A Child's Celebration Of The World

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Children celebrate the world through calypso, Cajun, an Irish ballad, and even a spunky breakbeat Latin rap. Ninth in the Child's Celebration series from Music for Little People, A Child's Celebration of the World is a virtual Epcot for the ears. This is a fun, funky, parent- and kid-friendly education. Longtime family favorite Raffi sings "Just Like You and Me," which teaches commonality in diversity. The Chenille Sisters' "On a Vacation" teaches kids how to speak funny phrases in German, Japanese, and Spanish: "I forgot to pack my underwear," "My sister needs a diaper change," and "Beans certainly are a musical fruit," respectively. Sweet Honey in the Rock count in French, Japanese, Swahili, and Spanish. Kids are bound to giggle through countless playings and will surely put their newly acquired linguistic skills to the test. --Paige La Grone

Tracks:

Gloria In Excelsis Deo - Academy And Chorus Of St Martin In The Fields
Jesu, Joy Of Man's Desiring - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Zadok The Priest - Ambrosian Singers
Miserere Mei, Deus - Gerald Finley
Veni Creator Spiritus - Choir Of The Monks Of The Benedictine Monastery Of Santo Domingo De Silos
Lacrimosa - London Philharmonic Choir
For Unto Us A Child Is Born - Ambrosian Singers
The Heavens Are Telling - John Shirley-Quirk
Panis Angelicus - Halle Choir
Ave Maria - Groupe Vocal De France
Ode To Joy - The Westminster Choir
Va, Pensiero - Chorus Of the Royal Opera House
Chorus Of Slave Girls - Chorus Of The National Theatre Of Sophia
Coro De Romanticos - Coro Cantores De Madrid
In Paradisum - Choir Of Kings College, Cambridge
Totus Tuus - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Song For Athene - Winchester Cathedral Choir
Celebration - London Symphony Chorus
Jerusalem - Royal Choral Society

Tracks:

Zion Hort Die Wachter - South German Madrigal Choir
Pleni Sunt Coeli Et Terra - Charles Brett
Hallelujah Chorus - Ambrosian Singers
Thou Knowest, Lord - Choir Of King's College, Cambridge
Veni Sancte Spiritus - Choir Of The Monks Of The Benedictine Monastery Of Santo Domingo De Silos
Awake The Harp - City Of Birmingham Symphony Chorus
And Then Shall Your Light Break Forth - New Philharmonia Chorus
L'Adieu Des Bergers - Choeurs Rene Duclos
Agnus Dei - Peter Barley
Cantique De Jean Racine - MONKS AND CHOIRBOYS OF DOWNSIDE ABBEY
Ave Verum Corpus - Schutz Consort
Begluckt Darf Nun Dich, O Heimat - Bavarian State Opera Chorus, Munich
Vedi! Le Fosche Notturne Spoglie - Chorus Of the Royal Opera House
Laudamus Te - Radio France Chorus
Chichester Psalms - Rachel Masters
The Lamb - Vasari Singers
Agnus Dei - Winchester Cathedral Choir
Requiem Aeternam - Choir Of Kings College, Cambridge
Dies Irae - Philharmonia Chorus
O Fortuna - London Philharmonic Choir
Pomp And Circumstance March No. 1 (Land Of Hope Glory) - Royal Choral Society

Customer Reviews:

I love it and I give it as a gift.......2006-12-11

This is the first collection of choral music that I've purchased and I love it. I own copies of operas and requiems and masses, but if you attend choral concerts, as I have been recently, you learn there is a huge colletion of choral music appart from the forms I've been listening to. I appreciate the producers selecting "Song for Athene" by Tavener and "Celebration (Standing Stone)" by McCartney. They are new to me and I love them. Disk 1 ends with "Jerusalem" and Disk 2 ends with "Land of Hope and Glory." As an American I rarely hear these and I am so glad they were included. I believe this album was intended to help popularize choral music and I believe the selections do fine job towards that end.

I know snobs rage against popularizing classical music, but everyone deserves exposure to the beauty of song. I will also mention here "The East Village Opera Company" because they work to popularize opera by setting it to a rock beat. They do a fine job but also get criticized for attempting to popularize classical music.

"The Best Choral Album in the World...Ever" was so popular with my teen-age daughter that it was hard to get it back from her. I give the album as a gift to nephews and nieces.

MarMSED.......2005-08-27

The music selections are extraordinary. The only problem has to do with the balance of sound. There are some parts that are very loud, and some that are so very soft. You have to continually adjust the volume.

Diverse range but the songs are butchered..........2005-07-24

Well, this CD isn't horrible by any stretch, but it is irritating to someone who's more than a casual listener of choral music. I'm by no means as musically "literate" as many reviewers out there, but I have a collection of probably twenty-five or thirty choral CD's and this is one that will probably be gathering dust in the back of the CD book.

