Various Artists, Songs Of Christmas From The Alan Lomax Collection - 1h 8m 16s

Tracks & Durations

1. Entrance of Father Christmas - Symondsbury Mummer's Play	1:00
2. The Twelve Days of Christmas - Bob & Ron Copper	2:23
3. Christmas Rhyme - Ewan MacColl	0:24
4. The Motion Tune - Red Ants	2:16
5. Mari Lywd Ceremony - David Thomas & Party	1:10
6. Midwinter Horn Solo - Unknown Dutch Player	0:43
7. Aguinaldo - Valencia, Spain buskers	2:43
8. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle - Caggiano Pipers	3:55
9. A Warm Drink for the Baby - Seamus Ennis	2:11
10. Taladh an Leinibh Losa - Scottish Crofter group	1:14
11. No Room at the Inn/Last Month of the Year - Vera Ward Hall	8:58
12. Venite Adoremus - Unidentified priest, Abruzzi, Italy	1:42
13. Tan Tan - Manuela Morena	2:09
14. Shepherds Arise - Bob & Ron Copper	2:26
15. La Fils du Roi de Gloire - Trinidadian Cantique singers	3:58
16. Sherburne - Sacred Harp singers	1:46
17. Caramiles - Local group, Ibiza, Spain	1:18
18. Exit Tune from Midnight Mass - Local group, Ibiza, Spain	0:52
19. Rtera, Spain	3:03
20. Rumanian Midwinter Carol - Local group, Hunedoara, Rumania	0:59
21. Singing the Travels - Tom Eveleigh, from Mummer's Play	1:11
22. The Gower Wassail Song - Charley Bate	2:43
23. Ales	1:11
24. Walk Billy Abbot - Georgia Sea Island Singers	1:25
25. O Day - Georgia Sea Island Singers	2:15
26. Conch Shell Horn on New Year's Eve - Positano, Italy	0:57
27. New Year's Day Tarentella - Putipu Band of Capri	1:48
28. Capo D'Anno - Ponte Langarino group	5:13
29. Bon Nouvelle - Trinidadian Cantique	3:56
30. Breaking Up Christmas - Norman Edmonds, Verginia	1:59
31. Conclusion of Symondsbury Mummer's Play	0:09

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

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

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