Top Ten CDs You May Not Know
I may do a top ten list of my favorites soon for Laura in Lyon, but I thought you might like to know about some CDs which we like but you may not have heard of:
- Soundtrack for Anne of Green Gables by Hagood Hardy (this is good tea party music, from a Canadian composer, but skip his other music)
- Days Gone By by Ted Jacobs (for children, 19th century poetry set to music, folksy, a couple of the songs will make you want to cry)
- Rigoletto soundtrack by Kurt Bestor (from a movie which is a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast, released by Feature Films for Families, a Mormon company…acting is so-so, but we like the movie and the music is beautiful)
- 2nd Chapter of Acts, The Roar of Love (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe set to music, I first bought this as an LP in high school, then the Lewis estate caused problems and it was no longer available, until recently…the song about the Stone Table is spinetingling, although the synthesizers are outdated)
- Barber’s Adagio by Samuel Barber (the same simple piece of music performed in eight differents styles: strings, flute, brass, clarinets, even a choir)
- Baroque Music for Trumpets by Wynton Marsalis (I bought this for the great rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D, but you may need to be a musical neophyte like me to appreciate it, judging by the comments at Amazon)
- Linus and Lucy by George Winston, a tribute to Vince Guaraldi (many of the songs are renditions of the music written for the Peanuts specials)
- Hymn by The American Boychoir (great choral singing, wonderful selections of sacred music)
- Liberty! by Mark O’Connor (soundtrack to a PBS show about the American Revolution, also has James Taylor singing, YoYo Ma and Wynton Marsalis)
- Secret of Roan Inish soundtrack by Mason Daring (from a weird and wonderful movie, very Irish)
November 13th, 2003 at 5:31 am
I LOVE the Anne of Green Gables music!! Thanks for the info!
PS: I hope I didn’t overstep my bounds here with the prophecy post yesterday. I just thought it sounded so much like what is happening here with the hatred and sheer intensity that our enemies have toward us right now. It was a sobering word. I do feel our country is testing the LORD’s patience more each day.
November 13th, 2003 at 6:06 am
Oh, Carmon, I love Rigoletto and the music. I didn’t know there was a soundtrack. I have to say I have been made fun of a lot because I really liked the music in that movie.
The Roar of Love: We (DH and I) love 2nd Chapter of Acts from our youth and somehow had Roar of Love around the house. It is now a family favorite. It truly captures the Chronicles in music.
Matthew Ward has an incredible voice. My favorite "O Holy Night" is the one he sings with Twila Paris.
I guess a good CD is like a good book and can be enjoyed at 6 & 60.
Cindy
November 13th, 2003 at 6:09 am
Thanks, Carmon! My friend has the Anne CD and loves it. I will make note of these suggestions and wait for the others!
Hope all is well with all of you!
Laura in Lyon
P.S. I have been implementing the Robinson suggestions–ie. more independence with math facts, reading–and it is going so much better!!!!!! We highlight a certain LA area each week so that none of us are too overwhelmed! So much I would like to say to you. Maybe in heaven??
November 13th, 2003 at 8:19 am
Kim, I really appreciated those verses. I think of them often in conjunction with many things happening today. They apply very well to our society, just as they have to the time they were written and many other times since.
Cindy, I didn’t know about that version of "O Holy Night!" That’s my favorite Christmas hymn. I think Buried Treasure readers ought to give me a list of their favorite CDs.
Laura, if you want to wait that till then, that’s fine, or you could write me a letter and I could write back…or you could come to California next time you go on furlough. I’m really glad school is going better.
November 13th, 2003 at 10:20 am
Don’t ask for 10 favorites, Carmon, that’s too hard to narrow down. I learned a long time ago to not ask my children what is their favorite of something. I just ask what is a good part, and get more info that way. OK, so some CDs I like: The Impressionists A Windham Hill Sampler, Debussy Dreams EMI Classics (an unclothed woman on the cover, btw), The Look of Love Dianna Krall, and Yo-Yo Ma Soul of the Tango. These find their way into my player more often than my other CDs.
