "Hello, my name is Bruce! I know, why trust a shark?" He reads a lot. Some of his mainstays are Joseph Campbell, Tolkien and Krishnamurti. But at any given moment he might be into an analysis of the stock market or Sir Walter Scott, rammed earth housing, sun spots, Wampanoag Indians or the peculiar behavior of a stray dog in the local police reports. He's articulate and thoughtful and has a sort of zany mischievous sense of humor. He remembers his dreams, likes carnations and Indian food, watches the weather, can identify most of the North American raptors and lepidoptera, plays board games, swims long distances, gets attached to his shirts, makes a mean chocolate chip cookie and drives an old Civic.

I listen to music very intently, like it is rarely in the background... just to be there. I find that this CD (REJOICE! A STRING QUARTET CHRISTMAS) may be suitable as low and soft background music, but it lacks in overall interest, especially the phrasing. The recorded sound is very good and close. The idea is a new one, and quite refreshing as a concept. But when you listen to the continuous music, you get a sense of boredom that sets in. There seems to be some element lacking, maybe a distant bell here and there or a choir in the distance. The program is quite varied, with melodies ranging from JOY TO THE WORLD (opening number) to O SANCTISSIMA (next to last). And speaking of the opening number, I found it to be too quickly or randomly played. This is music that I have heard many times before and it requires a high degree of perfection. For this collection, 4 stars. I have heard better, though not necessarily from a small ensemble.