The peices are well-performed for the most part, but they are hopelessly edited. Beethoven's Ode to Joy is somewhere around twenty four minutes, but this CD only includes an arrangement of about five minutes. The beautiful Miserere is, uncut, almost eleven minutes but is cut down to five and a half minutes here.

Looking back, I should have realized the major editing that would be involved, just by the sheer number of peices on it. I'm familiar with a great many of them and I know they're too long to fit onto a seventy minute disc without some major cutting going on. I just didn't reason that out before I shelled out the money for it.

Bottom line. This CD has decent singing, but is nothing special. If you're a newcomer to this genre, you might get this as a quick overview of the different types of choral music out there, but if you're any kind of an avid listener, this CD will drive you insane with the severity of the cuts. Beginners, if you're looking for a great collection CD, you'd do better to look at "Choral Moods". It doesn't have the diversity in styles of this one, but it will introduce you to incredibly talented composers. To the old hats out there, steer clear of this one and look to CD's by your preferred individual composers themselves. It's more money, but much less frustration in the long run. The old sayings are sometimes the best: You get what you pay for.

Average customer rating:

I'm Glad I Love This CD
Great music - cultural mistakes
The best!
A CD the Whole Family Will Enjoy
Recommended! Good Language Exposure. Fun. Not Commercial.

A Child's Celebration Of The World
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Music Little People
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Compilations | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Music for Little People | Children's Music | Styles | Music

Folk Music | Children's Music | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

A Child's Celebration of Folk Music
A Child's Celebration of Song
A Child's Celebration of Rock 'n' Roll
A Child's Celebration of Dance Music
A Child's Celebration of Song 2

ASIN: B0000063FU
Release Date: 1998-05-05

Tracks:

Like Me And You - Raffi
Bon Jour -Papillion
Counting in French -Sweet Honey in the Rock
On a vacation -The Chenille Sisters
Counting in Japanese -Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Unicorn -The Irish Rovers
Banana Boat Song -Taj Mahal
Italian Rhyme -Maria Muldaur
Counting in Swahili -Sweet Honey in the Rock
Pata Pata -Mariam Mekeba
Anishanabe -Bill Miller
Counting in Spanish -Sweet Honey in the rock
Fiesta Musical -Maria Medina-Serafin
Baby Jesus(in Italian) -Maria Muldaur
There Come Our Mothers -Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Kumbaya -Joan Baez
Fala Nina, Fala Nina -Maria Muldaur
Dreams of Harmony -Freyda Epstein

Product Description

LIKE ME AND YOU by Raffi BON JOUR by Papillion COUNTING IN FRENCH by Sweet Honey In The Rock ON A VACATION by The Chenille Sisters COUNTING IN JAPANESE by Sweet Honey In The Rock THE UNICORNS by The Irish Rovers BANANA BOAT SONG by Taj Mahal ITALIAN RHYME by Maria Muldaur COUNTING IN SWAHILI by Sweet Honey In The Rock PATA PATA by Miriam Makeba ANISHANABE by Bill Miller COUNTING IN SPANISH by Sweet Honey In The Rock FIESTA MUSICAL by Maria Medina-Serafin BABY JESUS (IN ITALIA) by Maria Muldaur THERE COME OUR MOTHERS by Ladysmith Black Mazambo KUMBAYA by Joan Baez FALA NINA, FALA NANA by Maria Muldaur DREAMS OF HARMONY by Freyda Epstein

Amazon.com

Children celebrate the world through calypso, Cajun, an Irish ballad, and even a spunky breakbeat Latin rap. Ninth in the Child's Celebration series from Music for Little People, A Child's Celebration of the World is a virtual Epcot for the ears. This is a fun, funky, parent- and kid-friendly education. Longtime family favorite Raffi sings "Just Like You and Me," which teaches commonality in diversity. The Chenille Sisters' "On a Vacation" teaches kids how to speak funny phrases in German, Japanese, and Spanish: "I forgot to pack my underwear," "My sister needs a diaper change," and "Beans certainly are a musical fruit," respectively. Sweet Honey in the Rock count in French, Japanese, Swahili, and Spanish. Kids are bound to giggle through countless playings and will surely put their newly acquired linguistic skills to the test. --Paige La Grone

Customer Reviews:

I'm Glad I Love This CD.......2007-01-03

... Because it is one of the only CDs my children want to listen to over and over -- every day!

My 20 month old has learned to operate the CD player in order to listen to this when she wants to, and my 5 year old son has choreographed songs and memorized lyrics. I can even excuse the presence of Kum Bah Yah on this recording (groan) because of the quality of the other songs. Patah Patah is a family favorite that gets children and adults dancing. I plan to buy extra copies as gifts for other young children in our lives.

