Page 1 of 1

Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:38 am
by Arclight
Feel free to share videos with Christmas songs and carols traditional to your country or international ones.

Rules:
1. No double posts of the same song.
2. No more posts after last day of Christmas in 2012
3. Please no religion discussions, this is only a place for music and Christmas related discussions

Here i start:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GnP2qBBGqI

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:06 am
by Meadows

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 7:17 am
by FireGryphon
My favorite collection of carols is the Wolcum Yule disc from Anonymous 4. They're accurate performances of ancient Celtic Christmas carols. Here's and example of one of the songs.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:11 am
by Sargent Duck
The Trans Siberian Orchestra for favorite Christmas album.

For my favorite single song, I'd have to say Brad Paisley Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 12:54 pm
by trackerben

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:25 pm
by bthylafh

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 2:12 pm
by danny e.
If they were all like this, I wouldnt mind so much that everyone starts playing Christmas music way too early.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL9gkZrQy-4

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 3:18 pm
by Mr Bill
Our choir is practicing this for Christmas. Its just a wonderful piece.

O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen - Kings College

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ch7uottHU

Also, take special note of one of the top comments for this recording...
1966bdc1984 1 year ago
Lauridsen's explanation for the dissonance at 3:10 and 3:37 (part two):

"After exploring several paths, I decided to depict this by a single note. On the word "Virgo," the altos sing a dissonant appoggiatura G-sharp. It's the only tone in the entire work that is foreign to the main key of D. That note stands out against a consonant backdrop as if a sonic light has suddenly been focused upon it, edifying its meaning. It is the most important note in the piece."

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 4:31 pm
by Captain Ned
Mr Bill wrote:
Our choir is practicing this for Christmas. Its just a wonderful piece.

O Magnum Mysterium - Morten Lauridsen - Kings College

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ch7uottHU

Sang this piece many a time in choirs both school and church. I agree that it is a wonderful and moving piece.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 6:15 pm
by notfred
Here's some from a Christmas Concert my Brass Band did last year.
The Trumpet Shall Sound - featuring me on Euphonium
Ding Dong Merrily on High - another Euphonium soloist
We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen, not Handel

We have a great composer in the band, Gabriel Major-Marothy. He took a bunch of old Polish and Hungarian Christmas tunes and arranged them in to a piece dedicated to his grandmother that taught him some of the tunes: Christmas in Old Europe

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:46 pm
by lonleyppl
I'm a huge fan of the Canadian Brass Christmas albums. Just heard a wonderful version of the Wassail Song by the Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble.

I'm also a big fan of many of the previously stated songs. I've sung both Baba Yetu and O Magnum Mysterium and really enjoyed both. I feel like lists like this aren't complete without including the Messiah (also sung and loved) and quite a few others, but I guess I'll just have to keep coming back to post those.

Also, notfred, lovely solo. Euphonium is an amazing instrument.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2012 3:24 pm
by liar
I like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N73sqEURJ2w Wisemen by Cross Movement.
My favorite Christmas album though is Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, with my favorite track being "Stille Nacht" ; always leaves me feeling melancholy...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTSkS0Abas4

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:15 pm
by ordskiweicz
Great Thread - and many tunes to enjoy -thanks.

Sufjan Stevens has a lot - two 5 CD boxed sets, one just out this year.

Many traditional, and some new songs too. They are all available free online, public domain. All also have youtube versions videos. see http://www.youtube.com/user/AsthmaticKi ... ture=watch

itunes made "Christmas in the Room" the song of the week (sadly, though it is deserved). Great new tune (disk 8, track 3).

I also like "The Carol of St Benjamin, the Bearded One" (Disk 6, track 5) and "Angels we have Heard on high" (disk 8, track one) For the Scary crowd - check out the video of Mr Frosty Man. (Is the Halloween of XMas?)

Many have live videos from his current tour too. Not the usual tour, but it has a lot of traditional too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivFOtEnJfVE I go Weds!

Happy Holidays - to all of all religions!

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:35 pm
by derFunkenstein
notfred: awesome stuff.

