John Boswell - Festival of the Heart
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Music CD Cover
Artist: John BoswellBrand: Valley
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1993-02-25
Music Label: Hearts of Space
Soundtracks:
- O Come All Ye Faithful
- What Child Is This? (Greensleeves)
- God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
- Angels We Have Heard on High
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
- Festival of the Heart
- The First Noel
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear
- The Little Drummer Boy
- O Holy Night
- Away in a Manger
- Coventry Carol
- Fugue from the Messiah
- Silent Night
- Eastern Star
Free Music Notes for Festival of the Heart
Free Music Review: A Modern Classic
Hit: 5 Stars
It was my good fortune to hear this disc playing during it's inaugural season while shopping in the studio of an artist who was also a Hearts Of Space dealer. The shop owner was kind enough to let me sample all of the tracks knowing full well that I would purchase it and other discs even if I didn't by one photo or piece of pottery. It has been my favorite Christmas album ever since and I have given it as a Christmas present on numerous occasions. For Christmas music I like The Carpenters, Mannheim Steamroller, Handel's Messiah (various performers), the original "Now That's What I Call Christmas" (haven't listened to/purchased the others) and Mariah Carey so my tastes are probably a little stuffy for some.
As this album is sacred music with an acoustic piano as the primary instrument, it tends (with some exceptions) toward the mellow side. It is wonderful to listen to while decorating the tree or sipping a hot drink (or shopping for art and photography gifts) but the performances are so fine that you can easily become absorbed in them when there are no other distractions.
Fortunately for you, you can listen to samples of the tracks at Amazon and not have to rely on whatever feeble descriptions I might concoct. I recommend listening at minimum to the samples of "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "Little Drummer Boy" to get a sense for the variety on this disc. Of course, if you have the time, listen to all of the samples.
If you want choirs, orchestras, pop, rock, R&B, or Christmas love songs, look elsewhere. If you like "traditional" Christmas melodies and fine keyboard performance, you won't be disappointed in this selection,it might even become your favorite Christmas album.
Festival of the Heart Poster
Largely piano driven, Festival of the Heart showcases John Boswell's delicately warm tones on an hour's worth of seasonal hymns and carols. All but the title cut and the album's closer, "Eastern Star" (both composed by Boswell), are traditionals and classics, many dating back to the 17th century. Mendelssohn's "Hark! The Harold Angels Sing" resounds beautifully in a duet of piano and bells. Other standouts are Handel's English-horn-adorned "Fugue" from the Messiah and a reverent take on "Coventry Carol," the collection's oldest hymn, which dates to 16th-century England. For those for whom Christmas is more enchanted and holy than commercial, Festival of the Heart is true blue. --Paige La GroneClassical Music CDs
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