Choral

VA – Basil Rathbone / Lyn Murray Singers – Dickens’ Christmas Carol / Christmas Carols

October 11, 2022

# 16

VA – Basil Rathbone / Lyn Murray Singers
Dickens’ Christmas Carol / Christmas Carols
2001

(Originally released 1949 on Columbia Masterworks)

Genre : Radio Theatre / Choral

This is an unusual Christmas album in many ways. First, most items presented on this blog are CDs and LPs of Christmas music. This is only half that. Secondly, this compilation, as presented on the CD reissue, was originally released just as presented here, as a long-playing LP in 1949. It combines a 6-track telling of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol narrated by Basil Rathbone, recorded in 1949, combined with 8 Christmas carols from the Lyn Murray Singers originally recorded and released as a 4-disc set of 78s in 1942. (I also have a copy of that release). Thirdly, I find it unusual to combine a radio drama on one side of an LP with songs by a completely different artist on the other side. But I’ll take it and having it in remastered digital quality is a big bonus! (Both performers were on the Columbia label at the time, so maybe not that unusual, but certainly not common).

The CD artwork is very good. The cover of the CD is the same as the cover from the album released in 1949. The back artwork on the CD has simple titles, a list of performers and a numerical track listing. The CD cover opens to a two-page fold out. The artwork on the back of the fold-out is similar to the artwork on the back of the CD. The inside artwork of the fold-out is similar to the back of the original LP. All the original information regarding Basil Rathbone and Dickens’ Christmas Carol is presented here albeit in a different font and structure. The original information for the Lyn Murray Singers from the album is here, but what’s not included are the songs and their lyrics as was on the original LP. I still think the information on the CD is excellent since they pretty much duplicated the front and back of the original LP.

The Dickens’ Christmas Carol part of the CD is listed as 6 parts and each has their own title whereas on the original album, they take up all of side one and is one continuous track. (Why Sony decided to separate them for the CD reissue is beyond me. The individual tracks play seamlessly with no noticeable space between the end of one and the beginning of the next one). The Lyn Murray part of the CD has the original track order as it was on the LP.

Basil Rathbone was a British actor born in South Africa. He appeared on stage in England and the United States during the 19teens. In the 1920’s, he started his movie career playing villains and swashbuckling characters in silent movies. He played Sherlock Holmes in a 1939 movie, and it was such a big hit that he continued the character in many more movies throughout the 40’s. Those eventually got him typecast, but being British, he seemed the perfect actor to portray Ebenezer Scrooge.

For his part of the CD, Basil Rathbone is joined by a large cast performing Dickens’ Christmas Carol with orchestration provided by Leith Stevens & his Orchestra. Not too overly dramatic, as future presentations would portray, it tells the complete story in 23 minutes and 27 seconds. It is a good performance spread out over 6 tracks, each between 3 and 5 minutes. The great thing about the CD reissue is, at least in my iTunes, the tracks play seamlessly, with no noticeable change to the next track. That’s a plus.

The second side of the original album features 8 traditional Christmas carols sung by the Lyn Murray Singers. Lyn Murray was also British, whose career was spent composing, arranging, and conducting orchestras for radio, movies and later TV. He emigrated to the United States to attend Julliard and stayed in the US for most of his career. All of the Christmas songs I currently have by the Lyn Murray Singers are from these recordings made in 1942. They did a few other singles in the early 40’s with other artists, but their Christmas output seems to be limited to the 8 songs presented here. (Oh well, it would have been nice to have other Christmas albums released throughout the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, but I’ll take these).

The Christmas carols presented here are traditional in nature, as are the arrangements. Not too unusual considering many Christmas songs we are familiar with are non-secular and written after 1942.

It is tempting to catalog the Lyn Murray Singers as an a cappella group, and for the most part, they are, except for very light instrumentation, usually provided by organ and chimes. They are really terrific and are one of my favorite choral groups, along with the Anita Kerr Singers. (Look for CD reviews of the Anita Kerr Singers in this blog’s future).

There are a few specific things I go out of my way to collect. One of those things are the issues of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol. I have many by many different artists. Also, I like to collect different issues of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, traditional English Cathedral Choirs and a cappella groups. I have many different presentations of all those. (Look for those in this blog’s future). This CD combines two of those.

This CD reissue of the original album from 1949 is really good. If you like older presentations of Dickens’ Christmas Carol, Basil Rathbone and the cast deliver one of the very best.

If you like traditional Christmas carols performed in a traditional manner, with a little 1940’s flavor thrown in, there is no one better than the Lyn Murray Singers.

As I said earlier, it is unusual to have a drama and songs on one CD, and this may be 1 of 2 that I can think of that I have. This CD is worth it just for the Lyn Murray Singers. The only CD’s or LP’s by them that Amazon offers is this one, and the original 4-disc 78 RPM set from 1942 (used) and a copy of Finian’s Rainbow that they did in 1947.

