Our Review
Dulcimer music is folk magic. Mitzie Collins, one of the greatest dulcimer players ever, and the founder of the family-run Sampler Records, presents pristine simplicity on White Dulcimer Christmas. The 17 tracks, a pleasing combination of holiday favorites and lesser-known jewels, are solo dulcimer instrumentals. The sound is authentic, intimate, and inspired; the strings sing with an animated vibrance that is difficult to duplicate in any other instrumental setting. Dulcimers produce a tone that is haunting, yet sweet, and the overall impression is old-fashioned and other-worldly. The acoustics for this recording include some reverb, and this enhances the ethereal feel. Too cool for words.
These tracks show Collins at her improvisational best, hammering with breathtaking rapidity and a deft touch. Everything's great, but I suppose my favorite cut is the superb Jingle Bells/Jolly Old St. Nicholas/Up on the Housetop medley; in the opening bars, you could just feel that horse pulling the sleigh down the trail, the flying hoofs a blur. The three carols meld marvelously well; Collins' arrangements are uniformly outstanding.
If you love instrumental folk music, you will lose yourself in Mitzie Collins' White Dulcimer Christmas. Some may say that the sound is old-fashioned; I describe it as timeless. Excellent!
--Carol Swanson
(Reviewed in 2007)
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From the liner notes:
Mitzie Collins: hammered dulcimer
Producer: Thomas M. Bohrer
Musical Arrangements: Mitzie Collins
Recorded at Dynamic Studios, Rochester, NY (March-May, 1996)
From the Website:
For years folks have asked, or even begged - Mitzie Collins to make a recording of just the hammered dulcimer - - - of just the Christmas carol arrangements she plays by herself. Finally - that much requested recording has been produced. It was worth the wait, and the nudging from fans. The ringing sounds of the hammered dulcimer unfol many favorite religious and secular Christmas songs. favorites such as "Up on the Housetop" and "Jingle Bells" are included as well as very unusual Danish carols and Russian children's songs for the New Year.
Mitzie Collins
White Dulcimer Christmas
Artist site
Label: Sampler Records
Length: 53 minutes
Genre: Folk
Release: 1996
Track List
| Song Title |
|---|
| White Christmas/Silent Night/Away in a Manger |
| Creator of the Stars of Night/Of the Father's Love Begotten |
| Lulajze Jezuniu (Sleep Little Jesus) |
| Bog Sie Rodzi (God is Born) |
| Jingle Bells/Jolly Old St. Nicholar/Up on the Housetop |
| Deilig Er Den Himmel Blau (Bright and Glorious is the Sky)/Det Kimer Nu til Julefest (The Christmas Bells) |
| What Child Is This |
| It Came Upon the Midnight Clear/O Little Town of Bethlehem |
| Toyland/Parade of the Wooden Soldiers/The Teddy Bears' Picnic |
| Angels We Have Hear on High/While Shephers Watched Their Flocks/Angels from the Realms of Glory |
| Hark the Herald Angels Sing |
| In the Moon of Wintertime |
| Children's Carols from Russia |
| Dzisiaj w Betlejem (Today in Bethlehem) |
| Christ Child's Lullaby |
| The Holly and the Ivy/The Holly Bears a Berry (Sans Day Carol) |
| Deck the Halls |