Christmas in Boys Town

An actual 10-inch LP for you today, an early one with the Boys Town Choir that was among Capitol's offerings for the 1949 holiday season.

At that time, Boys Town was a very well known American institution, founded by Rev. Edward Flanagan in 1917, and made famous by two fictional Boys Town films, with Spencer Tracy taking the part of  Father Flanagan. The orphanage for boys was and is near Omaha, Nebraska.

The choir itself is charming in this surprisingly diverse program, although the older boys are distinctly thin sounding, as is often the case with ensembles such as these. The recording is not one of Capitol's best, but serviceable enough.

Father Flanagan had died by the time this record came out, which is nowhere mentioned on the sleeve. The music director for the record was Rev. Francis Schmidt.

More Hymns from Virgil Fox

I thought I would follow up my earlier Virgil Fox posts with another outstanding early collection from the famed virtuoso organist.

This set of great Protestant hymns is a sequel to his A Treasury of Hymns, and is in some ways preferable because it was done on pipe organ rather than an electronic instrument.

These 1957 recordings are from New York's Riverside Church, Fox's own territory, and its Aeolian-Skinner organ.

Promotional flyer from 1957

No recording can convey the physically palpable sound of a great pipe organ, particularly a vinyl pressing with very long sides, which necessarily restrict low frequencies. Nonetheless, this example is fairly successful, giving a good impression of the instrument, if without the gut-shaking deepest tones. I have used an ambient stereo effect to bring out the resonance of the recording space.

This repertoire is highly suited to the holidays, at least for this blogger, being familiar, comforting and inspiring. Hope you enjoy these simple gifts of the season.

All my earlier Fox shares are still available - links are in the comments.

Henri Tomasi and Chistmas in Provence

This delightful music was unknown to me until I acquired the LP at hand, a few years ago. The music is the work of Henri Tomasi, a French composer-conductor of Corsican decent who was a contemporary and associate of Milhaud, Honegger and Poulenc, Like them, his music is highly accessible; unlike them, it is little heard today.

Henri Tomasi

The album, titled Noël en Provence, includes two Christmas-themed choral-vocal works. Side one is devoted to a "Divertissement Pastoral," written for a Mass of the Nativity at the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Frigolet, and setting texts by Alphonse Daudet, Jean Giono, Marie Mauron, Frédéric Mistal and Marcel Pagnol. Side two contains "Douze Noëls de Saboly," on texts by the 17th century Provençal poet Nicolas Saboly.

The performances under the direction of Jacques Jouineau are suitably glowing and sympathetic. The sound combines clarity, warmth and impact in a way that is hard to find in a 21st century recording.

This is perfect for all who have a taste for little-known holiday music. The recording dates from 1963; my French pressing is from a few years later.