Songs for Singing Children with John Langstaff

Enjoy 30 selections of Appalachian, Shape-Note, Shaker, Gospel, bluegrass, and other traditional folk music from 1930's America, recorded LIVE at the 2019 Christmas Revels in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “2019’s Christmas Revels isn’t just set in the American heartland, it comes from the American heart.” (Boston Globe) “I can’t recall a Christmas Revels production better than this one, timed to recall the spirit of the holiday and the traditions that unite us as a nation.” (Iris Fanger, Cambridge Chronicle) “Revels’ exploration of the roots of American music covers a wide geographic swath from New England to the South. The musicians are top-notch...Carolyn Saxon slays with her vocals!” (Broadway World)

28 selections of music and poetry in celebration of the winter solstice drawn from sixteen years of The Christmas Revels in Portland, Oregon.

Twelve old world countries are represented in music spanning more than six centuries – from a 14th-century ballade by Guillaume de Machaut to Edvard Grieg’s stunning 19th-century eight part setting of the Marian hymn “Ave Maris Stella” to new arrangements of traditional carols and songs, some with new lyrics written by Portland Revels founder Richard Lewis, whose poetry is also represented in this collection.

Personnel: Elizabeth Nicholson (harp); Shulamit Kleinerman (vielle, violin); Betsy Branch (violin, baritone violin); Gayle Neuman (violin, viola, recorder); Polly Gibson (viola da gamba, recorder); Daphne Clifton (rackett, recorder); Philip Neuman (recorder, curtal); Jeffrey Snyder (trumpet, flugelhorn); Mike Hankins (trumpet); Jen Harrison (French horn); Greg Scholl (trombone); John Walling (tuba); Tom Sessa (percussion); Portland Revels Renaissance Band, Portland Brass Quintet.

Track Listing • Canzona per Sonare #4 • Personent Hodie • The Year/Je Sui Aussi • A Christmas Caroll • O Magnum Mysterium • Jenny Pluck Pairs • Comes the Morning • Nou is Yole Comen • Offerat Ecclesia • The Bells of the Morning • The Darkest Midnight in December • The Garten Mother’s Lullaby • Calon Lan • A Sonnet for Peace • Belle, Qui Tiens Ma Vie • The Holly and the Ivy • Gaudette! • The Wexford Carol • Quem Pastores Laudavere • Il Est Bel et Bon • Folkefresar, Til Oss Kom • Myllarguten’s Bridal March • Ave Maris Stella • Dejlig er Den Himmel Bla • Eclipse • Traveller’s Prayer • Festa • Verbum Caro Factum Est

Recording information: Airshow Mastering, Washington, DC (05/10/2010); Bauman Auditorium, George Fox University, Newberg, Oreg (05/10/2010); Airshow Mastering, Washington, DC (05/22/2010-05/27/2010); Bauman Auditorium, George Fox University, Newberg, Oreg (05/22/2010-05/27/2010).

“Enough merriment to send the nastiest Grinch running for cover!” — Sunset magazine

“The Christmas Revels is a terrific community celebration; it draws on the older traditions of the winter solstice … bursting with warmth” — Oregon Public Broadcasting

Welcome to this live-from-the-stage retrospective recording through five decades of Christmas Revels productions, capturing the adventurous spirit and flavor of these legendary performances. Revels productions are rich smorgasbords of choral and solo singing, traditional folk dances and stories, children’s songs and games, and a brilliant brass ensemble. The selections on this 2-album Setare sequenced according to musical connections rather than by nationality or time period. A Russian non-sense song segues easily into an Appalachian hoedown, a 14th-century France art song into a 20th-century Cajun toe-tapper. It is our way of illustrating how vocal and instrumental styles – and the range of human experience that expresses itself through music – transcend geopolitical boundaries and find common ground in unexpected places.

A rousing collection of songs and dance music recorded live from the stage at the 2021 Christmas Revels in Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA. The selections span the distance from Renaissance art songs through English pub carols to American gospel, with lots of crossover as these three musical traditions merge and coalesce.

Includes:

Overture
O Come All Ye Faithful
Merry Christmas
Galliard
As I Out Rode This Enderes Night
Chariots
Boar’s Head Carol
To Drive the Cold Winter Away
Mistress Nichols Almand
Gower Wassail
Homeless Wassail
Lean on Me
Bring the New Year In
Someday at Christmas
Oh Happy Day

The Lark in the Morn and other folksongs and ballads

At the Foot of Yonders Mountain

Nottamun Town: British and American Folksongs and Ballads

After their harsh deportment from the Canadian Maritimes in the 18th century, French-speaking Acadian people were scattered across the American continent. Many of them landed in the multicultural Louisiana, where Acadian music evolved into Cajun, while those who eventually returned to Canada rekindled their distinct style. Today the two genres are vastly different, yet their historical links remain. The fiddle is the driving force in both Acadian and Cajun dance music, and many of the traditional songs embody themes of deep longing. In spite of the challenges that both peoples have faced, they know how to make their own fun, and their music cant be taken too seriously. Both groups also love to dance. This collection includes both vocal and instrumental music from both of these culturally rich communities. This release reflects their shared commitment to laissez les bon temps rouler- let the good times roll!

Selections recorded at Paine Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusets and at First Parish in Brookline, Massachusets, in June and July, 1999.