I give this CD :

****

Mormon Tabernacle Choir – Joy To The World

April 13, 2025 / Leave a Comment / Choral

July 24, 2022

# 8

Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Joy To The World
2002

(Originally released 1970 on Columbia Masterworks)

© 2002 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. / Originally released 1970, (P)1977, 1980, 2002 Sony Music Entertainment Inc. / Manufactured by Sony Music Entertainment Inc. / “Legacy”, and “SONY CLASSICAL” Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm Off. Marca Registrada. / This package consists of previously released material.

Genre : Choral

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is one of America’s longest standing choirs, having been in existence for over 150 years. Now named The Tabernacle Choir At Temple Square, the choir was formed in 1847 in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah. (For blog references, they shall be referred to as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir).

This CD is a re-issue of an album originally recorded in 1969 and released in 1970 as Joy To The World. The original LP included 12 songs and the CD re-issue contains 3 bonus tracks. The title is unchanged, but the cover artwork has changed. The original cover shows the gilded angel on top of the steeple of the Tabernacle surrounded by a dark background.

The CD insert contains good information. It lists the songs by track title, length of song, writer’s credit, and recording dates. It includes Orchestra, Organist, and Conductor. The bonus tracks come with the same detailed information. Also, much information about engineers, production, etc. Also included are the dates and release numbers for all the re-releases. I like it when you get solid information about the recordings, so that is a bonus here.

As stated earlier, this album was recorded in 1969 at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake, Utah. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs a Christmas concert every year at the Tabernacle in addition to over 70 concerts a year all around the world. They also have one of the longest, continuous radio programs in the country.

This release features Richard P. Condie conducting the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble & Percussion with Dr. Alexander Schreiner playing the massive, 11,623 pipes, pipe organ. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir averages 360 members.

The CD starts out with a grandiose recital of the title track, Joy To The World.

Track 2 features The First Noel, which starts out quietly, building much louder as the song progresses.

Deck The Halls starts with a snare drum intro, (reminiscent of The Little Drummer Boy), with a few, light female voices that build into a full chorus.

Carol Of The Bells is a perfect hymn for the Tabernacle choir. The quiet undertones that define the song are represented here with bells and soft voices that build into a crescendo and then quietly start over again.

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel starts with the male voices delivering a haunting request to come and rejoice while the female voices join in until the full choir is involved. The carol builds and builds until it is fully engulfed in a shouting invitation to Come, Come, Rejoice ! A wonderful carol.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s reputation has always been highly regarded and that’s due to their long standing relationship with the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, Percussion & Orchestra, conductors Eugene Ormandy and Richard P. Condie.

On most songs, Richard P. Condie directs the orchestra and choir in what starts out as a soft introduction, with most songs building into a full orchestra and choir that ends with all voices shouting their invitations to come celebrate.

All songs featured on the original LP are Christian hymns, except for number 6, We Wish You A Merry Christmas. The song starts out with full orchestration, then abruptly ends while female voices start a cappella followed by the orchestra that slowly comes in to finish the song in typical Philadelphia Brass style.

The rest of the CD, like most of the songs throughout, features large orchestral beginnings with full choir support.

The final song on the original LP is Silent Night. This iconic Christmas hymn starts quietly with bells and slow, soft harmonies. It stays this way all the way through with voices as the predominant sound heard. Orchestrations are there, but more subtle and complimentary to the voices that drift softly through the song.

This CD re-issue includes 3 bonus tracks. The first two, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas and The Christmas Song, are from their 1977 Christmas LP, White Christmas. Eugene Ormandy does an excellent job of leading the Philadelphia Orchestra through mellow renditions of both selections. The orchestrations on these bonus tracks is a little different because it does not feature the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble, so the string section is more prevalent.

The final cut on the CD is Hallelujah Chorus from “Messiah”, by George Frideric Handel. As in most arrangements of the piece, the sound is big! Jerold Ottley directs the Columbia Symphony Orchestra and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir from 1980. The different voices are layered in opposing harmonies and the 11,623 pipes of the Tabernacle organ are front and center.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir have released many Christmas albums throughout their existence, starting in 1957. (Look for more Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas CDs in this blogs future). It is always good to have the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in your Christmas collection. As far as choral music goes, no organization has produced more Christmas albums in America than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and only in England perhaps, would you find choirs older than 150 years. That being said, as I compare this to other Tabernacle Choir Christmas CDs I have, the Philadelphia Brass Ensemble & Percussion adds more instrumentation than just a regular orchestra might, so the sound is bigger. Other Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas CDs are usually performed over symphonies, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, so the music is less grandiose. They have probably made more Christmas albums with the Philadelphia Orchestra than any other orchestra.

This is a good Mormon Tabernacle Christmas CD to have. I like the structure of the songs and the choir does an excellent job of taking you through all the emotions that a merry Christmas can evoke.

I like to listen to various artists when I listen to Christmas music, and I probably wouldn’t put this on and listen to it from start to finish, but it is an excellent CD to mix in with other carols and traditional songs. If you like the old choirs of England, you will probably enjoy this as much.

I give this CD :

*** ½ *

Mormon Tabernacle Choir – Joy To The World Read More »