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Best Christmas Music


indy4

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If you like Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride", you can't leave out his "A Christmas Festival." That is one amazing piece of music. The community band I'm in plays both.

Same with the band I'm playing in (you're not in Michigan, are you? :P)! "A Christmas Festival" is definitely a wonderful medley. I first heard it on Williams' Joy to the World album with the Pops, which includes a chorus. It's nice to have Fiedler's instrumental-only version too though - I love the organ that comes in right at the end.

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Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

Because they came out around Christmas in my early days of collecting, when I played new stuff back-to-back for a while.

I always end up playing the LotR CRs during Christmas if I can.

I must have missed that title, is that book #8.

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Christmas is meaningless without Last Christmas by Wham!

Or Chris Rea's "Driving home for Christmas" or Mario Lanza's Christmas Album or JS Bach's "Christmas Oratario"

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Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

Because they came out around Christmas in my early days of collecting, when I played new stuff back-to-back for a while.

I always end up playing the LotR CRs during Christmas if I can.

I must have missed that title, is that book #8.

Hardiharhar.

I did buy The Tales of Beedle the Bard today though. Might be a fun read.

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Ah, I forgot to add that to the Christmas list. Hope to hear your take on it...I assume you got the standard edition, rather than shelling out for the sweet-looking (but pricey) Collector's Edition?

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This is one of my favorite albums, which I got recently. It's a vigorous (if there's any word that describes best Rouse's music, that is it, although in this case taken from a purely tonal point of view) work that embodies and combines different musical Christmas traditions from all over the world. It's so well written for orchestra and chorus, and the movements are so full of energy that it's become one of my favorite Christmas CDs of all time.

Karolju (by Christopher Rouse)

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Nope, I'm from Pennsylvania, not Michigan. Which sets up the classic Santa Claus and His Old Lady:

Cheech: Aw, man, you don't know who Santa Claus is, man!

Chong: Yeah, well, I'm not from here, man. Like, I'm from Pittsburgh, man. I don't know too many local dudes.

Cheech: Ohhh, I see. Well, hey, man, sit back and relax and I'll tell you da story about Santa Claus, man.

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Cheech: Aw, man, you don't know who Santa Claus is, man!

Chong: Yeah, well, I'm not from here, man. Like, I'm from Pittsburgh, man. I don't know too many local dudes.

Cheech: Ohhh, I see. Well, hey, man, sit back and relax and I'll tell you da story about Santa Claus, man.

:P Classic.

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Add to that The Polar Express and a little bit of Narnia, along with Christmas at Hogwarts.

I love Christmas at Hogwarts. The little flourish at the beginning is fantastic but the ascending melody at 1:32 is pure magic. I've always felt this track could easily segue into a Home Alone cue.

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  • 11 months later...

I was watching Nightmare Before Christmas on TV last night for the first time in years and I never noticed how similar Elfman's music is to his score to Batman Returns.

The Home Alone scores have been in constant rotation this holiday season.

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Can I please make a public service announcement and beg "artists" to not record Christmas music if they aren't going to sing it the way it was originally menat to be?

My wife and I were out shopping this past weekend and I heard what could only be described as if Bjork tried to to do a Christmas album.

My ears started bleeding.

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One of my favorites is Leslie Bricusse's Scrooge, the musical version starring Albert Finney. It's very Christmassy sounding, and there are some segments that would fit very nicely with some of Williams' Home Alone tracks.

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I gotta have me some John Williams and Sleigh Ride, if just to hear the horse at the end.

Does the BP version have the awesome brass arrangement as heard in

old GAP commercial? Heard from 0:23. I wish I had that performance.
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I gotta have me some John Williams and Sleigh Ride, if just to hear the horse at the end.

Does the BP version have the awesome brass arrangement as heard in

old GAP commercial? Heard from 0:23. I wish I had that performance.

why yes it does, I have the BP/JW arrangement, and I have the Philidelphia Philharmonics version, both are brassy.

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My favourite Christmastime CDs:

- Home Alone

- Home Alone 2

- Catch Me If You Can

- Diana Krall's Christmas album

- Frank Sinatra's Christmas album

- Jon Secada's Christmas album

- a lot of classical music (e. g. John Rutter's Mass of the Children)

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How The Grinch Stole Christmas (James Horner)

Home Alone (John Williams)

And I also like listening to the first Harry Potter score. For some reason, it suits Christmas for me.

Oh, and The Lost Christmas Eve by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. cool.gif

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And I also like listening to the first Harry Potter score. For some reason, it suits Christmas for me.

That's because it sounds so much like Home Alone.

Kidding, of course. Only parts of it do. The rest sounds like Hook.

:D

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Just a heads up, there's a 1000 Edition release of Henry Mancini's Santa Claus the Movie up for preorder at SAE. Sadly, it is not expanded.

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I always listen to the Boston Pops. Joy to the World Christmas compilation. I think I'll add The Nativity Story to the playlist this year (esprcially the gorgeous second part).

Karol

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Home Alone 2.

It is far better than the original. I find the performances of HA1 to be a bit too heavy on the synth. HA2 sounds more lush in comparison. It's bigger, bolder, and more Christmassy than the first. "Christmas Star" is more listenable than "Star of Bethlehem".

"Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" = the musical definition of Joy.

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Anything by Trans-Siberian Orchestra and A Charlie Brown Christmas by The Vince Guaraldi Trio.

Herb Alpert as well as the Ray Conniff signers.

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It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams! :(

Every time I hear that I suddenly visualize little stop-motion dolls moving about with freckles and scarves. I don't know if that's good or not, it just happens.

Just like whenever I see an Asian man crossing the street I hear a gong crash inside my head. Okay, back to Christmas music.

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It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams! :P

Every time I hear that I suddenly visualize little stop-motion dolls moving about with freckles and scarves. I don't know if that's good or not, it just happens.

Just like whenever I see an Asian man crossing the street I hear a gong crash inside my head. Okay, back to Christmas music.

You are a strange one Jeffrey. :mellow:;)

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I heard some of Ralph Vaughan-Williams' "Fantasia on Christmas Carols" on the radio yesterday. I really recommend it.

Funny, I was just looking at prices for Vaughan-Williams' London Symphony yesterday. Thanks for the recommendation.

And regarding the topic, I just love Stan Kenton's Christmas album.

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  • 2 years later...

Well, Halloween is over, so that means it's officially Christmas time in the States, and it's time to start playing carols nonstop on the radio. When do you usually start pulling out your Christmas/holiday albums to listen to?

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In The Netherlands Christmas doesn't really kick of until after the Sinterklaas season. (which is upcoming, so expect the dreaded blackface avatar soon)

Shops have started to try and sell us Christmas shit already though.

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Vaughan Williams: Hodie, A Christmas Cantata

Bach: Christmas Oratorio

Hely-Hutchinson: Carol Symphony (containing the theme from "Box of Delights", a wonderful BBC Christmas fantasy miniseries from 1984)

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker (full ballet)

The Carpenters: Christmas Portrait

The Torero Band: Tijuana Christmas (STILL not available on CD! Grrrr)

Bert Klaempfert: Christmas Wonderland CD

And many others, too numerous to mention. I love Christmas!

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John Williams has two terrific dedicated Christmas cds. Great stuff by the Pops. as C3PO says, WONDERFUL.

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