A list of songs for side one of an online Christmas record - (virtual vinyl with two virtual sides and virtual liner notes).
I'll try to get the rest of the embeds done over on the dk4 beta edition. Embeds work slower so if you connect at a stately pace, this list-mostly-diary in dk3 may work for you.
Note: Some of these songs have actual dynamic range. The first song on 'side one' has an especially wide range so you'll need to turn up the volume to hear the beginning. And by the end of the track, the organ and full choir should be thundering. This is not an error in recording, it's the way un-amplified live music sounds in a good space
Side A - "Hymns & Carols"
- Once in Royal David's City - (Gauntlett & Alexander) King's College Choir, Cambridge - class of 1983 version
- For Unto Us a Child is Born - Messiah (Handel & Jennens) - Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford The Academy of Ancient Music - Conducted By Christopher Hogwood
- (When Was Jesus Born) The Last Month of the Year - Marion Williams
- In Dulci Jubilo - (Bach - BWV 608) -
- A Ceremony of Carols - pt 4b Balulalow - (Benjamin Britten) - Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge -
- Silent Night - (Gruber & Mohr) - Sinead O'Connor - http://www.youtube.com/...
- Adeste Fidelis - (Wade or the King of Portugal or...) - Christmas in Vienna 2008 - http://www.youtube.com/...
- Joy to the World - Anne Murray - (Handel & Watts arr. Mason) -
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Liner Notes Side 1 Hymns & Carols
1 - Kings College at Cambridge University puts on a Christmas concert every year, and since 1919 they always begin with "Once in Royal David's City." The boy singer that starts it off has a major responsibility, he is singing a'capella in a huge room. And he's being heard on the BBC (as he and his predecessors/successors have been since the broadcast began over 80 years ago in 1928). There are a lot of versions on youtube, some of which include video, but this one is a good one to start with.
2 - The best version is in your home town done live - with you singing along with your friends and neighbors. But on youtube, the Christopher Hogwood version is hard to beat. Small is good when it comes to choirs and orchestras performing Messiah for an audience.
3 - Lots of versions of this one. And I'm not clear as to who wrote it. But any chance to remind people of an American treasure like Marion Williams (sometimes written 'Marian') is worth it. Other versions may have had better recordings, but nobody I've heard singing this song seems to be having nearly as much fun as Ms. Williams.
4 - This synth-based recording is getting close to 300,000 views on youtube, and it's scarcely more than a minute long, and the tempo is a little slower than I prefer, but it seems like a good transition from the previous song to the next one.
5 - It was tough to pick just one cut from 'A Ceremony of Carols' so be aware there's more where this came from. (There's also a poppy/rock song named 'Balulalow' with a clever video, but this isn't it.)
6 - Yes she tore up the Pope's picture on Saturday Night Live, and yes, she angered a lot of people by doing so. But this is a lovely version of a lovely song. So if such things bother you, put her hairstyle out of mind, and enjoy.
7 - This is the Great Recession edition of the Virtual Christmas Album, so it seems meet and right to avoid excessive bombast. This 2008 performance of what is one of my favorite Christmas songs seems to combine the triumph of the song and at least a subliminal awareness of what things were like outside the glitter of the concert hall.
8 - Another of those songs that sounds best when you are in the middle of the singing. The Nat King Cole version is worth checking out, and there's a bigger-than-life version by the 'Liberace of the pipe organ' Virgil Fox. But this is virtual vinyl, and the technological limitations of the LP format would make this version a good last cut on side one. Another important role of the last track on an LP is to get the listener to turn the record over and play the other side.
Let me know if you like some of these. And please share your own over on the beta site.
Coming soon, side 2