Search - Jule Styne, Katherine K. Davis, Christmas Traditional :: 25 Christmas Favorites

My Favorite Instrumental Christmas Album

Gemma | Alberta, Canada | 11/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an often overlooked gem of Christmas music. I love Christmas music so much that I have a hard time waiting until December to start playing it - but I have to have mercy on my husband (he likes it, but within reason, unlike me, the Christmas nut!).



This is an album that it almost constantly in my CD player come December. I had a very hard time finding an album where the carols are played normally. If you're one of those people who, like me, hate when people mess around with the words, tempo, beat, even the tune of your favorite traditional songs, then you'll love this album, because it does none of those things. There's nothing more annoying that singing along to a tune, only to have it go off out of whack into something that no one has ever heard before. This one doesn't do that.



I only had a few minor complaints about this disc. One was that track number 16 was improperly labelled. It says that the tune is "Bell Carol (Good Christian Men Rejoice)" It's not! The actual music is "Here Comes Santa Claus".



The only other track I had a problem with was #20, "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy". The person playing it sounds like he's wailing on that clavichord. I keep thinking that he's about to break the instrument, he's hitting it so hard. It's supposed to be played delicately, not like an elephant is jumping up and down on the instrument. This is the only track that I skip over.



Other than that, though, this is an album worth getting. There is no choir here, just pure orchestra, if that's what you're looking for. If you're sick of paying tons of money for a sub-standard recording that messes with the music instead of playing it the way it's meant to be played, then get this one instead. This orchestra plays the songs properly."

Good orchestration of classic Christmas music.

ramirez98 | Earth, Milky Way | 11/25/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Though this isn't a five-star CD by any means, it still offers decent quality orchestration of the good ole classic Christmas tunes. All the pieces are played by the 101 String Orchestra, and though I've not heard anything from them before, they do a reasonable job with the holiday classics."