The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World is a compilation/remix album by Boney M. released simultaneously with greatest hits package Gold - 20 Super Hits

Gold - 20 Super Hits

Gold – 20 Super Hits is a 1992 greatest hits album by group Boney M.. Shortly after record label PolyGram had acquired the rights to the ABBA back catalogue and had issued the multimillion-selling hits package Gold: Greatest Hits, BMG and producer Frank Farian followed suit with Boney M.'s Gold -...

in November 1992. The album is a slightly re-edited and remixed version of 1986's The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs

The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs

The 20 Greatest Christmas Songs is a compilation/remix album by Boney M.. In 1986 producer Frank Farian took the master tapes from 1981's Christmas Album, added six recordings by Liz Mitchell, Reggie Tsiboe and two session singers from 1984, remixed them and created Die 20 schönsten...

.

After the chart success of the 1992 "Megamix", the 1978 Christmas number one "Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord" was also re-issued as a single under the name "Christmas Megamix".

The Most Beautiful Christmas Songs of the World has since been re-packaged with new artwork and re-issued as A Wonderful Christmas Time in 1998, as Christmas Party in both 1998 and 2003, as Christmas with Boney M.

Christmas with Boney M. (2007)

Christmas With Boney M. is another Christmas compilation by Boney M., released November 16, 2007, containing all 12 songs from their original 1981 Christmas Album plus six later songs, recorded in 1984 for the album Christmas with Boney M. ...

in 2007 and most recently as Christmas Time

Christmas Time (Boney M. album)

Christmas Time is another Christmas compilation by Boney M., released 2008, containing most of the songs from their original 1981 Christmas Album plus a selection of songs recorded in 1984 for the album Christmas with Boney M. . For the first time released on CD since the mid-1980s are both the...

in 2008.

Track listing

1. "Christmas Medley ("Silent Night, Holy Night" / "Snow Falls Over the Ground" / "Hear Ye the Message" / "Sweet Bells") (Traditional, Farian, Jay) - 7:15
   • Includes all three verses of "Silent Night, Holy Night" sung in English (as on the 1981 "Mary's Boy Child - The Christmas Album" UK album pressing)
2. "Oh Christmas Tree" (Traditional, Farian) - 2:54
3. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" (Felix Mendelssohn
   Felix Mendelssohn
   Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
   
   , Charles Wesley
   Charles Wesley
   Charles Wesley was an English leader of the Methodist movement, son of Anglican clergyman and poet Samuel Wesley, the younger brother of Anglican clergyman John Wesley and Anglican clergyman Samuel Wesley , and father of musician Samuel Wesley, and grandfather of musician Samuel Sebastian Wesley...
   
   , Farian) - 3:03
4. "Zion's Daughter" (George Frideric Handel
   George Frideric Handel
   George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
   
   , Traditional, Farian, Jay, Rulofs) - 3:50
5. "The First Noel
   The First Noël
   The First Nowell is a traditional classical English carol, most likely from the 18th century, although possibly earlier...
   
   " (William B. Sandys
   William B. Sandys
   William B. Sandys , was an English solicitor, member of the Percy Society, fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and remembered for his publication Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern , a collection of seasonal carols that Sandys had gathered and also apparently improvised...
   
   ) - 3:03
6. "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" (Traditional, Farian) - 3:41
7. "Petit Papa Noël" (Martinet, Vincy) - 1:41
8. "Darkness Is Falling" (Jay, Rulofs) - 3:02
9. "Joy to the World
   Joy to the World
   "Joy to the World" is a Christian Christmas carol.The words are by English hymn writer Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 98 in the Bible. The song was first published in 1719 in Watts' collection; The Psalms of David: Imitated in the language of the New Testament, and applied to the Christian state and...
   
   " (Lowell Mason
   Lowell Mason
   Lowell Mason was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include Mary Had A Little Lamb and the arrangement of Joy to the World...
   
   , Isaac Watts
   Isaac Watts
   Isaac Watts was an English hymnwriter, theologian and logician. A prolific and popular hymnwriter, he was recognised as the "Father of English Hymnody", credited with some 750 hymns...
   
   ) - 2:32
10. "White Christmas
    White Christmas (song)
    "White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about an old-fashioned Christmas setting. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the version sung by Bing Crosby is the best-selling single of all time, with estimated sales in excess of 50 million copies worldwide.Accounts vary as...
    
    " (Irving Berlin
    Irving Berlin
    Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
    
    ) - 3:21
    • Edited version
11. "Jingle Bells
    Jingle Bells
    "Jingle Bells" is one of the best-known and commonly sung winter songs in the world. It was written by James Lord Pierpont and published under the title "One Horse Open Sleigh" in the autumn of 1857...
    
