Winter Carols
Encyclopedia
Winter Carols is a studio album
by the American
& UK
folk rock
band Blackmore's Night
. This Christmas
-inspired
album was released in the United Kingdom in October, 2006 and in the United States on November 7, 2006. The cover artwork for this album, painted by Karsten Topelmann, is an adaptation of a street in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
, Germany
, in line with the band's heavy Renaissance
influence. The same street is portraited in the cover of Blackmore's Night's second studio album, Under a Violet Moon
. In the cover of "Winter Carols" the street is painted as winter time, whereas Under a Violet Moons cover takes place on apparently a summer night.
On December 2006, Winter Carols entered at #7 on USA Billboard New Age Charts.
The album won the New Age Reporter Lifestyle Music Award as the Best Holiday Album.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
& UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
band Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night
Blackmore's Night is an English-American traditional folk rock duo led by Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night .-Early:...
. This Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-inspired
Christmas carol
A Christmas carol is a carol whose lyrics are on the theme of Christmas or the winter season in general and which are traditionally sung in the period before Christmas.-History:...
album was released in the United Kingdom in October, 2006 and in the United States on November 7, 2006. The cover artwork for this album, painted by Karsten Topelmann, is an adaptation of a street in Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken , the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, in line with the band's heavy Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
influence. The same street is portraited in the cover of Blackmore's Night's second studio album, Under a Violet Moon
Under a Violet Moon
Under a Violet Moon is a Blackmore's Night's second album released in May 25, 1999 through Edel Music. Under a Violet Moon won the New Age Voice award for the best vocal album of the year.-Track listing:...
. In the cover of "Winter Carols" the street is painted as winter time, whereas Under a Violet Moons cover takes place on apparently a summer night.
On December 2006, Winter Carols entered at #7 on USA Billboard New Age Charts.
The album won the New Age Reporter Lifestyle Music Award as the Best Holiday Album.
Track listing
- "Hark the Herald Angels SingHark! The Herald Angels Sing“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, having been written by Charles Wesley. This is not the version widely known today. A sombre man, Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the...
/ Come All Ye FaithfulAdeste Fideles"Adeste Fideles" is a hymn tune attributed to English hymnist John Francis Wade . The text itself has unclear beginnings, and may have been written in the 13th century by John of Reading, though it has been concluded that Wade was probably the author.The original four verses of the hymn were...
" (traditionalTraditional musicTraditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
) – 3:50 - "I Saw Three ShipsI Saw Three Ships"I Saw Three Ships " is a traditional and popular Christmas carol from England. A variant of its parent tune "Greensleeves", the earliest printed version of "I Saw Three Ships" is from the 17th century, possibly Derbyshire, and was also published by William B. Sandys in 1833...
" (trad.) – 2:40 - "Winter (Basse Dance)" (Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
) – 3:07 - "Ding Dong Merrily on HighDing Dong Merrily on High"Ding Dong Merrily on High" is a Christmas carol. The tune first appeared as a secular dance tune known as "le branle de l'Official" in Orchésographie, a dance book written by Jehan Tabourot...
" (trad.) – 3:16 - "Ma-O-TzurMa'oz Tzur"Ma'oz Tzur" , is a Jewish liturgical poem or piyyut. It is written in Hebrew, and is sung on the holiday of Hanukkah, after lighting the festival lights. The name is a reference to the Hasmonean stronghold of Beth-zur. This Hebrew song is thought to have been written sometime in the 13th century...
" (trad.) – 2:19 - "Good King WenceslasGood King Wenceslas"Good King Wenceslas" is a popular Christmas carol about a king who goes out to give alms to a poor peasant on the Feast of Stephen . During the journey, his page is about to give up the struggle against the cold weather, but is enabled to continue by following the king's footprints, step for step,...
" (trad.) – 4:44 - "Lord of the DanceLord of the Dance (hymn)Lord of the Dance is a hymn with words written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1967. He adapted the tune from the American Shaker song "Simple Gifts"...
/ Simple GiftsSimple Gifts"Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848 by Elder Joseph Brackett.It has endured many inaccurate descriptions. Though often classified as an anonymous Shaker hymn or as a work song, it is better classified as a dance song.-Lyrics:...
" (Sydney CarterSydney CarterSydney Bertram Carter was an English poet, songwriter, folk musician, born in Camden Town, London. He is best known for the song "Lord of the Dance" , set to the tune of the American Shaker song "Simple Gifts", and the song "The Crow on the Cradle", adapted from an old folk song...
