The Robert Shaw Chorale CD

• A Fred Waring Protégé, Robert Shaw Led the Most Widely-Known and Respected Choral Organization in the U.S. 

• The Robert Shaw Chorale Made a Number of Charting Albums for RCA, but Their Definitive Recording Will Always Be Christmas Hymns and Carols Vol. 1 

• This Real Gone Reissue Presents the 1957 Re-Recorded Stereo Version of the Album, Which First Charted in 1949 as a Box of Four Mono 78’s 

• The 1957 Release Hit #5 on the Charts, and Charted Three More Times in the ‘60s 

• Expanded Version Includes Two Songs That Appeared on the Mono Version but Were Left Off the Stereo Version, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (Which Appears in Stereo) and “I Sing of a Maiden” 

• Liner Notes by Gene Sculatti 

• Newly Remastered by Maria Triana at Battery Studios in New York 

• Seamless Medleys, Breathtaking Harmonies, and Beautiful Fidelity Make This Album a Christmas Classic for the Ages 

Robert Shaw was a Fred Waring protégé who, by the end of his 17-year tenure heading The Robert Shaw Chorale, had fashioned arguably the most widely-known and respected professional choral organization in the United States. The Chorale recorded a number of charting albums, all for RCA Victor, but the one that will always be considered their definitive recording is this Christmas album, presented here in its 1957 re-recorded stereo version (like a lot of popular Christmas albums of the day, Christmas Hymns and Carols had several incarnations, first appearing in the ‘40s as a box of four 78 rpm discs). The album went to #5 on the charts in 1949 and 1957, then hit the charts another three times during the ‘60s; one could argue that, with its seamless medleys and majestic harmonies, it is to this day the gold standard for choral Christmas recordings. Not only does our Real Gone reissue boast a fresh remastering by Maria Triana at Battery Studios in New York and new liner notes by Gene Sculatti, but we have also added two songs that appeared on the mono version of the album but somehow got left off the stereo: “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming” (for which we actually did find a stereo master) and “I Sing of a Maiden.” Merry Christmas!

1. O Come All Ye Faithful/The First Nowell/O Little Town of Bethlehem
2. O Come, O Come, Emanuel/Away in a a Manger/Silent Night
3. Joy to the World/It Came upon a Midnight Clear/Angels We Have Heard on High
4. Christmas Hymn/Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
5. God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/My Dancing Day/I Wonder as I Wander
6. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella/Patapan/We Three Kings
7. Coventry Carol/Shepherd's Carol
8. Go Tell It on the Mountain/Carol of the Bells/Wassail Song/Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly
9. Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming
10. I Sing of a Maiden