Post by wisejester7 on Dec 2, 2007 17:42:18 GMT -5
Many years ago, Karen and Richard Carpenter turned their generous talents and efforts into making some of the most beautiful Christmas music on the planet.
Karen's vocals, nestled in the lush arrangements provided by Richard, convey the emotive ups and downs of the Christmas season. Joys and sorrows, wonder and sure knowledge, youth and age ... all the things that make Christmas a contemplative season ... were summed up and perfected in the offerings presented by the Carpenters.
Please share some of your likes and dislikes about the Carpenters Christmas recordings. What follows are a few questions to help you get started.
What do you think of their efforts? Was it worth all the work and hours they put into the project?
Do you like the songs/music they recorded?
Do you wish they had not recorded some of the songs/music on their albums?
Do you wish they had recorded more Christmas/holiday music?
Do you wish there were more instrumental pieces included? Less?
Do you have a favorite song/piece of music from their efforts?
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One of the songs that was done well was "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day". It is recorded in perfect harmony with the sentiment of the poem from which it was taken. Karen's voice is deep, haunting, hurting/searching ... with a bit of wonder thrown into the mix.
Some history (from Wikipedia) :
"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the poem "Christmas Bells," composed by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) in 1864.
Longfellow wrote "Christmas Bells" on Christmas day 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War and the news of his son Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered wounds as a soldier in battle. He had suffered the great loss of his wife two years prior to an accident with fire. His despair in the following years after was recorded in his journal.
The poem has been set to several tunes. The first tune was set in the 1870s by an English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, to his composition "Waltham". Less commonly, the poem has also been set to the 1845 composition "Mainzer" by Joseph Mainzer. Johnny Marks, known for his song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, set Longfellow’s poem in the 1950's. Marks' version has been recorded by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Kate Smith, Frank Sinatra, Sarah McLachlan, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, The Carpenters and Bing Crosby. Marks' composition is now generally accepted as the de facto version and is generally what is used for modern recordings of the song, though Calkin's version is still heard as well.
The lyrics follow:
I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”
Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
Historical Note: This hymn was written during the American civil war, as reflected by the sense of despair in the next to last stanza of the current, common presentation (above). The original stanzas 4 and 5 (below) speak of the battle, and are usually omitted from hymnals:
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound the carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn, the households born
Of peace on earth, good will to men.
