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Celestial Christmas: The Complete Collection of Seasonal Music
5 CD Set
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Celestial Christmas is a richly textured musical tapestry that gracefully weaves together selections of sacred choral and
instrumental music from the High Renaissance and Baroque eras. The recording journeys through moods of tenderness,
solemnity, and joy, as expressed by Johann Sebastian Bach in the numerous choral selections from his Christmas oratorios and
cantatas, including the beloved Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring and Sleepers, Awake! as well as the prayer for peace from the glorious
Mass in B Minor. Bach is also the featured composer in the many joyful instrumental pieces for harpsichord, flute, and organ.
Also included in the program are many exceptionally beautiful pieces, both choral and instrumental, by Claudio Monteverdi,
Orlande de Lassus, Henry Purcell, William Lawes, Carlo Farina, Johann Pachelbel, and Georg Friedrich Händel.
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Celestial Harmonies continues its tradition of presenting classics for the holidays with the release of Celestial Christmas 2.
While its popular predecessor, Celestial Christmas (13002), featured sacred choral and instrumental music from the High
Renaissance and Baroque eras, Celestial Christmas 2 offers a special collection of seasonal favorites arranged in Baroque
style performed by the musicians of the I Solisti di Duino under the direction of conductor Antonio Pellegrino
This anthology of carols from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries flows naturally, with rich orchestral arrangements and
sparkling instrumental counterpoint unifying the many moods of Christmas. It sounds almost as if Johann Sebastian Bach or
Antonio Vivaldi themselves have incorporated these beloved melodies into a festive holiday suite.
Celestial Christmas 2 explores feelings of compassion, wonder, renewal, and joy through the masterfulreworking of
traditionals like Little Drummer Boy, Silent Night, We Wish You A Merry Christmas, O Tannenbaum, and The First Nöel. In addition,
the recording also offers a fresh perspective on the holidays with lesser known works like the seventeenth century
Czechoslovakian carol Kommet Ihr Hirten, and the anonymous Sicilian shanty O du Fröhliche.
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This special collection of seasonal works includes over an hour of the most moving and beautiful Christmas compositions of
Europe’s Baroque era. The instrumental music of Celestial Christmas 3 is a fabulous addition to any listener’s compilation of
Christmas recordings.
Baroque instrumental music is distinguished by the all-pervasive basso continuo: an instrumental bass line played on a low
melody instrument, with expressive harmonies created on keyboard, strings, or plucked instruments. Baroque music came to
its pinnacle with the Italian and German composers of the seventeenth to mid-eigteenth centuries. Celestial Christmas 3
includes eight of those pre-eminent composers.
Four Italian composers, Arcangelo Corelli, Francesco Maria Manfredini, Giuseppe Torelli and Pietro Locatelli, each provide a
glorious Christmas Concerto. These are interspersed with three shorter pieces from German composers Johann Sebastian Bach,
Georg Friedrich Handel and Johann Pachelbel. The spectacular montage comes to a grand conclusion with Antonio Vivaldi’s
stunning Winter from The Four Seasons.
Each of the pieces is tremendously emotional; together, they are powerfully stirring. Even though the composers intended
them as Christmas music, most listeners would not want to limit Celestial Christmas 3 to that season alone. Not only is the
music itself gloriously gratifying, but the European orchestra and its conductor perform each piece with remarkable virtuosity.
This is the third in this series of Christmas recordings released by Celestial Harmonies, each offering a unique contribution to
the joy of the Christmas season.
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The glorious body of music written specifically for the Christmas season is unparalleled in Western civilization; no other event
or time of year is inextricably linked with music, especially with music of such quiet strength and emotion. Some traditional
Christmas melodies like The Coventry Carol from England or Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head from the American Appalachian
mountains (both included on this release) are enjoyed throughout the year; but for most listeners, these pieces conjure up the
intimate and powerful sentiments of Christmas - the falling snow, a warm home, family, and friends.
The fourth CD in the series builds on the popular collections of sacred Renaissance and Baroque works of the first three
volumes and branches out to include some later works. Included are some of the world’s most beloved Christmas melodies -
Away In A Manger, Silent Night, Holy Night, O Come All Ye Faithful, and several other favorites - side by side with some of the
greatest composers of Western music. Johann Sebastian Bach, Felix Mendelssohn, and Gustav Holst all wrote heartfelt musical
tributes to the Christmas season.
Most Christmas traditions that we know come from three sources: Germany, England, and the United States. Appropriately,
Celestial Christmas 4 focuses on the music of these three countries. The earliest works were collected and published in
sixteenth century England, and probably date from medieval times. The most recent are the famous adaptations of
Appalachian tunes by the pre-eminant American musicologist John Jacob Niles, published in the 1930s. In addition, traditional
Christmas carols from France, Ireland, and Czechoslovakia are included. As with earlier Celestial Christmas recordings, this
volume offers a carefully chosen progression of sounds and moods. Like so much music of the Christmas season, these works
have an unusually broad appeal, naturally and gracefully bridging the gap between classical and popular music.
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Celestial Harmonies continues its tradition of presenting a special collection of Christmas music in Celestial Christmas 5, a
beautiful and moving collection of seasonal organ music performed by Professor Franz Lehrndorfer on the new organ in the
Dome Frauenkirche at Munich, Germany. It is, without doubt, one of the largest and most technically sophisticated organs ever
built and is considered a sonic spectacular by those who have heard it. This awesomely powerful and moving sound is
produced by 7,165 pipes ranging in height from two millimeters (less than 1/10 inch), to the largest, an incredible eighteen
meters (approximately sixty feet), making the organ's overall size comparable to a six story building. At a cost of millions of
dollars, the organ was built over three years as part of the first major reconstruction work performed on the Dome since the
devastating bombing of World War II.
This truly historic and innovative digital recording is the first made on the new organ. Completed over the course of three
weeks by lifelong friends, engineer and producer Ulrich Kraus and Franz Lehrndorfer, it was recorded at night with the organ's
master builder, Georg Jann, constantly on hand to provide tuning expertise.
Through his classical variation and compositional techniques, Professor Franz Lehrndorfer articulates the music of Böhm,
Bach, Murschhauser, Metsch, Grünberger, Guilmant, and Karg-Elert, as well as his own compositions. Böhm helped to develop
the Choralvorspiel, or Choral Prelude, and so influenced and taught much to Bach, who superseded the labors of his
predecessors and contemporaries. Two of Bach's Choral Preludes, BWV 605 and BWV 608, are included in this outstanding
release.
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