Christmas Candlelight by Don Slepian

Own the original ultra-limited edition 1986 cassettes printed by the now defunct Fortuna record label out of W. Germany in 1986.

Rich with the warmth and light of the holiday season, a luminous gathering of nineteen original and traditional Christmas favorites lovingly performed on synthesizer, recorders, piano, and guitar.

Making this recording has constantly challenged me to find new meanings and possibilities in the traditional carols that we know so well. It has been my great pleasure to combine classical guitar, tenor and alto recorders, and acoustic piano with the new instruments of today to rediscover the great music of our Christmas heritage.

~~~

I recorded most of this album in 1985 at Tullen Studio in Morristown, NJ USA. I played guitar, piano, the Ensoniq Mirage keyboard, tenor and soprano recorders, and composed the arrangements impromptu.

Back in 1986, this music was released on cassette, and twenty years later I added a few new pieces using my Kurzweil K2600 keyboard. I only made a few copies for friends. Now at last I have made a cover and I will send this music out to those people who might like a little quiet romantic background music at the end of the year. May it serve as your secret sonic antidote to Christmas (or Channukah, or whatever holiday you may be observing) stress, with real candlelight and someone special to share the warmth of the music.

– Don Slepian
Pocono Mountains, USA

Tracklist

1.	We Wish You A Merry Christmas	1:37

2.	Good King Wenceslas	3:04

3.	What Child Is This?	2:10

4.	Away In A Manger	1:12

5.	It Came Upon The Midnight Clear	1:20

6.	Hard The Herald Angels Sing	1:27

7.	Deck The Halls	1:01

8.	O Tannenbaum	1:27

9.	Il Est Ne, Le Divin Enfant	1:19

10.	Silent Night	2:18

11.	Christmas Candlelight	3:39

12.	Little Drummer Boy	2:14

13.	God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen	1:17

14.	I Saw Three Ships	1:33

15.	Angels We Have Heard On High	2:39

16.	The First Noel	2:11

17.	Silent Night (Reprise)	2:31

18.	O Channukah	1:48

19.	December Waltz	2:59

Credits

released November 4, 2022

Instrumentation: Mirage Digital Sampling Keyboard

All arrangements by Dan Slepian. Titles not attributed to composers are traditional.

Produced, arranged, and performed by Don Slepian at Tullen Sound Recording, Morristown, NJ - Executive Producer: Ethan Edgecombe • Engineer: Skipp Tullen. Merry Christmas, Skipp. Graphic design by Nelson & Toews Design, Palo Alto. CA • illustration by Mazzie Toews • Calligraphy by Willian Stewart • Thanks to Ensoniq Corp. for the Mirage Digital Sampling Keyboard that I used to create many new instrumental sounds throughout this recording. Thanks also to Roger Powell of Magnetic Music for the "Texture" Midi Sequencer software that helped me put this music together, and to Ethan Edgecombe of Fortuna Records for many years of encouragement and support.

Digitally remastered by Dan Hersch (Digiprep, Los Angeles). Made in W. Germany 1986.

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