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The joy of reviewing Christmas music comes from calling attention to a rare, novel, or unusual holiday music offering. So, it is with great enthusiasm that I feature Art Garfunkel and Amy Grant's The Animals Christmas, the new Christmas cantata composed by Jimmy Webb.

The Animals Christmas is the story of the nativity told from the point of view of the animals who witnessed it. Joined by the London Symphony Orchestra (Carl Davis, conductor) and the Kings College School Choir (Michael Jenkins, conductor), Garfunkel and Grant offer an inspiring performance of Webb's vision. The CD succeeds as an integral work, achieving a relatively nice balance between orchestral and choral voices. The arrangements are refreshing and all of the melodies will be unfamiliar to garden variety Christmas music listeners. While I would have enjoyed even greater emphasis on the voices of the lead singers, the liberal use of children's voices was a better choice for the material.

There are some highlights that I hope will receive airplay in coming years. I appreciated the climactic Words from an Old Spanish Melody, followed by Carol of the Birds, which featured solo parts by Garfunkel, Grant, and the Kings College School Choir. I also liked the dramatic and percussive Herod.

This music will be enjoyed by fans of Garfunkel and Grant as well as by lovers of serious choral music.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2000)

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Art Garfunkel and Amy Grant

The Animals Christmas

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Track List