Average Customer Review:
 ( 101 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
81 of 85 found the following review helpful:
from Solo Piano PublicationsNov 05, 2001
By Kathy Parsons
Even though "December" was recorded nineteen years ago, it is still by far my favorite George Winston album as well as an all-time favorite Christmas album. Recorded when "new age" music was barely emerging and Windham Hill was an experimental artists' label, this is one of a handful of albums that show just how good the music was when artists had more control of what went onto their albums. Art and innovation were more important than a quick buck, and "December" was able to be creative and original AND commercially successful. A true classic in the genres of new age music and holiday albums, this is a must-have CD. It includes Winston's arrangements of "Carol of the Bells", Pachelbel's "Canon in D", and "The Holly and The Ivy" as well as some lesser-known carols and several original pieces. This is an incredible album, and I give it my highest recommendation!
42 of 42 found the following review helpful:
One of my favorite holiday "mood" albumsOct 02, 2002
By Joanna Daneman
I have a hard time grasping that this album is 20 years old. But because these solo piano arrangements are classic holiday pieces, it never seems to age. In fact, I've had this for years, and I wore out a cassette tape of this before I replaced it with a CD. The music is George Winston's solo piano arrangements of folk Christmas carols like "Greensleeves" and "The Holly and the Ivy", plus some classical tunes "Pachelbel's Canon" and his own compositions. My particular favorite is the usually-boring "Carol of the Bells," which is arranged wonderfully here. If you like solo, modern piano and you like Christmas music, you might like this album as much as I do. I even play it when it's not Christmastime.
30 of 32 found the following review helpful:
DECEMBER - always beautiful, now even better!!Oct 25, 2001
I'll admit I'm biased - I love all of George's CDs. But I have to say that for overall listening, December flows the best. The classics are all still here - Carol of the Bells, the Kanon, and my favorite, the Holly and the Ivy. But the bonus tracks are interesting. A Christmas Song is simple and short. Sleep Baby Mine by Alfred Burt (who also composed Some Children See Him) is a very lovely song and fits in with the rest of the CD perfectly. What I bought the CD for, however, was the sheet music. It's about time!! Just glancing over it, George's version of the Kanon looks complicated, but not impossible. Probably intermediate to advanced. If you want to start listening to George Winston, start with this CD! Then try Plains.
19 of 21 found the following review helpful:
A 5-star CD, but no special treats in this new editionOct 20, 2001
By R. Riis
"rriis"
"December" is a new-age classic and a justifiably long-running best-seller, especially at Christmas time. This anniversary edition, though, has no real reason to be : no remastering (although the sound quality has always been quite excellent) and two bonus tracks that, while fine, can seem a bit jarring following the former last track of a familiar and perfect album. The liner notes (new, by Winston himself) are worthy, but all in all this deluxe edition is no particular improvement and a purchase you can pass on if you already own the original CD.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
A whole different worldJan 31, 2003
I first heard December when I was a teenager in the early eighties, after my older brother bought the CD. The next time I heard it was almost a decade later, just after I was divorced. It was mid-December and I didn't have my kids with me for the first time in years, and I think I felt a little lost. I found the CD and listened to it... and later, what amazed me the most was thinking that the world was a different place after I had listened to it, because of it. A few other random comments... I still think his version of Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is the single-most beautiful piece of piano music I've ever heard, no matter how much I may think of Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Debussy... If you play the piano and you like George Winston, get the CD for the sheet music alone (his arrangement of Pachelbel's Canon in D). Like the sheets for "Longing/Love" from the 20th anniversary "Autumn" CD, the arrangement is very good (but not perfect).... I'm just glad this music exists. The world is a better place for having this music in it.
See all 101 customer reviews on Amazon.com
|
![Thriller [Vinyl]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CM4t6EGWL._SL75_.jpg "Thriller [Vinyl]")
based on 101 reviews![The Stranger: 30th Anniversary [Legacy Edition] - 2 CD Set](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51wsOWTNxrL._SL75_.jpg "The Stranger: 30th Anniversary [Legacy Edition] - 2 CD Set")