November 13th, 2003 at 10:35 am
Meant to add…thanks for the suggestions. I’ve put Roar of Love and Liberty on my wish list. (You are responsible for the growing length of my wish list.) And, I love you for it!
November 13th, 2003 at 2:56 pm
I first listened to "The Roar of Love" on eight track! I’m glad to hear it’s available again.
November 13th, 2003 at 7:16 pm
Hi Carmon! They sound wonderful. ;~D I am always looking for good Anne of Green Gables stuff for our little Avonlea. She LOVES tea parties! Dawn is trying to convince us to visit Prince Edward Island next year for her "graduation" trip.
November 13th, 2003 at 9:12 pm
Oh, Carmon, you like Rigoletto? I don’t know if I’ll be able to get over that.
OTOH, Matthew Ward’s voice is beautiful and everything I’ve ever heard by 2nd Chapter of Acts was well done, so okay, I’ll forgive you for liking Rigoletto.
November 13th, 2003 at 9:50 pm
The Matthew Ward/Twila Paris Duet of O Holy Night is on Twila’s Its the Thought That Counts Christmas CD which after 10 or more years is still one of my favorite CD’s. They go right from O Holy Night into the Hallelujah Chorus and it is awesome. But then again I liked Rigoletto, too.
What about the Soundtrack from Henry V?
Cindy
November 13th, 2003 at 10:32 pm
We watched the Liberty! series (3x through at least) just a couple of weeks ago. My children wouldn’t let me fast forward through the credits at the end of each section because they *had* to listen to "Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier" *every* time! LOL I’m never one to think of getting soundtracks… Guess this would be a good one to get just for *that* song…or so my children would think if asked!
November 13th, 2003 at 10:34 pm
Oh, Kelly, I didn’t mean to be such a disappointment. I’m really very lowbrow, you know. I think it has a special spot in my heart because I watched it with my oldest son while he was in the hospital many years ago.
I appreciate the suggestions, Lisa and Cindy. Maybe Laura D. will pop in with a couple more. She has great taste in books and music!
Stephanie, I’ll be very jealous if you go to PEI. You’ll have to tell me all about it if you go. My friend gave me an Anne of Green Gables Christmas book for my birthday, with lots of craft and recipe ideas. You might look for it for your girls.
November 13th, 2003 at 10:37 pm
Tamara…I’ve never seen it but I’ve been looking for it! Was it on TV or did you see a recording? I guess you liked it if you watched it 3 times!
November 13th, 2003 at 11:03 pm
3 tape VHS recording set from the library (where else?! ;-)). Dh watched it through the first time while I had things to do and caught bits and pieces. Then, the children watched it through while I had things to do and caught bits and pieces. 3rd times a charm right?! Finally, I got to sit down and watch it through while everyone else had things to do and caught bits and pieces! LOL The children came running (if they weren’t there already) to listen to the "Johnny song" though.
And, yes, we all liked it.
November 14th, 2003 at 1:51 pm
Wow, Carmon! You always come up with interesting things for me to look for. I’ve never heard of *any* of your selections, so it gives me lots to find.
I can think of 4 CD’s I like a lot that you may not have heard of:
"An American Christmas: Carols, Hymns and Spirituals 1770 -1870" Features the Boston Camerata directed and conducted by Joel Cohen. This has few instruments, but beautiful singing.
"The Eight Symphonies" - William Boyce. Boyce didn’t have a lot of his music survive, but his Symphony #4 in F major is one of our favorites. It’s light and pleasant - merry would best describe it!
"English String Miniatures" features the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and David Lloyd-Jones. This is a favorite that I play almost everyday since I bought it last spring. Think of beautiful little miniature oil paintings of pastoral scenes, and this is it - in music.
"A Portrait of the Cambridge Singers" directed by John Rutter. I have enjoyed everything I’ve heard arranged or composed by Rutter. This has the all-time-best arrangement ever done of "All Things Bright and Beautiful." (And I doubt anyone will ever improve upon it!)