The Complete Christmas Collection

CD #1, the 1955 mono version - Christmas Carols, sounds just like I remember from the record when I was a little kid, only without the clicks and pops. (I was always fascinated by the album cover with the white cat sitting in the opened present box.) CD #2, A Christmas Festival - recorded in 1959, is essentially the same music, but with many of the songs in a different order and in stereo. I like the added fullness and depth from the stereo recording, but haven’t yet decided if I like the song order better in one or the other.Back about 20 or so years ago, I was looking for a good copy of the original album to give to my parents for Christmas since their old record was lost somewhere along the way to living in a retirement home. Unfortunately, I didn’t find one and they are no longer around for this CD, but I am glad I can listen to this music again and bring back some good memories of Christmas when I was a child.

This set features both of Leroy Anderson's Christmas albums. Actually though, both albums have the exact same songs on them. Here's the background on that: In 1950, Anderson was commissioned to write an arrangement of popular Christmas carols for the Boston Pops Orchestra. This Christmas carol medley (Anderson preferred to call it an "overture") was nine minutes long and titled "A Christmas Festival". When Anderson got his own record deal with Decca Records, they asked him to record a Christmas album. Naturally, "A Christmas Festival" would be the lead track, but what else would be on the album? Anderson came up with the idea of doing three "Suites of Carol". Each suite would be six or seven traditional Christmas carols arranged for a particular section of the orchestra. The sections are brass, strings and woodwinds. The album was recorded in mono in 1955. However, by 1959, stereo records were in vogue, so he was asked to record the album again in stereo, which he did. So, we have here both the mono and stereo versions of the album. The difference between the two albums, other than mono versus stereo, is that the mono album mixes up the tracks from the suites, allegedly because it provides more variety not to have all the tracks by a particular section in a row. The stereo album presents the suites intact, the way that Anderson intended. I think hearing the suites in the correct order works better. This is good music, but I don't know that I really need two versions of the same album. Oh yeah, "Sleigh Ride" in mono and stereo is here as bonus tracks.

I am glad to have these arrangements by Leroy Anderson which consist of Christmas Festival for orchestra (9 carols), three suites of carols for brass (7 carols), woodwinds (six carols), and strings (six carols), and Sleigh Ride for orchestra. There is a stereo recording from 1959 and a monaural recording from 1955 which intermixes the suites for variety. (The CD case arrived broken, not just cracked, in numerous places.)

My parents had this album when I was a child and I remember listening to it all the time. Definitely in the style of the 60s with the big symphony sound but it brings back good memories!

My dad had a Wurlitzer Christmas album that had Leroy Anderson’s Sleigh Ride on it. Loved this arrangement and really like Leroy Anderson’s other orchestral music arrangements. Found this CD collection to be just as good as what I remembered my dad playing years ago.

These two albums are from the 1950's but you wouldn't know that due to Real Gone Music. They always get the original master and make CD's that have no background noise and excellent fidelity. Many songs are the same, but due to his arrangements they are different. The 2nd CD ends with the fastest version of Sleigh Ride I have heard. It comes with a nice booklet featuring lots of background information.

Old school Christmas music done by a master.

Great orchestra music

The writer of the original tune of Sleigh Ride, Leroy Anderson and his orchestra recorded an excellent, albeit highly underrated 20-track Christmas album in mono in 1955 and re-recorded it in stereo in 1959, but under a different album title, and the tunes in different order., around the time he re-recorded his 1950 mono single Sleigh Ride in stereo, for compilations. Obviously, the reason he managed to fit so many tracks on each album is that some of the tracks were short, lasting well under two minutes each. CD 1 contains the mono album, in it's original mono format, plus the mono single version of Sleigh Ride at the end. CD 2 contains the stereo format of the album, plus the stereo re-recording of Sleigh Ride at the end. With many tracks, the stereos are virtually note for note, but are of slightly faster tempos, and with some of the instruments played at different pitches, sometimes higher, sometimes lower. But the remaining stereo versions had slightly different musical arrangements, and a few of them were also slightly faster, but not all of them. With most of these tracks, the stereo re-recordings were a little shorter in playing time. But I prefer the mono originals of these tracks as they had a far more authentic Christmas sound. The stereo re-recordings sounded a little forced as though they were only done to cash in on the stereo boom in the States at the time, as stereo exploded over there years before in the UK, as the Americans were usually in advance of the British in regards technology. Furthermore, the stereos here,had a drier sound, while the mono originals sounded more churchy and with slight echo. But in particular with the mono album, the versions of the traditional Christmas songs here are among the best I have ever heard, even though it is all instrumental. The version of In Dulci Jubilo here is the best version ever, and a million times better than that silly irritating Pop hit version during the seventies by Mike Oldfield, who was nothing more than just a commodity. But I must point out that Leroy Anderson wrote the original tune of Sleigh Ride but as an instrumental, and purely for the winter season. But he first gave it to The Boston Pops Orchestra who recorded the original. Then Leroy recorded it with his orchestra in 1950 with similar arrangements. Then in 1959, both orchestras re-recorded it in stereo, with similar arrangements again. All versions have since been reissued on CD, except the original mono version by The Boston Pops Orchestra, although that is playable on Youtube, and in good sound quality. But about a year after Leroy recorded his first mono version, lyricist Mitchell Parish wrote lyrics to the tune, and it was given to The Andrews Sisters who recorded the first vocal version. But I thought it sounded horrible. It did not sound at all Christmas-ish. It just sounded lame. But then Percy Faith And His orchestra and chorus recorded a much better vocal version, or at least more listenable. I liked a few later vocal versions. But in later years still, there were some more duff versions. Even later top acts like The Carpenters and Neil Diamond could not give this song any justice. Maybe one day, this label Real Gone Music may release a CD set by The Boston Pops Orchestra with their original conductor Arthur Fiedler containing their complete Christmas recordings, including their original of Sleigh Ride. Excellent sound quality here.

Der Klassiker für USA Weihnachtslieder

Heerlijke nostalgie!!!

ルロイ・アンダーソンが編曲したクリスマス音楽のメドレーはオーケストラによるクリスマス音楽の定番となっており、ボストン・ポップスを始め多くのオーケストラがそのレパートリーにしています。ここでは本家本元の演奏が聴けるわけですが、それに加え、彼が米デッカに残したすべてのクリスマス音楽の録音が聴けるという点で、資料としても貴重なアルバムということも言えます。