Product Description

Liz Story and bassist Joel Di Bartolo collaborate on this acoustic collection of beloved carols, hymns, chants and secular standards.
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: STORY,LIZ
Title: GIFT
Street Release Date: 09/23/1997
Domestic
Genre: XMAS VOCAL

Track Listing

1. Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella/When Blossoms Flowered 'Mid the Snows
2. Wassail Song (Here We Come A-Wassailing)
3. In the Bleak Midwinter/O Sanctissima
4. Greensleeves
5. Angels We Have Heard on High
6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
7. We Three Kings of Orient Are
8. Truth from Above/O King of Light and Splendor (How Shall I Fitly ...)
9. O Come Little Children/We'll Dress the House
10. Christmas Song
11. Pange Lingua (Tantum Ergo) /Hymn to the Virgin
12. Il Es Ne le Divin Enfant (Now Is Born the Divine Christ Child) ...
13. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel/Personent Hodie
14. Salve Regina (Hail Queen of Heaven)/O Holy Night

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6915 in Music
• Brand: STORY,LIZ
• Released on: 1994-09-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

From Parents' Choice®
Solo pianist Liz Story performs a collection of mostly traditional English, French, German and Italian carols, some of them dating all the way back to the I 6th and I 7th centuries. A few titles are familiar (We Three Kings of Orient Are), others less so (Wassdil Song). But all are beautifully delivered and give new meaning to spiritual celebration during the holiday season. This is the kind of disc that is perfect for quiet reflection in front of a warm fire or around a tea tray with a few good books about to be read aloud.

Customer Reviews

What A Gift!
Liz Story's album The Gift is just what it says. It is the most soothing Christmas present you can give to anyone. A true joy.

aaahhhhhh......
This CD is all about candlelight, the sound of snow falling, and ginger and molasses. It's the perfect soundtrack to those soft golden memories that play across your mind at Christmastime. This music will make you close your eyes...and sigh...gently....

Solo piano music of depth and artistry
Pianist Liz Story has been a mainstay in the Windham Hill label since her first releases in the 80's. Her dreamy song, "Wedding Rain" showcased a fresh talent that bathed the listener in delicate atmospheres and lovely tonal colorations. But with such lumanescent textures is a corresponding musical intelligence that only comes from being an composer as well as performer (she writes most her music).

This classically-trained talent allows her music to rise above the more superficial "nice sounding background piano music" of this genre. Her style is reminicent at times of the French classical masters Debussy or Ravel for its emphasis on tonal beauty and cascading effects. To me her music has always exuded something special ... something very deep and resonant ... something tangibly spiritual and with a sense of celebration of life.

Story brings these same qualities to her seasonal collection, fittingly titled, "The Gift." In a world riddled with too many cheesy and trite holiday recordings, Story's "Gift" here is a true treasure and sanctuary for music lovers. Its "spirit" is similar to George Winston's legenday recording, "Winter" in the way it creates a sense of solace, warmth and comfort.

Probably the piece that best exudes this sensitive playing is her magical rendition of the beloved English song, "Greensleeves" (track 4) in which she creates a fleeting, transcendent mood through her seamless playing, feathery touch and delicately evocative effects. This piece is emmensely beautiful and moving to hear, transporting you to imaginative vistas and memories.

Especially when doing the more well-known seasonal pieces, it takes true musical insight to find the true, spiritual core of the music to avoid a trite-sounding result. Holiday CD's come and go, but certain ones and certain songs are timeless such as those performed here by Liz Story. The sound quality is excellent with a most-fitting resonance that brings out the rich harmonic overtones of her piano. A most lovely recording. Compositions - 5 stars; Performance - 5 stars; Sound quality - 5 stars.