Great music - cultural mistakes.......2005-10-03

Basically I love the CD and my 8 month old son has lots of smiles and flailing arms while listening to the up-beat, catchy tunes. Unfortunately, I noticed a cultural mistake which leaves me wondering about the other bits included. In the song about "Family Vacation" (which on the whole presents a wonderfully positive attitude towards language learning and diversity), the artists have chosen CHINESE music as a back drop for the verse regarding a vacation to JAPAN. As I live in Japan and my husband is Japanese this is quite a difficult mistake to overlook. Instead of promoting cultural awareness it seems to underline the insensitivity of westerners who lump the whole Asian culture into things being "Chinese." I was very disappointed....... That said...I still listen to the CD often and even sing along with the vacation song.... it really is a great song otherwise. I truly wish that somewhere along the way someone checked the accuracy of the cultural representations. I wonder if there are any others that I simply don't notice.

The best!.......2005-08-28

I enjoyed using this CD and others like it in my home child care. The children ages 2 to 12 years of age danced, sang, and listened to them with complete joy and satisfaction. It's great for the children of many cultures I now teach. We love them!

A CD the Whole Family Will Enjoy.......2004-06-26

Don't let the title of this CD fool you. This is one of those "children's" CD's that parents won't mind listening to again and again. "A Child's Celebration of the World" includes a variety of songs -- from the a great recording of Miriam Makeba's "Pata Pata" (my favorite) to the super-silly "On a Vacation" (learn how to say "My sister needs a diaper change" in Japanese), from the gentle "Anishanabe" to "Fiesta Musical" (a sort of rap song in Spanish). This is both educational and enjoyable -- a rare combination in children's music.

Recommended! Good Language Exposure. Fun. Not Commercial........2002-04-06

My children have listened to this CD for two months now, and we recommend it. We rank this much higher than most of the commercial children's music on the market, like Disney and various pop music CD's for kids.

This collection has some outstanding songs your children will love that you would have a hard time finding otherwise, like "The Unicorn" and "On a Vacation," which is very funny. You even get the wonderful "Like Me and You" by Raffi.

This CD is not perfect. Some of the songs are not good. The recurring "Sweet Honey on a Rock" is extremely annoying.

But the rest of the good songs make up for it. Get it for the language exposure and the handful of excellent songs.

Tracks:

Christmas Comes Anew (Mark Riese)
Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming (arr. Archibald T. Davison)
What Child is This? (Mark Riese)
Ave Maria (Franz Biebl. John Frye, John Rosenzweig, Dan Vogt soloists)
Gesu Bambino (Pietro A. Yon. Jennifer Larson and Carrie Wilson soloists)
Caroling, Caroling (Alfred Burt)
Carol of the Bells (arr. Peter Wilhousky)
Mary Had a Baby (William L. Dawson. Jennifer Larson and Carrie Wilson soloists)
Betelehemu (arr. Wendell Whalum. Dan Vogt and Jeff Harris soloists)
Do You Hear What I Hear (arr. Harry Simeone)
The Christmas Song (arr. Roy Ringwald. Jeff Harris soloist)
Winter Wonderland (arr. Clay Warnick)
O Holy Night (Adolf Adam. Jennifer Larson Carrie and Wilson soloists)
God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (Mark Riese. David Hawley conductor)

Album Description

Our first CD of Holiday Music was released December1, 2000. Special guest soloists on this recording are sopranos Jennifer Larson and Carrie Wilson.

Tracks:

Silent Night
Deck the Halls
Let It Snow
Angels We Have Heard on High
Adeste Fideles
Coventry Carol
Away in a Manger
First No
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Bell Carol (Good Christian Men, Rejoice)
Angels from the Realms of Glory
Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella
Silver Bells
Frosty the Snowman

Tracks:

Sleigh Ride - Percy Faith, Johnny Mathis, Johnny Mathis, , Orchestra
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Julie Andrews
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas - Percy Faith, , Chorus, Orchestra
Silver Bells - The Ray Conniff Singers
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - Charlie Rich
Go Tell It on the Mountain - Mahalia Jackson
We Wish You a Merry Christmas - Phyllis Curtin, Androstelanetz,
My Favorite Things - Tony Bennett
Hallelujah Chorus - Eugene Ormandy, Robert Page, Philadelphia Orchestra, Temple University Concert Choir
What Child Is This? - Vikki Carr
Winter Wonderland - Mitch Miller
First No- Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Alexander Schreiner
O Holy Night - Peter Nero
Do You Hear What I Hear? - Andy Williams
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing - John Davidson
Twelve Days of Christmas - Dinah Shore
Christmas Bells - Patti Page
(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays - Robert Goulet
Christmas Eve in My Home Town - Jim Nabors
Silent Night - Philadelphia Brass Ensemble