/ Joseph BrackettJoseph BrackettJoseph Brackett Jr. , an American songwriter and Elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing , was born in Cumberland, Maine, and died in the Shaker community of Sabbathday Lake at New Gloucester, Maine.Brackett is known as the author of the Shaker dancing song "Simple...
) – 3:34 - "We Three KingsWe Three Kings"We Three Kings", also known as "We Three Kings of Orient Are" or "The Quest of the Magi", is a Christmas carol written by the Reverend John Henry Hopkins, Jr., who wrote both the lyrics and the music. It is suggested to have been written in 1857 but did not appear in print until his Carols, Hymns...
" (trad.) – 4:48 - "Wish You Were HereWish You Were Here (Rednex song)"Wish You Were Here" is a ballad by the Swedish band Rednex, off their first album Sex & Violins.Although not a hit in the United States, unlike "Cotton-Eye Joe", "Wish You Were Here" was a hit in Austria, Germany, Norway and Switzerland, even managing to reach number one.-Cover versions:* The song...
" (Leskelä Teijo) – 5:02 (from Shadow of the MoonShadow of the MoonShadow of the Moon, released in 1997 on Edel Music, is the first album by musical group Blackmore's Night. It stayed on the German charts for 17 weeks.-Track listing:#"Shadow of the Moon" – 5:06...
) - "EmmanuelO come, O come, EmmanuelO come, O come, Emmanuel is a translation of the Latin text by John Mason Neale and Henry Sloane Coffin in the mid-19th century. It is a metrical version of a collation of various Advent Antiphons , which now serves as a popular Advent hymn...
" (trad.) – 3:32 - "Christmas Eve" (Blackmore, Candice NightCandice NightCandice Night is an American vocalist/songwriter and the musical partner of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She is the lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and lyricist for the traditional folk rock project, Blackmore's Night since its origins in 1997.-Biography:Born in Hauppauge, Long Island, New...
)– 4:20 - "We Wish You a Merry ChristmasWe Wish You a Merry Christmas"We Wish You a Merry Christmas" is a popular secular sixteenth-century English carol from the West Country of England. The origin of this Christmas carol lies in the English tradition where wealthy people of the community gave Christmas treats to the carolers on Christmas Eve such as 'figgy...
" (trad.) – 1:21
Personnel
- Ritchie BlackmoreRitchie BlackmoreRichard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
– arrangementArrangementThe American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mandolaMandolaThe mandola or tenor mandola is a fretted, stringed musical instrument. It is to the mandolin what the viola is to the violin: the four double courses of strings tuned in fifths to the same pitches as the viola , a fifth lower than a mandolin...
, nyckelharpaNyckelharpaA nyckelharpa , sometimes called a keyed fiddle, is a traditional Swedish musical instrument. It is a string instrument or chordophone. Its keys are attached to tangents which, when a key is depressed, serve as frets to change the pitch of the string.The nyckelharpa is similar in appearance to a...
, hurdy gurdyHurdy gurdyThe hurdy gurdy or hurdy-gurdy is a stringed musical instrument that produces sound by a crank-turned rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to a violin...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Candice NightCandice NightCandice Night is an American vocalist/songwriter and the musical partner of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. She is the lead singer, multi-instrumentalist, and lyricist for the traditional folk rock project, Blackmore's Night since its origins in 1997.-Biography:Born in Hauppauge, Long Island, New...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, shawmShawmThe shawm was a medieval and Renaissance musical instrument of the woodwind family made in Europe from the 12th century until the 17th century. It was developed from the oriental zurna and is the predecessor of the modern oboe. The body of the shawm was usually turned from a single piece of wood,...
, pennywhistleTin whistleThe tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and... - Pat Regan – productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, arrangements, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Sir Robert of Normandie (Robert Curiano) – bass
- Sisters of the Moon: Lady Madeline and Lady Nancy (Madeline and Nancy Posner) – harmony vocals
- Bard David of Larchmont (David Baranowski) – keyboards
- Sarah Steiding – violin
- Anton FigAnton FigAnton Fig , known as "The Thunder from Down Under" is a session drummer, noted for his work in David Letterman's house band, the CBS Orchestra. Letterman often refers to Fig as "Anton Zip"or "Buddy Rich Jr."...
– drums - Albert Dannemann – bagpipes, backing vocals
- Ian Robertson and Jim Manngard – backing vocals