20 Christmas Favorites/Supreme Strings

Track Listings

1. Festival of Carols/Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

2. First Noel

3. Carol of the Bells

4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

5. Joy to the World

6. O Little Town of Bethlehem

7. We Three Kings of Orient Are

8. Christmas Candle

9. Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Transeamus)

10. I Wonder as I Wander

11. O Holy Night

12. Fantasy of the Sleigh Bells/Jingle Bells

13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

14. Sleigh Ride

15. Away in a Manger

16. Gesu Bambino

17. Deck the Halls

18. White Christmas

19. Silent Night

20. O Come All Ye Faithful

Tracks:

Festival of Carols/Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
First Noel
Carol of the Bells
It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Joy to the World
O Little Town of Bethlehem
We Three Kings of Orient Are
Christmas Candle
Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Transeamus)
I Wonder as I Wander
O Holy Night
Fantasy of the Sleigh Bells/Jingle Bells
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Sleigh Ride
Away in a Manger
Gesu Bambino
Deck the Halls
White Christmas
Silent Night
O Come All Ye Faithful

Customer Reviews:

An Unsurpassed Christmas Musical Experience.......2003-07-02

I remain firmly convinced that Paul Mickelson's arrangements of these 20 holiday classics comprise the best Christmas album yet recorded. The present version, "20 Christmas Favorites," adds "I Wonder as I Wander" and "Gesu Bambino," to the 18 tracks on the RCA Victor 1958 mono vinyl "The Best of Christmas." This is not a re-release; the album was re-recorded in 1990, with Mickelson conducting.

A gifted musician, Mickelson was Billy Graham's crusade organist. His accomplished arrangements pour into the album's familiar melodies a wealth of genuine religious feeling and a ready understanding of Christmas as the ultimate family holiday. The settings are immediately attractive--reverent in the carols, lightheartedly appealing in secular songs like "Deck the Halls" and "Jingle Bells." Mickelson's excellent training equipped him to identify a brief musical phrase common to some of these melodies--a motif we've all heard in them but never recognize. (For those familiar with such terms, it's the rising interval of an octave.) If the octave motif doesn't occur in a melody, Mickelson ingeniously works it into his arrangement. Discreetly but masterfully, it permeates Mickelson's charts and gives the CD a satisfying unity no other holiday album can claim.

The 1990 version naturally offers brighter, cleaner sound than the 1958 recording. The 1958 version used voices that seem much more mature than those in 1990. Listeners familiar with the 1958 sequence of tracks may disagree with the placement of the 2 new ones; "I Wonder as a Wander," for example, interrupts what was a highly effective sequence between "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "O Holy Night." But on the whole, the 1990 version compares favorably with the 1958 original.

"Sleigh Ride" is the only track Mickelson did not score; he uses the familiar LeRoy Anderson chart. The fanfare to "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing" flawlessly evokes the angels' appearance on the first Christmas. I've heard nothing like Mickelson's "Angels We Have Heard on High": the chorus, "Gloria in Excelsis Deo," is a blazing brass canon (think "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" or "Frere Jacques"). Canon (or round)is another sophisticated technique Mickelson effectively uses--"It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" is in canon from start to finish. "White Christmas" features a dramatic piano solo that adds feeling and conviction to this classic. "O Holy Night" is stunning without being heavyhanded. The oriental touches to "We Three Kings" are evocative but unobtrusive, and "O Little Town of Bethlehem" perfectly depicts the silence and shimmering starlight of that first Christmas night.

Don't miss this masterpiece. Your Christmases will never be the same once you've heard it.

Music Review:

Music Review

Music Review

1. Festival of Carols/Hark, the Herald Angels Sing
2. First Noel
3. Carol of the Bells
4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
5. Joy to the World
6. O Little Town of Bethlehem
7. We Three Kings of Orient Are
8. Christmas Candle
9. Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Transeamus)
10. I Wonder as I Wander
11. O Holy Night
12. Fantasy of the Sleigh Bells/Jingle Bells
13. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
14. Sleigh Ride
15. Away in a Manger
16. Gesu Bambino
17. Deck the Halls
18. White Christmas
19. Silent Night
20. O Come All Ye Faithful