The International Book of Christmas Carols

by Various, Walter Ehret, George K. Evans Walter Ehret

Book Overview

164 easy arrangements with chords of carols from around the world, complete with lyrics in the original language as well as English. This special collection also includes historical background... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0828903786
• ISBN13: 9780828903783
• Release Date: August 1980
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 2.16 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Still my favorite resource

I agree with the other reviewers'comments. I purchased the book over 20 years ago because I was looking(here in America, and pre-internet, pre-google days!!) for German tunes I'd heard as a child...and was clueless as to the names of the tunes, etc. This book is such a joy to have, a lovely reminder of lovely childhood memories. For the German tunes, the melodies/chord changes/lyrics (and interesting background information) seem accurate. I recommend it wholeheartedly.

My favorite carol book

I bought this book a number of years ago and now have a personal tradition of playing through each and every carol in the book during the Christmas season. Through it, I have learned many carols popular in other countries that we seldom hear in the United States, and some of them have become new favorites of mine. I have used this book so much that the pages have yellowed and the original spiral-bound binding is coming loose, so I am considering buying a new copy. The edition sold here has a different cover and does not appear to be spiral-bound. In any event, I highly recommend this book for anyone sick and tired of hearing nothing but "Jingle Bell Rock" every December.

A nice selection of carols, with historical notes

This is a very good piano-vocal (+guitar chord) anthology of tunes from Europe and America. It is particularly strong in the English, French, German and Scandinavian selections. The Spanish section comprises Catalonian, Puerto Rican, Mexican and other regional carols, yet seems somwhat weak compared to the offerings in other languages. All songs include English translations; many of these translations are lyrical (i.e., they rhyme and fit the meter of the song) rather than literal. A note for choirmasters hoping to include foreign carols in Christmas pageants: there aren't any pronunciation guides or phonetic transliterations of the original lyrics, so if you want to sing the foreign language lyrics, you must be familiar with that language. The book also includes historical notes for most but not all songs, a first-line index and title index, and a guitar chord chart. The illustrations in our edition are rather lame, but musically this is a great book to own!

A wonderful collection of familiar and unfamiliar carols!

Many of the carols in this book would be hard to locate anywhere else. A person who misses Christmas music from his/her youth in a foreign nation will be especially pleased to find a source. It would also be useful for anyone trying to learn about Christmas in other lands. Each piece has the original language as well as English lyrics. Included are carols from English (including African American Spirituals), French, German, Scandinavian, Slavic, Italian, Spanish and Latin sources. Most of the piano music is playable by a person with average ability at the piano. I turn back to this book every year at Christmas.