Please on this eve of Christmas enjoy some samples of the Washington National Cathedral Choirs live recording of Händel's Messiah:
"Christmas is maybe the most intimate of seasons. It taps something deep in the human spirit — a yearning to be connected to each other and to God. And it stirs an array of memories of home. We are nomads these days, but beneath our restless lives we often notice the longing to be with those we love, to have a sense that we belong, that there is a place in this universe for us. 'Our hearts are restless till they rest in You,' St. Augustine once prayed. Home is where love is, and where God is.
Christmas is one of the most profound and moving seasons of the year at Washington National Cathedral. During this holy time, the Cathedral welcomes visitors and worshipers from near and far, in person and online, who are seeking a home where they can celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, God coming in flesh to live with us. This event 2,000 years ago unleashed a movement of hope and peace that is still at work today. In the Christmas season more than a billion people will travel to churches across the globe to sing carols and songs of their own traditions as they tell this story again and experience its hopeful, liberating power.
The selections on this recording include some of our favorite hymns and carols. We hope that they will allow you to enter into the mystery and beauty of the Christmas season. And we hope too that as you listen to them, you will be touched by the spirit of this Cathedral and will be reminded that here you have a home, not only at Christmas but throughout the year." - The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III
From late November through the early weeks of each New Year, the world is alive with music celebrating the feasts and holy days of Advent, Christmas and Epiphany. In times of prosperity or famine, and during years of uncertainty, conflict or peace, the many songs, carols and hymns, as well as the great choral and instrumental works composed for this season, have given voice to this festive Yuletide, expressing the world's yearning for peace and joy. This festive recording of carols and other music for Advent through Epiphany is a musical tour of both the massive and the more intimate spaces of the cathedral.Today we thought we would share a short review of two of our Christmas albums with the Washington National Cathedral Choirs. More important than the actual reviews though, is the fact that they were included in the "Dr. Christmas" "Nice List" during his annual CD review!Every year since 1989, in the week or so before Christmas, UW Oshkosh sociology professor Dr. Gerry Grzyb has become "Dr. Christmas", bringing his astonishing array of holiday music to the airwaves of WRST-FM. Sizeable samples of over 2000 Christmas CDs have been played (there are 7000 in his collection!), with 172 added in 2008 alone. The diversity of the program lies in the fact that there is almost no genre of Christmas music that Dr. Christmas won't play, the one major exception being chlildren's music since it is obviously made for a much younger audience. Dr. C. likes it all, and plays it all, and the playlists provide ample evidence of that.
The good doctor has been honored in a number of ways.
Kyle Munson, longtime music critic for the Des Moines Register, wrote that he was “perhaps the nation’s foremost authority on Christmas music."
In recognition of his commitment to independent music, the Association For Independent Music (now defunct) named him one of the five judges in the Seasonal Music category for its Indie Awards (which were the independent music version of the Grammy).
A variety of musicians cite his reviews of their CDs that appeared in the Appleton Post Crescent on their websites.
His show has been written about in newspapers from Morro Bay, CA to Erie, PA, and it was listed as one of the distinctive ways people celebrate Christmas in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Munich's largest quality paper (roughly the equivalent of our New York Times).
In 2008 he was featured on WNYC, the public radio station in New York City. He took part in a debate about Christmas music as part of WNYC’s Soundcheck program.
Dr. Christmas is also heard on WRST's web stream. Last year, he had listeners around the country; click here for a map of them all! Stream listeners were also recorded in Toronto and its metro area, Dublin, Ireland, and even Hong Kong, China!
An equally big sound emanates from the multiple choirs, organ, orchestra, and brass ensemble assembled for “Hear the Christmas Angels” at the Washington National Cathedral. The fare is mostly familiar arrangements of favorite carols, including five from modern carolmeister John Rutter. “Sing In Exultation”, featuring the Cathedral Choirs of Men and Girls and of Men and Boys, aims to provide a musical tour of carols as well as the different acoustical spaces of that same D.C. landmark. There’s plenty of musical diversity here, including instrumental and organ pieces that make for a welcome freshness....Click to Read the full list of Christmas Reviews
Since our recent Christmas release Christmas in the Grand Tradition features both Peter Richard Conte on the Wanamaker Organ and the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, we thought we would give you a hint to what they sound like when playing together! Here is a video of the PBE & Mr. Conte as well as a chorus performing America the Beautiful during "Wanamaker Organ Day 2009!"
Under the artist direction of Douglas Mears, this massive musical ensemble of 300 singers with full symphony orchestra has created a beautifully produced recording with imaginative orchestrations and arrangements. Herald in the season with the Fairfax Choral Society and Orchestra’s first release on Gothic Records! "Music has always been an integral part of Christmas. The glorious announcement of Christ’s birth by a choir of angels, the gentle lullaby of a mother to her newborn child, the jubilant rejoicing of shepherds as they returned from Bethlehem—virtually every aspect of the Christmas story has inspired poets and composers for centuries, and generations of singers have raised their voices in celebration of the birth of Jesus.
Each December since its founding forty-six years ago, the Fairfax Choral Society has joined in this annual tradition, presenting Christmas concerts that have gained in popularity over the years and have grown to include performances by over 300 singers of all ages with a full symphony orchestra. In addition to the extraordinary variety of instrumental and vocal color these musicians can create, Christmas music itself offers a vast array of contrasting styles and moods.
Recorded live, this concert of sacred and secular favorites weaves a rich tapestry of carols from fourteenth-century England to twenty-first-century America. As diverse as these carols are, they all share in the wonder and delight of the Christmas season as they bring to the world tidings of joy." -Douglas Mears
Make your Christmas A VocalEssence Christmas with Welcome Christmas - Carols & Lullabies from Around the World!