    " (James Lord Pierpont, Farian) - 3:28
12. "Feliz Navidad
    Feliz Navidad
    Feliz Navidad may refer to:* a Spanish phrase meaning "happy Nativity"; comparable to Merry Christmas* Feliz Navidad , an album by José Feliciano** Feliz Navidad , a 1970 song from that album...
    
    " (José Feliciano
    José Feliciano
    José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
    
    ) - 2:21
13. "When a Child Is Born
    When a Child Is Born
    "When a Child is Born" is a popular Christmas song. The original melody was "Soleado", a tune from 1972 by Ciro Dammicco , composer for the Italian group Daniel Santecruz Ensemble. The English language lyrics were written later by Fred Jay....
    
    " (Jay, Rulofs) - 3:19
14. "Little Drummer Boy
    Little Drummer Boy
    "The Little Drummer Boy," originally known as "Carol of the Drum," is a popular Christmas song written by the American classical music composer/teacher Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941. It was recorded 1955 by the Trapp Family Singers and further popularized by a 1958 recording by the Harry...
    
    " (Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati, Harry Simeone) - 4:21
15. "Medley: Mary's Boy Child
    Mary's Boy Child
    "Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol....
    
     / Oh My Lord" (Jester Hairston
    Jester Hairston
    Jester Joseph Hairston was an American composer, songwriter, arranger, choral conductor, and actor. His notable compositions include "Amen," a gospel-tinged theme from the film Lilies of the Field and a 1963 hit for The Impressions, and the Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child".-Early life:Hairston...
    
    , Farian) - 5:09
    • 1992 remix
16. "Auld Lang Syne
    Auld Lang Syne
    "Auld Lang Syne" is a Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song . It is well known in many countries, especially in the English-speaking world; its traditional use being to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight...
    
    " (William Burns
    William Burns
    William Burns may refer to:*William Chalmers Burns , Scottish evangelist and missionary*William D. Burns , Illinois State Representative...
    
    , Traditional) - 2:34

Personnel

• Liz Mitchell
  Liz Mitchell
  Liz Mitchell is a singer, best known as the former lead singer of the 1970s disco/pop band, Boney M.-Early life:...
  
   - lead vocals (except trk. 2, 5, 6, 9, 16), backing vocals
• Marcia Barrett
  Marcia Barrett
  Marcia Barrett , is one of the original singers with the vocal group, Boney M.-The early years:...
  
   - backing vocals (track 11, 12, 15)
• Frank Farian
  Frank Farian
  Frank Farian , is a German record producer and songwriter. He started out as a trained cook before moving into the music industry...
  
   - backing vocals
• Reggie Tsiboe
  Reggie Tsiboe
  Reggie Tsiboe was born on 7 September 1950 in Kumasi was one of the lead singers of the disco group Boney M. between 1982-1986 and later between 1989-1990....
  
   - lead vocals, backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 & 16)
• London Christmas Choir - choir
  Choir
  A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
  
   (tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13 & 14)
• Amy & Elaine Goff - lead- and backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 5, 6, 9 & 16)
• London Philharmonic Orchestra
  London Philharmonic Orchestra
  The London Philharmonic Orchestra , based in London, is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom, and is based in the Royal Festival Hall. In addition, the LPO is the main resident orchestra of the Glyndebourne Festival Opera...
  
   - orchestra

Release history

• 1992 EU: Hansa / BMG 74321 119332.
• 1998 Germany: "A Wonderful Christmas Time" BMG-Ariola
• 1998 UK: "Christmas Party" Camden 74321 607882.
• 2003 UK: "Christmas Party" Camden 74321 607882 (alternate album art).

Single releases

Germany

7"

• "Christmas Megamix" ("Mary's Boy Child
  Mary's Boy Child
  "Mary's Boy Child" is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. With its religious content, it is also widely performed as a Christmas carol....
  
  /Oh My Lord") (Radio Edit) - 3:58 / "Zion's Daughter" (MCI/BMG
  BMG
  Bertelsmann Music Group, , was a division of Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Japan's Sony Corporation of America on October 1, 2008. It was established in 1987 to combine the music label activities of Bertelsmann...
  
  74321 11933-7, 1992)

CD

• "Christmas Megamix" (MCI/BMG 74321 11933-2, 1992)
  1. "Christmas Megamix" (Radio Edit) - 3:58
  2. "Zion's Daughter"
  3. "When a Child Is Born"
  4. "Christmas Megamix" - 5:09

Sources and external links

• Rate Your Music, detailed discography
• Discogs.com, detailed discography
• [ Allmusic, biography, discography etc.]