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Our Review

With the Christmas countdown clock loudly ticking and it nigh time to bring Christmas reviewin' to a close, Peace on Earth was a dauntingly extensive set of sacred carols to dig into this late in the game. This set contains 22 carols and almost 75 minutes of traditional Christmas music performed by Neal Ewers.

The liner notes suggest Mr. Ewers produces such authentic-sounding instrumentals because he uses the state-of-the-art Kurzweil K2500XS keyboard. All of the instrumentals, along with the choral samples, seemed plausibly real to these ears.

Along with its companion, the 2003 release The Joy of Christmas, the sheer completeness of Mr. Ewers work offers itself as a wonderful all-in-two Christmas collection for lovers of soothing instrumental holiday fare.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2005)

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From the liner notes:

Vocal samples courtesy of Spectrasonics' "Symphony of Voices"
Cello samples courtesy of Sweetwater Sound
Cover design by Under The Bridge Publishing, Madison, WI, 608.270.1890.

These carols have been arranged and orchestrated by Neal Ewers to allow the simple beauty of each traditional melody to remain intact. The result is a masterful weaving together of the sound of brass choirs, flutes, oboes, harps, choir voices, string orchestras and a variety of delicate bells into a tapestry that allows carol to sing its own true song.

The carols on this CD were recorded on the Kurzweil K2500XS keyboard. Unlike many keyboards, this state-of-the-art keyboard allows one to record the actual sounds of real instruments; brass choirs, bells, etc., which can then be played with all the variation one might achieve when actually playing the original instrument.

Neal Ewers

Peace On Earth

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Track List