Gonna take a moment to plug my church's Christmas CD:

contemporary
classical

And differently: last year, the band at Aletheia Tampa (which includes Graham Cochrane of the Recording Revolution) put out a 3-song download that they sold for like $3 and they put that money into feeding people in the Tampa area. I got it then and it's pretty great. Well now it's free: http://noisetrade.com/aletheiatampa

Gonna also take a moment to plug a CD of a guy I've gotten to know pretty well and I'm happy to call friend. This is one of my favorite Christmas albums, and you can stream the whole thing online. http://tobybaxley.bandcamp.com/album/wo ... wborn-king

And then there are so many famous recordings that are pretty good. I like looking for stuff that doesn't get worn out on the radio, though, so I won't bother linking that stuff here. Not in the hipster-style "I was into that before they were famous" way, but more like "let's all expand our horizons" way.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 9:57 pm
by anotherengineer
Carol of the bells piano duet - Kyle & Frank
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi7ab375XGI

Charlie Brown (Vince Guaraldi Trio)- O Christmas Tree
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw6h4mZO1oU

Kyle Landry Christmas piano medley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGBzsRFoCgA

Run DMC - Christmas in Hollis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8

Leet world Christmas special (not a song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cv8YeGTW6U

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:31 pm
by just brew it!

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:33 pm
by derFunkenstein
The Night Santa Went Crazy is a classic, poor taste or no.

edit: I've never seen this video for Christmas at Ground Zero, and it's spectacular.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 10:58 pm
by just brew it!
derFunkenstein wrote:
edit: I've never seen this video for Christmas at Ground Zero, and it's spectacular.

I'm sorry you were apparently deprived as a child. :wink:

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:06 pm
by paulWTAMU
not a huge Christmas music fan. I do like TSO of course>

JBI: there's been a cultural shift. I saw the phrase Christmas at Ground Zero and anticipated an entirely different sort of thing.

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2012 11:54 pm
by derFunkenstein
just brew it! wrote:
derFunkenstein wrote:
edit: I've never seen this video for Christmas at Ground Zero, and it's spectacular.

I'm sorry you were apparently deprived as a child. :wink:

Well, we didn't have cable growing up - a subdivision outside of a town of 700, we were not a big target for cable companies - so no MTV when this would have been popular (assuming it was).

OTOH I've always gotten every new Weird Al release going back to when my dad got In 3-D when it was on vinyl and I was 6 or 7 years old. I knew a lot of his parodies before I ever heard the originals, and there are few originals I like better than the parodies. :D

paulWTAMU wrote:
JBI: there's been a cultural shift. I saw the phrase Christmas at Ground Zero and anticipated an entirely different sort of thing.

You can see it with the miscreants in the comments, too, as apparently everyone born after 1985 or so thinks this is about 9/11. For me, it was the opposite - whenever I first heard people mention "ground zero" the first thing I thought of was that song. :lol:

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 12:42 am
by just brew it!
paulWTAMU wrote:
not a huge Christmas music fan. I do like TSO of course>

Yeah, TSO's great. Bit of TSO trivia... or more of a TSO tangent, I guess: One of their guitarists -- Alex Skolnick -- is also an off-and-on member of thrash-metal band Testament. About a decade ago Skolnick also did a couple of amazing instrumental funk-rock albums with ex-Primus bassist Tim Alexander and Michael Manring, under the band name "Attention Deficit"; I really wish Attention Deficit would get back together and do another album. Plus he fronts his own jazz trio. Amazing guitarist.

paulWTAMU wrote:
JBI: there's been a cultural shift. I saw the phrase Christmas at Ground Zero and anticipated an entirely different sort of thing.

Yup, I guess it is all a matter of when you grew up. When I was a kid there were signs posted all over the place indicating the locations of designated fallout shelters; IIRC there was one in the basement of the elementary school I attended. So I associate "ground zero" with nuclear war; derFunk thinks of the Weird Al song (so still indirectly about the Cold War); and people born more recently think of 9/11!

Re: Christmas songs and carols thread

Posted: Mon Dec 17, 2012 2:09 am
by maltonfolk
In Dulci Jubilo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXze_TLUTqM
I had a Christmas CD from the St Mikes Choir Boys many moons ago with their rendition of Dulci Jubilo, and I fell in love with it. Haven't heard it in a while. I should call about buying a new one...