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Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album CD
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$ 15.35
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Though it may not intend to, with its title The Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album addresses one of the biggest paradoxes of the holiday season: ideally, it should be one of the most joyous and relaxing times of the year, but thanks to shopping for gifts, social obligations, and heightened expectations, too often the holidays become stressful instead of pleasant. This collection of soothing instrumental and choral holiday favorites aims to restore some serenity to the season, and on at least one level, it succeeds; the gentle renditions of "O Holy Night," "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "The Christmas Waltz" have soft, lush arrangements that are definitely relaxing. However, the arrangements skirt dangerously close to the sappy, string-laden territory of Mantovani, 101 Strings, and countless other easy listening instrumentalists, and the cutesy harp, piano, and xylophone flourishes on many of the tracks threaten to push the album into kitsch. Of course, the Christmas albums by Mantovani, 101 Strings, and the like were hugely popular, and this album's nod to those sweetly bland holiday releases of the past could be intentional, adding to the built-in nostalgia that the season evokes. In some ways, the retro feeling of The Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album is more refreshing -- and yes, relaxing -- than the new age-tinged holiday albums that may very likely sound nostalgic a few decades down the road. The purely choral selections are simpler and more dignified than most of the intstrumentals on the album, though a few of the orchestral tracks later in the album lose some of the more obvious easy listening tendencies. An ultra-traditional collection, The Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album could be either stuffy or comforting, depending on your taste in holiday music and, quite possibly, how much eggnog you've had. ~ Heather Phares
Includes liner notes by Joseph S. Szurly.
Personnel: Arthur Grumiaux (violin).
Liner Note Author: Joseph S. Szurly.
Directors: Georg Ratzinger; Uwe Christian Harrer; David Willcocks .
Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album Music
Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album Songs
| 1 | Christmas Bells * See All 34 | 2:42 | | (From different album) |
| 2 | Cantique de Noel for voice & orchestra "O Holy Night" * See All 56 ![[UNKNOWN ARTIST] CANTIQUE DE NOEL FOR VOICE AND ORCHESTRA O HOLY NIGHT Lyrics](/images/icon-lyrics.gif "[UNKNOWN ARTIST] CANTIQUE DE NOEL FOR VOICE AND ORCHESTRA O HOLY NIGHT Lyrics") | 3:52 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 3 | Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (for the film Meet Me in St. Louis) * See All 772 | 2:48 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 4 | White Christmas, song (from "Holiday Inn") * See All 41 | 2:28 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 5 | Christmas Waltz * See All 76 | 4:35 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 6 | Winter Wonderland * See All 829 | 3:34 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 7 | Mary's Little Boy Child, song See All 9 | | | |
| 8 | Christmas Song, The (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) * See All 939 | 5:13 | $1.29 | (Different version) |
| 9 | O Come, All Ye Faithful (Adeste fidelis) * See All 773 | 3:35 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 10 | What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) * See All 723 | 4:46 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 11 | Coventry Carol (2): "Lully, Lulla, Thou Little Tiny Child" * See All 187 | 1:48 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 12 | Away in a manger (Tune: Cradle Song) (New English Hymnal 22) * See All 824 | 2:54 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 13 | In dulci jubilo (Pia Cantiones) * See All 108 | 2:26 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 14 | Cantata No. 147, "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben," BWV 147 (BC A174): Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring * See All 86 | 3:18 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 15 | Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming), for chorus * See All 69 | 4:03 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 16 | Ellens Gesang III ("Ave Maria"), song for voice & piano, D. 839 (Op. 52/6) * See All 92 | 6:27 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 17 | O Tannenbaum (O Christmas Tree) (German) * See All 237 | 1:33 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 18 | Violin Concerto, for violin, strings & continuo in F minor ("L'inverno," The Four Seasons; "Il cimento" No. 4), Op. 8/4, RV 297: Largo * See All 70 | 2:36 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 19 | Hark! the Herald Angels Sing (adapted by W. H. Cummings from Mendelssohn's Festgesang for the Gutenberg Festival) * See All 731 | 2:41 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 20 | I Saw Three Ships * See All 252 | 1:41 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| 21 | Weihnachtsoratorium (BC D7): Sinfonia * See All 64 Christmas Oratorio, in six parts, BWV 248 | 2:53 | $0.99 | (Different version) |
| 22 | Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht (Silent Night) * See All 162 | 4:34 | $0.99 | (From different album) |
| (*) MP3 for this song is from a different CD. Listen to the sound sample to be sure this is the version you're looking for. |
Ultimate Relaxation Christmas Album Review
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