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Best Christmas Music


indy4

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My favorite is ceremony of carols by Britten, other completely British recordings of choirs singing traditional British carols.....yeah yeah yeah. Also the carpenters Christmas album. And Sinatra and Bing.

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Here is my favorite Christmas song of all time by Jean Sibelius.

Although the singers are great in this rendition, I personally would like longer line in phrasing.

And the tradition of Christmas music in Finland is obviously different than in America... :)

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My favorite is ceremony of carols by Britten, other completely British recordings of choirs singing traditional British carols.....yeah yeah yeah. Also the carpenters Christmas album. And Sinatra and Bing.

Any good recording you'd recommend? Britten kicks ass.

Karol

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While we're sharing, here are the first two parts from Vaughan Williams' Hodie: number one on my Christmas Music favourites list. This is an awesome piece, and this is by far the best recording of it.

The section at 1:25 is pure Christmassy fun. It wouldn't be out of place in Home Alone 2!

The Baritone solo at 5:39 gives me chills every time. Eerie, magical, mystical, and purely Christmassy!

Enjoy!

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Gorgeous! I've never even heard of it before. Is it well-known in Finland?

Yes it is very well known and one of the most beloved. I personally can't think about Christmas without this song.

I will definitely look for a recording.
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Gorgeous! I've never even heard of it before. Is it well-known in Finland?

Yes it is very well known and one of the most beloved. I personally can't think about Christmas without this song.

Yeap one of the most beautiful of Finnish Christmas songs.
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It is really nice indeed. :)

Speaking of which, I'd like to point out one of my favourite Christmas albums is The Nativity Story by Mychael Danna. A Christmas film score that has actually something to do with Christmas. Shock! Horror!

While I'm not really religious, during this time I prefer something a bit of that nature. Creates an unforgettable mood, which a more commercial stuff just can't do.

Karol

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It is really nice indeed. :)

Speaking of which, I'd like to point out one of my favourite Christmas albums is The Nativity Story by Mychael Danna. A Christmas film score that has actually something to do with Christmas. Shock! Horror!

While I'm not really religious, during this time I prefer something a bit of that nature. Creates an unforgettable mood, which a more commercial stuff just can't do.

Karol

It is an absolutely gorgeous score, which is quite spiritual and embraces the wide tradition of Christmas music through centuries and pulls off this eclectic mix with immense grace. One of my favourites as well.
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Other than that, I really love Die Hard.. Ominous and witty twist on Christmas music. At this time of the year it works particularly well. You should investigate it further, Inc.

And also Ben-Hur feels Christmassy to me as well. And not only the nativity section.

Karol

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Yeah I listened to it and it is a great piece, very quintessiantially Vaughan Williams in style. Thank you for the tip pixie! :)

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I like the Joy to the World one.

Karol

I like it very much, but I prefer We Wish You a Merry Christmas more simply because I've listened to it more times than I can count.
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My favorite is ceremony of carols by Britten, other completely British recordings of choirs singing traditional British carols.....yeah yeah yeah. Also the carpenters Christmas album. And Sinatra and Bing.

Any good recording you'd recommend? Britten kicks ass.

Karol

Toronto children's chorus

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I heard Somewhere In My Memory at the John Williams birthday concert in Lucerne last week, and it reminded me of how much I love this piece of music. Especially performed live, it is so powerful, I get quite teary eyed.

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Now Playing:

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I miss Windham Hill. Barbara Higbie's "Snowfall Lullaby" is a gem -- a sparkling harp melody mingles amiably with a buoyant violin counter, while driving guitar arpeggios keep things moving.

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  • 1 year later...

Since a few years, I discovered a lot of Jazzy Christmas Songs and I must admit that it's now my favorite kind of Christmas Music, along with classical music, of course.

 

A few Jazzy classics from my discography :

 

- A Charlie Brown Christmas (Vince Guaraldi Trio, 1965)

Skating by Vince Guaraldi on Grooveshark

 

- A Dave Brubeck Christmas (1996)

"Homecoming" Jingle Bells by Dave Brubeck on Grooveshark

 

- A Concord Jazz Christmas (1994, compilation)

Christmas Time is Here by Rosemary Clooney on Grooveshark

 

And this instrumental one, a real must have, gentle from the start to the end :

 

- Noël (Pianist André Gagnon with Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, 2008)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Andre Gagnon on Grooveshark

 

And of course, some chanson québécoise, for those who understand a little bit of french... ;-)
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  • 4 weeks later...

Hang on a sec - where on earth is indy4?

And I've just noticed ArtyJeffrey has deleted his profile too! :(

Delorean90 is another...

Did we replace them with new blood, though?

Indy4 still posts in the JW sub forum from time to time. Delorean90 is active on Facebook along with the other runaways (Mark O, JohnCrichton, Charlie Brigden, Ren, etc.)

I miss the hell out of Jeff. That man truly gave me some laughs.

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I actually prefer Michael's other Christmas song over that one, which is quite the accomplishment in itself.

Issey loves the Frog Chorus. I Wish it Could Be Christmas Everyday by Wizzard is probably my own favourite.

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I don't know if anyone reads my Celluloid Tunes webcast thread, but my latest episode featured 10 of my favourite Christmas scores. The episode is in Norwegian, but you can find the playlist in said thread.

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Who is Noel?

That's Christmas in French. The origin maybe the latin word natalis, that means "relative to birth".

So we say, Joyeux (Merry) Noël.

And Santa Claus is called Père (Father) Noël.

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