I originally arranged and recorded five Christmas songs over the period of the three Christmases (1995-1997) I lived in St. Louis, MO. I arranged two verses of each piece to accompany singing at the annual “Happy Birthday, Jesus” celebration at the National Defense Mapping Agency, where I then worked as an Intergraph contractor. After I returned to Huntsville, AL in 1998, I used those arrangements as the basis of my 1998 Christmas Project, “O, Come Let Us Adore Him,” which was my first Christmas CD.
For my 2017 project, I intended to re-record the entire “O, Come Let Us Adore Him” CD using my current instruments. Unfortunately, computer-hardware problems in my studio interfered with my 2017 plans and I saved the project until this year. This year, my plans again changed after I realized that time constraints would prevent me from finishing the re-do in time for Christmas. At the excellent suggestion of a trusted friend, I decided to construct a medley from selected (my selection) verses from the the five pieces I had used as singing accompaniments while in St. Louis.
The pictured Nativity scene is a photograph of the one my parents purchased in Israel and that was displayed in their library on the 1998 Christmas that I took the picture.
Because I had never previously recorded one of my synthesizers that I have owned for years, I used it — my neglected and henceforth unrecorded Kurzweil KME61 for every electric and acoustic bass part and the first medley melody, “The First Noel.” The orchestral strings are Synful Orchestra. I used both my Kurzweil PC3K8 and Yamaha Montage8 for selected parts.
I hope will enjoy listening.
Nice music and the transition between songs virtually seamless. Good job, Mr. Owen – Bravo!