This CD is reissued by ArkivMusic.
Notes and Editorial Reviews
"There was a time, perhaps not too long ago, when the holiday season didn't seem quite so loud... Back then, or so we imagine, the holidays were as soothing and calm as a winter landscape after a snowfall... On this recording, harpist Ayako Shinozaki (with occasional help from Kazuko Shinozaki, also on harp) takes us back to the holiday season we wish we could remember, a time of almost contemplative intimacy. The songs and carols presented here, all arranged by Hiroshi Aoshima, run the gamut from the ancient to the modern... elegantly arranged and elegantly performed on the instrument of the angels."
-- Jackson Braider
"There was a time, perhaps not too long ago, when the holiday season didn't seem quite so loud... Back then, or so we imagine, the holidays were as soothing and calm as a winter landscape after a snowfall... On this recording, harpist Ayako Shinozaki (with occasional help from Kazuko Shinozaki, also on harp) takes us back to the holiday season we wish we could remember, a time of almost contemplative intimacy. The songs and carols presented here, all arranged by Hiroshi Aoshima, run the gamut from the ancient to the modern... elegantly arranged and elegantly performed on the instrument of the angels."
-- Jackson Braider Read less
Works on This Recording
1.
Joy to the World by Lowell Mason
Performer:
Kazuko Shinozaki (Harp),
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Romantic
Written: 19th Century; USA
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Arranged: Hiroshi Aoshima
2.
O Tannenbaum by Traditional
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Written: Westphalia, Germany
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
3.
Santa Claus is comin' to town by John Frederic Coots
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp),
Kazuko Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1934; USA
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: This selection was written in collaboration with Dizzy Gillespie.
It is included in a medley which also features the carol "Here comes Santa Claus".
Arranged: Hiroshi Aoschima
4.
Concerti grossi (12), Op. 6: no 8 in G minor "Christmas" - 7th movement, Largo "Pastorale" by Arcangelo Corelli
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Baroque
Written: Italy
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
Composition written: Rome, Italy (1708 - 1712).
5.
Fum, fum, fum by Traditional
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Written: Mexico
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
6.
O come, O come Emmanuel by Traditional
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Renaissance
Written: 15th Century; France
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
7.
Ellens Gesang III, D 839/Op. 52 no 6 "Ave Maria" by Franz Schubert
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Romantic
Written: 1825; Vienna, Austria
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
8.
It came upon the midnight clear by Richard Storrs Willis
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Romantic
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
9.
Angels we have heard on high by Traditional
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Written: France
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
10.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Johnny Marks
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1949; USA
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
11.
The Advent by Hiroshi Aoshima
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
12.
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Jesu bleibet meine Freude "Jesu, joy of man's desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performer:
Kazuko Shinozaki (Harp),
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Baroque
Written: 1723; Leipzig, Germany
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
13.
Minuit, Chrétiens "O holy night" by Adolphe Adam
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Romantic
Written: France
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Arranged: Hiroshi Aoshima
14.
Concerti grossi (12), Op. 3: no 12 in C major "Christmas Concerto" - Pastorale by Francesco Manfredini
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Baroque
Written: by 1718; Italy
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
15.
Silent Night by Franz Xaver Gruber
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: Classical
Written: 1818; Austria
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
16.
Holiday Inn: White Christmas by Irving Berlin
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1942; USA
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Transcribed: Hiroshi Aoshima
17.
Here Comes Santa Claus by Gene Autry
Performer:
Ayako Shinozaki (Harp),
Kazuko Shinozaki (Harp)
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1947; USA
Date of Recording: 05/1993
Venue: Harmony Hall, Matsumoto, Japan
Notes: Arranged: Hiroshi Aoshima
This selection was written in collaboration with Oakley Haldeman.
This selection is included in a medley with "Santa Claus is comin' to town".
Featured Sound Samples
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Bach)
Customer Reviews
Average Customer Review: 
( 4 Customer Reviews )
Christmas Harp January 10, 2014
By Edwin C. (Wheaton, IL) See All My Reviews
"Just as the title says, "Beautiful Christmas Melodies." Sensitive arrangements played beautifully."
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Lovely! December 27, 2012
By Joan W. (Gaithersburg, MD) See All My Reviews
"I heard a tidbit of this CD on my local classical station, and knew I wanted it in my collection. Shinozaki does a beautiful job of bringing the peace and tranquility of the season to popular songs and carols. I have it in my car CD player - and it calms me even in the worst traffic and weather during the season!"
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Very unique harp seasonal music December 24, 2011
By Joe W. (Arlington, VA) See All My Reviews
"I've always hated holiday music sung by pop stars, such as Springsteen (who is definately NOT the "boss" in my book). Holiday music should be played and sung by people with real voices and on real instruments; not this artificial stuff which never existed in steal life and sounds so unreal. Holiday music done in the classical music tradition is music that really existed in real time. Ayako's harp playing is so perfect; the sound, the acoustics, the amount of balance between simplicity and orchestration (not trying to overdo it), tempo, etc. is just PERFECT. His playing, his simplicity, and his choice of which carols to combine is incredible. It gives this CD such a warmth to it that you think the was playing just for you. You can listen to this CD a thousand times, and never tire of it. By the way, I'm not a Christian. But there must be a God to create music as beautiful as this and have it played to perfectly. "
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