Move Records Australian classical & art music, est. 1968
Front cover art for Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

Elizabeth Anderson and friends put a fresh twist on Christmas carols: eight tracks packaged as a Christmas card, with a vibrant cover and space for a personal inscription.

  • CatalogueMD 3195
  • Released1997
  • Playing time15 minutes 11 seconds
  • Recorded at Move Records Studio

Listen & tracks

1 of 19 tracks have a preview · 7 works · 15:11

  1. 1 Santa Claus is coming to town Haven Gillespie 3:14
  2. 2 I saw three ships Traditional 1:10
  3. In dulci jubiloTraditional 2 movements3:47
    1. 3 In dulci jubilo [vocal] 2:13
    2. 4 In dulci jubilo [instrumental] (BWV 608) 1:34
  4. 5 Good King Wenceslas Traditional 1:14
  5. 6 We wish you a merry Christmas Traditional 1:38
  6. 7 Chocolate Bunnies Donald Angle 2:32
  7. 8 Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer Johnny Marks 1:36

You better watch out! You better not cry!

Harpsichordist Elizabeth Anderson will show you why … on Merry Christmas.

The disc gathers fun and traditional Christmas pieces. Tongue-in-cheek arrangements of Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer and Santa Claus is coming to town sit beside more exquisite readings of In dulci jubilo, Good King Wenceslas, I saw three ships and We wish you a merry Christmas.

Anderson’s harpsichord is joined by drums, glockenspiel, double bass and four singers from the acclaimed Choir of Ormond College.

With a bright cover, room for a personal inscription and lively music, it was a fun, unusual gift idea at a price close to ordinary Christmas cards.

Artists

Photograph of Elizabeth Anderson

Elizabeth Anderson

harpsichord

Elizabeth Anderson has performed on eleven international concert tours to Europe, Japan and Singapore, and is a regular guest lecturer and performer at universities and music schools throughout Australia.

Photograph of Donald Angle

Donald Angle

composer

Donald Angle’s music comes from, or is influenced most directly by, twentieth-century pop, country and jazz, and is mostly geared to solo performance on the harpsichord.

Photograph of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

composer

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) was a German composer and organist of the late Baroque. His sacred and secular music for choir, orchestra, organ and solo instruments remains among the foundations of the Western concert and church repertory.

Photograph of Christoph Maubach

Christoph Maubach

composer

Christoph Maubach migrated from Germany to Australia in 1979 after completing the ‘A’ Course at the Orff-Institute in Salzburg. From 1980 onwards he conducted many Orff music education workshops throughout Australia and abroad.

Photograph of Vaughan McAlley

Vaughan McAlley

composer

Vaughan McAlley is a composer and arranger, alto and tenor, a capable flautist and French horn player, and the recording engineer behind countless Move releases.

No photograph: John Frederick Coots

John Frederick Coots

composer

J. Fred Coots composed the melody for Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, the 1934 song that became one of the biggest sellers in American popular music, along with hundreds of other songs and more than a dozen Broadway scores.

No photograph: Bartholomäus Gesius

Bartholomäus Gesius

composer

Bartholomäus Gesius wrote choral Passions in German and Latin and hymn settings for the Lutheran church. His melody for the Easter hymn Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn was later taken up by Buxtehude and Bach, and his name also stands on arrangements of In dulci jubilo.

No photograph: Haven Gillespie

Haven Gillespie

composer

Haven Gillespie (1888–1975) was an American Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist, best known for the Christmas standard Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.

No photograph: Johnny Marks

Johnny Marks

composer

Johnny Marks wrote Christmas songs that settled into the seasonal repertoire as standards, led by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and including A Holly Jolly Christmas, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and Silver and Gold.

No photograph: Nelly McAvaugh

Nelly McAvaugh

composer

No photograph: Arthur Warrell

Arthur Warrell

composer

Arthur Warrell is known for his arrangement of the traditional West Country carol We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

Buy now

$5.00 AUD

Compact disc

Stream now

Also available to download from the iTunes Store.

Performers

Technical credits

  • Contributor Douglas Lawrence
  • Producer Martin Wright
  • Recording Engineer Vaughan McAlley
  • Editing Engineer Vaughan McAlley
  • Venue Move Records Studio
  • Credit Howard Birnstihl
    Jeff Weaver
    Simon Wright

Details

List price
$5.00 AUD
Total playing time
15 minutes 11 seconds
Release date
Categories
Choral, Christmas, Classical
Musical work copyright
© 1997 Move Records
Sound recording copyright
℗ 1997 Move Records
Catalogue
MD 3195
EAN
9314574319521

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