Boston Pops - Joy To The World (1992)

At first glance, this seems to be a typical pops orchestra/chorus Christmas release, but I found it different than most for 3 reasons:

1. The inclusion of a medley of seldom-heard carols written by Alfred Burt (1920 - 1954), which I've loved since I first heard them in the early 1980's (track 7),
2. a medley consisting of traditional holiday music from other lands (track 10), and
3. John Williams works in three of his own compositions written for the popular 1990 movie, Home Alone (tracks 5, 6, & 9).

There's also a little cheese included in the form of Robin Williams delivery of 'Twas The Night Before Christmas while the program ends with some standard Christmas Concert repertoire: a sing-along medley for maximum audience participation.

Tracks:

Highlights are tracks 1, 7, 8, 10, 12, & 13. I seem to be partial to the medleys today.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: My father was a huge fan of The Boston Pops as long as I can remember - ever since the days that the group was led by Arthur Fiedler. I inherited this and many other Boston Pops CDs upon his passing and, serendipitously, the lead track here, a popular medley arranged by Leroy Anderson, was usually the first bit of Christmas music I heard each year as a child when my father would turn on his "Christmas Mix" reel-to-reel recording when it was time to decorate the tree.

I was teaching middle school band when this CD was released and am amused to see the Home Alone tracks because of my students' affinity for that movie. At some point in October, I started handing out Christmas music to the students for possible inclusion in the band's concert in December. If the music was heard in the Home Alone movie (Carol Of The Bells, Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree, White Christmas, etc.), students would scream "That's the song from Home Alone!" as if they had just discovered penicillin. I'm fairly certain most had seen the movie dozens of times on VHS. All these years later, I still don't think I've seen the thing.

Previously revisited for the blog:
By Request (1987)