Listen & tracks
1 of 42 tracks have a preview · 24 works · 69:05
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1 Christmas Eve Traditional Deck the Halls, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Il est né 4:27
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2 Away in a Manger Traditional 2:17
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3 När det lider mot jul Ruben Liljefors (choral version) 2:31
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4 Once in Royal David’s City Henry John Gauntlett 2:21
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5 Australian Carols John Wheeler The Three Drovers, Christmas Day, Carol of the Birds 3:23
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6 Bethlehem Stjärna Alice Tegnér 3:00
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7 Silent Night Franz Xaver Gruber 2:29
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8 Bethlehem Stjärna Alice Tegnér 2:06
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9 Cantique de Noël Adolphe Adam 3:38
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10 Coventry Carol Traditional 1:39
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11 Nu tändas Tusen Julejus Traditional 3:16
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12 Blessed be that maid Mary Traditional 1:37
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13 Ave Maria Hugo Gyldmark 4:31
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14 Holly and the Ivy Traditional 1:33
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15 Winter Song Ebbe Grims-land 2:27
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16 Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer Johnny Marks 2:09
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17 Merry Christmas Traditional Nu har vi jul igen, Sikken voldsom trangsel, Juletraeet mid pynt, På loftet sidden nissen 5:20
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18 Mary’s Boy Child Jester Hairston 3:39
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19 Barn Jesus in En Krybbe Lå Niels Wilhelm Gade 1:39
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20 När det lider mot jul Ruben Liljefors (mandolin version) 2:38
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21 Jeg er så glad hver juletid P. Knudsen 4:13
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22 Dance at Christmas Ebbe Grims-land 4:00
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23 We wish you a merry Christmas Traditional 1:49
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24 White Christmas Irving Berlin 2:23
Joined by mandola player Joan Harris, harpist Julie Raines, guitarist Tamara Leamon, pianist May Gavin, mezzo-soprano Suzann Frisk and the Scandinavian Choir, Jensen performs carols that range from mediaeval to modern classics. The programme conveys both the joyous and the reflective moods of the season.
Carols come from England, France, Australia, Germany, Denmark and the USA, with original compositions by Swedish composer Ebbe Grims-land.
The warm, intimate sounds of mandolin, mandola, harp, piano and guitar combine with the rich tones of the Scandinavian choir to suggest the warmth and bonhomie of a home at Christmas.
Reviews
And what is Christmas without mandolins ... No organs, no orchestras, no grand statements, merely a domestic, happy scene. It exudes warmth.
Move Records ... has a winner with Mandolin Christmas.
Artists
Kurt Jensen
mandolin
Kurt Jensen is a Danish mandolin soloist who performed professionally from the age of twelve. In Australia he featured as soloist with the Melbourne Musicians, Chamber Strings of Melbourne, Melbourne Mandolin Orchestra and Guitar Ensemble.
Irving Berlin
composer
Irving Berlin wrote the songs that lodge in the ear and stay there: White Christmas, Easter Parade, Blue Skies, Puttin' on the Ritz. Simple, direct, and built for the heart, they still travel wherever melody is welcome.
William Garnet James
composer
William Garnet James (1892–1977) was an Australian pianist and composer who became a pioneer of music broadcasting as the ABC’s first Director of Music.
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.
Adolphe Adam
composer
Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) was a French composer of operas and ballets. He is remembered above all for Giselle, Le corsaire, and the Christmas carol O Holy Night.
Niels Wilhelm Gade
composer
Henry John Gauntlett
composer
Henry John Gauntlett wrote more than a thousand hymn tunes, among them Irby, the melody almost always paired with the Christmas carol Once in Royal David's City. His church music was shaped for congregational singing and the organ loft.
Ebbe Grims-land
composer
Franz Xaver Gruber
composer
Franz Xaver Gruber wrote the melody of Silent Night, the Christmas carol first heard at midnight Mass in 1818. Later arrangements for organ and orchestra, with other carols and masses of his, remain in print and in Austrian church use.
Hugo Gyldmark
composer
Jester Hairston
composer
Jester Hairston (1901–2000) was an American composer, songwriter, arranger and choral conductor, regarded as a leading expert on Black spirituals and choral music.
Reginald Jacques
composer
Reginald Jacques's arrangements of traditional Christmas carols have become fixtures of the choral repertoire. Settings such as Good King Wenceslas, The Holly and the Ivy and Angels from the Realms of Glory still ring out in churches and concert programmes every December.
P. Knudsen
composer
Ruben Liljefors
composer
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.
Alice Tegnér
composer
Karl Thomas
composer
Arranger whose mandolin-orchestra work appears on Australian recordings of Italian repertoire, virtuoso showpieces, and Christmas carols.
S. Thuringer
composer
John Wheeler
composer
David Willcocks
composer
David Willcocks’s carol arrangements and descants give traditional Christmas melodies a clear, ceremonial lift: bright upper lines, firm harmony, and textures built for choir and congregation. On these discs his settings sit among the season’s most familiar favourites.
Digital booklet
Digital booklet Notes, texts and credits — read online or download the PDF Download the PDFPerformers
- Kurt Jensen · mandolin · all except tracks 3, 6, 15, 16, 19 and 23
- Julie Raines · harp · tracks 1, 7–9, 13, 14, 17, 18 and 24
- Joan Harris · mandola · all except tracks 3, 6, 8, 15, 16, 19–21 and 23
- Tamara Leamon · guitar · tracks 2 and 12
- May Gavin · piano · tracks 15, 19 and 22
- Suzann Frisk · mezzo soprano · tracks 6 and 11
- The Scandinavian Choir Melbourne · ensemble · tracks 3, 6, 11, 16, 19, 21 and 23
- Staffan Thuringer · conductor · tracks 3, 6, 11, 16, 19, 21 and 23
Technical credits
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Recording Engineer
Martin Wright
Vaughan McAlley
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Venue
Move Records Studio
Details
- List price
- $15.00 AUD
- Total playing time
- 69 minutes 5 seconds
- Release date
- 1997
- Categories
- Christmas, Folk music
- Genres
- Christmas, Choral & Sacred, Folk
- Musical work copyright
- © 1997 Move Records
- Sound recording copyright
- ℗ 1997 Move Records
- Catalogue
- MD 3189
- EAN
- 9314574318920
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