Welcome Christmas: Carols and Lullabies From Around the World

Philip Brunelle (Conductor), VocalEssence Ensemble Singers (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: VocalEssence Ensemble Singers
• Conductor: Philip Brunelle
• Audio CD (August 31, 2004)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Clarion
• ASIN: B0002ZMJA2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #200,368 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From across the United States have come composers and arrangers whose work contributes to this collection of Christmas music. These are carols from around the world brought together in arrangements that reflect an inherently American diversity and spirit. From Virgil Thomson’s camp meeting setting of "The Holly and the Ivy" and Steve Barnett’s swing version of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" to Randall Davidson’s homespun "Christ Was Born on Christmas Day" and Conrad Susa’s magnificent Carols & Lullabies, commissioned from Susa specifically for VocalEssence. Maestro Brunelle has chosen carols—both familiar and unfamiliar—tied to one another by their inventiveness, charm and beauty in one of the year’s most exciting new holiday discs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Diversity in Christmas Traditions, October 24, 2005

By 

Gregory P. Lamanna (Canyon Country, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Welcome Christmas: Carols and Lullabies From Around the World (Audio CD)

It is getting more difficult each Christmas Season to find discs that offer Christmas choral music that is infused with a sense of "rootedness" borne out of time-hewn tradition and at the same time compliments--rather than rehashes--the existing repertoire of age-old Christmas choral music.

This is one of those rare discs that accomplishes this difficult task of offering a different approach to Christmas choral without slipping into the secular/contemporary (which usually strips all meaning and "rootedness" from Christmas). It does so by continuing to mine selections from Christmas traditions; however, the traditions are beyond the historical milieu of Olde Europe.

At least half the selections here hail from Hispanic origins. If I know anything about Hispanic culture (not much, but I live in the American Southwest), it is nothing if not traditional and rooted, yet passionate and alive.

If you are looking for a Christmas disc that can compliment (i.e., blend with but not duplicating) existing Christmas choral traditions, this is a "must-have" disc for your Christmas collection.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Welcome Christmas, November 29, 2007

By 

Natalie G. Hall (Encino, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Welcome Christmas: Carols and Lullabies From Around the World (Audio CD)

This is simply the most enchanting Christmas recording I have ever owned. I can't recommend it highly enough for those who love Christmas and some of the finest choral music. You'll love it too!

5.0 out of 5 stars Just the Christmas music I was looking for, January 19, 2009

By 

E. Olmon (Pasadena, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Welcome Christmas: Carols and Lullabies From Around the World (Audio CD)

I'd been having trouble finding Christmas music that I was in the mood to listen to among the heaps of modernized and recycled drivel I found on the radio. I'd heard Carols and Lullabies before and liked it. This was the only studio version I found, but it's very well done. The other pieces on the album are also well done. Pleasant, festive, multicultural, and best of all, not the same catalog of songs that play on the radio.