Songs Of Christmas From The Alan Lomax Collection

Songs Of Christmas From The Alan Lomax Collection

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
This plentiful selection from Alan Lomax's field recordings will change the way you think of Christmas. Spoken narratives, mummers' plays, fife-and-drum recordings, Scottish lullabyes, liturgical chants, French a cappella hymns, Alabama sacred-harp gatherings, wassail songs, and Virginia fiddle tunes drawn from diverse geographical regions, languages, and performing styles are all represented. And yet the collection somehow weaves together a coherent story of primary, emotional responses to the symbols and stories of this holiday. The mood is frequently exuberant, capturing the sound of festivals, gatherings, and worship in small towns. Other times the mood is spiritual. Vera Ward Hall, whom Lomax considered one of the greatest singers he recorded, performs a soulful blues inspired by the Bethlehem pilgrimage. And you've likely never heard anything akin to the voices recorded on the Spanish Balearic islands--their message of glad tidings comes in a quavering, throaty cry, accompanied by rapping swords, no less. The emotions behind such voices will leave you in wonder. Songs of Christmas may even restore your faith in the mystery of the season itself. --Roy Kasten

Tracks:

ENTRANCE OF FATHER CHRISTMAS - Symondsbury Mummers
THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS - Bob Copper/Ron Copper
CHRISTMAS RHYME - Ewan MacColl
THE MOTION TUNE - Red Ants
MARI LYWD CERMONY - David Thomas/party
MIDWINTER HORN SOLO - Unknown Dutch player
AGUINALDO - Jose Caldez/Juan Martoell/Jose Arrandia/Antonio Riurtos
TU SCENDI DALLE STELLE - Caggiano pipers
A WARM DRINK FOR THE BABY - Seamus Ennis
TALADH AN LEINIBH LOSA - Scottish Crofter group
NO ROOM AT THEINN/LAST MONTH OF THE YEAR - Vera Ward Hall
VENITE ADOREMUS - Unidentified priest, Abruzzi, Italy
TAN TAN - Manuela Morena
SHEPHERDS ARISE - Bob Copper/Ron Copper
LA FILS DU ROI DE GLOIRE - Trinidadian Cantique singers
SHERBURNE - Sacred Harp Singers
CARAMILES - Local group, Ibiza, Spain
EXIT TUNE FROM MIDNIGHT MASS - Local group, Ibiza, Spain
LAS DOCE POR LA VIRGEN - Julio Ramos Polo
RUMANIAN MIDWINTER CAROL - Local group, Hunedoara, Rumania
SINGING THE TRAVELS - Tom Eveleigh
THE GOWER WASSAIL SONG - Charley Bate
MARI LYWD DESCRIPTION & FAREWELL VERSE - Margaretta Thomas
WALK BILLY ABBOT - Georgia Sea Island Singers
O DAY - Georgia Sea Island Singers
CONCH SHELL HORN ON NEW YEAR'S EVE IN POSITANO, ITALY - Various Artists
NEW YEAR'S DAY TARENTELLA - Putipu Band of Capri
NEW YEAR'S SONG - Ponte Langarino group
BON NOUVELLE - Trinidadian Cantique singers
BREAKING UP CHRISTMAS - Norman Edmonds
CONCLUSION OF SYMONDSBURY MUMMER'S PLAY - Symondsbury Mummers

Amazon.com

This plentiful selection from Alan Lomax's field recordings will change the way you think of Christmas. Spoken narratives, mummers' plays, fife-and-drum recordings, Scottish lullabyes, liturgical chants, French a cappella hymns, Alabama sacred-harp gatherings, wassail songs, and Virginia fiddle tunes drawn from diverse geographical regions, languages, and performing styles are all represented. And yet the collection somehow weaves together a coherent story of primary, emotional responses to the symbols and stories of this holiday. The mood is frequently exuberant, capturing the sound of festivals, gatherings, and worship in small towns. Other times the mood is spiritual. Vera Ward Hall, whom Lomax considered one of the greatest singers he recorded, performs a soulful blues inspired by the Bethlehem pilgrimage. And you've likely never heard anything akin to the voices recorded on the Spanish Balearic islands--their message of glad tidings comes in a quavering, throaty cry, accompanied by rapping swords, no less. The emotions behind such voices will leave you in wonder. Songs of Christmas may even restore your faith in the mystery of the season itself. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Humble and Grand.......2000-11-28

As a child, my mother sang Christmas songs over me to lull me to sleep. Her voice wasn't trained, but the sound was lovely and heartfelt. Listening to this CD allows me to listen to other ancestors in other lands performing in the same untrained but honest way. Regardless of the musician's skills, the spirit of Christmas lives in these recordings. Primary sources can be fun too!

Christmas for those serious about folk music.......2000-09-03

This album is selected from the Alan Lomax collection of field recordings. The performance covers the range of quality normally found in such collections. It includes both music and spoken pieces. They range from the chant of a Catholic priest to instrumentals from the West Indies, from mummer plays to Rumanian carols.

Tracks that particularly catch my attention are: the midwinter horn solo from Holland; the Auinaldo from Spain with voice, guitar, clarinet and baritone horn; the music and story telling of Vera Ward Hall in No Room at the End/Last Month of the Year; I must mention Sherburne as I sing with a shaped-note group; O Day from the Georgia Sea Islands. These tracks appeal to me musically - I would have a separate list for those most informative regarding Christmas traditions in Spain, Italy, British Isles, Southern US ...

An excellent recording for the hard-core folk musician but not necessarily for the generic listener.

Music Review: