Search - Percy Faith and His Orchestra, Adolphe Adam, Franz Xaver Gruber :: Music of Christmas

Warning: this import CD was burned from a record!

Paul McCusker | 12/01/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I love Percy Faith's "Music Of Christmas" and long for a proper remastered version. So I occasionally buy imports in the vain hope that someone overseas has done what Columbia won't do domestically. Unfortunately, this British import was clearly lifted from someone's vinyl - with a few snaps, crackles and pops - and one near-skip. Oddly enough, it may have a better dynamic range than the current American version. Go figure."

I feel like I have just found the Holy Grail

Mahlers2nd | 12/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Growing up, my parents didn't have a lot of money so our Christmas music was recorded live from the radio onto a Wallensack Reel-to-Reel tape. The collection of music came to become our "Holiday Soundtrack". It was schmalzty and amateurish sounding because my dad would cut off in the middle of one song and in the middle of another... Some of the sound quality was really poor but by gosh we loved that Christmas tape and I have spent the better part of the last 25 years trying to find the original recordings.



My first major breakthrough was Fred Waring's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. That was probably our favorite song of all time.



However, the Christmas tape started out with the most beautiful rendition of Silent Night that I described as "whooo Silent night" and I couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't Eugene Ormandy, it wasn't the Morman Tabernacle Choir... none of them were the same...



Tonight I found it and upon listening to all of the excerpts for this album, many of the songs are the truly unique arrangements that I have never found anywhere else and which make up the Christmas Soundtrack for my youth. I'm like a little kid again.



This is nearly a completely instrumental album filled with very sentimental renditions in the style of the late 50s and early 60s. It is not really "classical" as much as a bit more "easy listening" type of of music. So if you are looking for true classical full symphonic recordings, this may not be your thing. However, if you like a bit of schmaltz to your Christmas music and you grew up in the 50s/60s, chances are good that you will recognize many of these arrangements. Just a gem of an album that you won't find any place else...



Now if I can only find a good organ rendition of Star of the East, my quest will nearly be complete!"