Revels recordings are invitations to experience musically the world cultures that are the focus of the nationally popular Christmas Revels productions. This, the 30th album, is set against a background of the Italian Renaissance and goes beyond familiar repertoire and into the crosscurrents of culture that created the era’s rich fusion of sound and style. This is a gorgeous mix of Renaissance music by the period’s greatest composers, some born in Venice and others who migrated to and settled there, greatly influencing the city’s vast cultural landscape. Plus, this album features Italian children’s music and holiday carols that the whole family will enjoy. “Revels’ music evokes the true spirit of the winter holiday and puts us in touch with centuries of Yuletide celebrating.” (Utney Reader) “Revels is a national treasure!” (Boston Herald)

"Dmitri Pokrovsky and ensemble are simply marvelous. . . there is some magnificent, stirring music here." Sing Out! the Folk Music Magazine

"A magnificent celebration of the winter solstice." The Companion

Recorded live at two Houston Revels shows, one focusing on Russia and America, the other on Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. At once darkly pretty and boisterous, brimming with the energy of cold people keeping warm to hot dance, rich harmony, and the pleasure of each other's company. Featuring the Karelian Folk Music Ensemble, preeminent exponents of the haunting music of Karelia, which overlaps modern Finland and Russia; and the seminal Russian folkloric group, the Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble. Pokrovsky also contributes a fascinating liner-note essay on how Russian holiday traditions connect to our American Christmas.

Track Listing

1. Epic Song - Pokrovsky Ensemble
2. Peacock, The - Tamara Smyslova/Pokrovsky Ensemble
3. Down by the Volga River - Pokrovsky Ensemble
4. Sun Room - Pokrovsky Ensemble
5. Kind Evening - Pokrovsky Ensemble
6. Young Convert, The (from "The Christian Harmony") - Houston Chorus/Pokrovsky Ensemble
7. Go Tell It on the Mountain, Christmas song (American) - Janice O. Allen/Audience/Stan Strickland/Cambridge Chorus
8. Evening Star - David Langstaff/Houston Chorus/Pokrovsky Ensemble
9. Porushka - Pokrovsky Ensemble
10. Alleluia - Pokrovsky Ensemble/Cambridge Chorus
11. Work(s): The Great Rostov Bells
12. King David's Pslam 116 - Houston Chorus/Pokrovsky Ensemble
13. Birch Tree on the Shore - Houston Chorus/Women of the Ensemble
14. Sunset, march for band - Houston Chorus/Women of the Ensemble
15. Mary Had A Baby - Tamara Smyslova/Houston Chorus/Women of the Ensemble/Belinda Simmons
16. Ho ho ho Goat! - Houston Children's Choir
17. Proso - Sophie Grabanov/Cambridge Children
18. We Traveled Through Holy Russia - Houston Chorus/Pokrovsky Ensemble
19. Golden Yarn - Houston Chorus/Pokrovsky Ensemble
20. Work(s): Unspecified, played on the Great Mountain horn - Jeffrey Soloman/Lisa Giocoma
21. Nu ar det Jul igen (Sweden) - Houston Chorus
22. Vandring I Varlden - Matt Fichtenbaum
23. Riski Ritaan Polkka - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
24. Now Falls the Snow - Houston Chorus
25. Brurmarsj fra Gudbrandsdal - Matt Fichtenbaum
26. Pappani Talo - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
27. Talonpojan Tanssi - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
28. Lift Up Your Hearts - Houston Chorus/Paragon Brass Ensemble
29. Sukkeret er Sottsann - Houston Chorus
30. Vid Stormyren - Matt Fichtenbaum
31. Kukku - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
32. Olafur Liljuros - David Nussmann/Men of Houston Chorus
33. Byssan Lull - Women of Houston Chorus
34. Den bergtagna, medieval ballad, SMB 24 - Women of Houston Chorus/Cathy Frederick
35. Julafton - Houston Chorus
36. Karelian Tune - Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
37. Kahden Nuoren Rakkaus - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble
38. Telespringer
39. Mariy-El Tune - Houston Band/Karelian Folk Music Ensemble

Includes liner notes by Patrick Swanson, Susan Cooper, Dmitri Pokrovsky, Toby Weinberg and Matt Fichtenbaum.

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology.

Personnel: Eric White (guitar, double bass); Bob Brown (guitar); Diana Woldy (violin); Christian Borlaug, Matt Fichtenbaum (fiddle); Thomas Tillotson (trumpet); Nathaniel Brickens (trombone); James Court (tuba); Jack Westmoreland (timpani).

Liner Note Author: Patrick Swanson.

Recording information: Houston, TX (1994/1995).

Photographers: Roger Ide; Sam Sweezy.

Personnel includes: George Emlen, David Gay, Roberta Humez (conductor); John Langstaff (conductor, vocals); Jerome Epstein (conductor, concertina); The Revels Chorus, Youth Pro Musica (vocals); John Fleagle (vocals, gaita, medieval harp, lyzarden, rebec, pipe, tabor); Chris Rua (vocals, recorder, shawm, bass viol); Hannah Davidson (alto recorder, bass dulcian, bass viol); The Cambridge Symphonic Brass Ensemble (horns); Sarah Tenney (timpani, percussion).
Recorded at Paine Hall, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and Houghton Chapel, Wellesley College, Boston, Massachusetts in Spring, 1991. Includes liner notes by Susan Cooper.

Perfect for the holidays: listening to this recording is like being in Wales for Christmas! With traditional music, dance tunes, carols, and anthems from Wales, this recording features a number of Welsh children's songs, Welsh songs that the poet Dylan Thomas would have known, and songs from long, long ago.

From Parlour to Palace: Victorian Music from the Christmas R