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Media Type: CD
Artist: SHAW,ROBERT CHORALE
Title: MANY MOODS OF CHRISTMAS
Street Release Date: 10/14/1997
Domestic
Genre: XMAS CLASSICAL VOCAL

Average Customer Review: ( 19 customer reviews )
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As I listen to this music, I can't help thinking what this music must have sounded like in live performance. It is an impressive sound, even if I am accustomed to hearing these carols in a somewhat more intimate setting. I don't have to describe the quality of the chorus; it is after all Shaw's chorus, and he is the master of his element here. This is orchestral choral singing at its best, and we could expect nothing less than this from Shaw.

The musical selections include many pieces which never make it into the musak of the mall, which is always a treat. In addition to the familiar classics, we have Patapan, Fum Fum Fum, Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella, and a Bach chorale (Break Forth, O Beauteous Light). These pieces will be familiar to anyone versed in the Fred Waring / Robert Shaw tradition, but they will be a welcome discovery to others. The arrangements are both choral and instrumental, with no solo voices.

Personally, I prefer a smaller choral group for this music, but that is a matter of personal preference, and I can hardly hold it against this recording. This is a classic recording, one which would provide a good foundation for any collection.

20 of 21 found the following review helpful:

The original performance, (vinyl LP), vice the CD redo.Dec 09, 1998
By vheath@silverlink.net
I purchased the original performance of this album conducted by the arranger, "Robert Russel Bennet", (Victory at Sea, Arr.), with the RCA Symphony Orchestra and the Robert Shaw Chorale. I was so impressed by the spirit and power of the rendition that I purchase seven more albums to distribute to friends and family that holiday season. I still have the original vinyl, now taped many times, but alas, the LP has reached a senescence commensurate with it's 30 plus years. The remake by R.Shaw on CD, now conducting the Atlanta Symphony along with his esteemed Chorale, is a faithful technical duplication of R.R. Bennet's original arrangements, but the inspirational exuberance of the first flowering is absent from the Atlanta offering, even the organ is a bit insipid. This remastering of the original glorious performance should rate among the top few renderings of traditional yuletide music and should be offered every future midwinter festival to delight the ear of Christian, Jew, Moslem, Buddhist, Agnostic and/or atheist alike. Great music is truly universal and this should be a top seller for a long, long time.

V.C. Heath, USN, Ret.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

After 40 Years, Still the Best Christmas Recording AvailableDec 20, 2002
By A. Wolverton
This reissue of the classic 1963 recording stands the test of time for two reasons: Robert Shaw's incredible Chorale Singers and the masterful arrangements by Robert Russell Bennett. Nearly 40 years have passed, yet these arrangements still pack a wallop.

Few of today's Christmas recordings even come close to the vibrant, joyful, playful and powerful scores of Bennett. Be sure to purchase this version and not the lackluster re-recording that was made in 1983.

Total time: 47:18

9 of 10 found the following review helpful:

A Huge DisappointmentDec 18, 2008
By this ad only "thisadonly"
There are two almost identical versions of "The Many Moods of Christmas" this is the first 1963 recording. There is a 1990 recording of the same material and arrangements on the Telarc label. I have to say I was looking forward to getting this original recording. I remember the vinyl as being quite good and many early analog recordings are spectacular. I suspect this was spectacular before the digital remastering engineers at BMG/RCA got a chance to "improve" it. The program is sadly compressed to death. The quiet parts are loud and the loud parts just get painful, shrill and unlistenable.

I also have the newer Telarc CD of the very same material. I know others have hinted that the original is better musically but I'd have to get a copy of the original on vinyl and haul out the old turntable to know. The dynamics are changed so radically on this remastering that there is no reason to buy it. Maybe one day the 1963 master tapes will be revisited by musical engineers and we'll all be able to hear the 1963 version as it was recorded with depth and musical dynamics. This CD is sad and I wish I could return it and not just throw it away.

10 of 12 found the following review helpful:

The Gold Standard for Chorale Christmas MusicDec 07, 2003
By J. Katz
Mitch Miller, Ray Conniff, UK's King College Choir -- while all produce nice Christmas music, none belong in the same league with the Robert Shaw Chorale's work in "The Many Moods of Christmas."

The arrangements are better than anyone else's, and the vocals are better than any other of those in this genre. And better is an understatement. I'm blown away by the quality of this recording.

One can sense an enormous amount of pride on the part of all involved with this work: Shaw, Robert Russell Bennett (the arranger), the chorus, and the RCA orchestra. No doubt, they didn't walk into the recording studio and knock this out in one take.

There are no instrumental selections; most songs typically open with some lush orchestral music shortly followed by the voices of the chorus.

Until now, I've not been a fan of chorale type Christmas CDs. In most instances, either the music or the voices fell short. Not this time. Not only do they fail to fall short, they start at the top of the game, and stay there throughout the album -- never hitting so much as one false note.

Other reviewers are correct; this is not a shy collection of songs. They announce Christmas with great exhuberance. But they do it better than anyone before this recording was made (1963), and most certainly, better than any who have come after.

There are better Christmas albums in my view: Those by Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole, Alan Jackson (Let It Be Christmas), and Patty Loveless. But if you're looking for a Christmas CD that features an orchestra/chorus, stop looking. You found the best you're going to find.

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