Carols with Classics

Fortunately, I first encountered this arranger's glorious compilation in "Christmas with a Velvet Touch." Had I started my musical association with Fettke's "Carols with Classics" I would not have gone any further with Fettke. Unfortunately, I agree with one of the previous reviewers. These arrangements just don't...

work. The "merging" of the carols with the classics is ham-handed. Sometimes I can even feel Fettke flail so that these songs come out nice and tidy.

One of my adult students brought this book to her lesson and we worked on the Away in a Manger/Brahms Lullaby combo. I found the interpretations lovely, with interesting harmonies that were still accessible to upper-intermediate level students. I think they are especially enjoyed by students who already...

have a familiarity with classical music, and enjoy melding them with Christmas carols.

I have really enjoyed this book. Not too difficult. I love the mixing of classical w/carols! The challenge is one of musicality.

This is just bad for so many reasons. The blurb states that the arranger "skillfully" connects classical pieces with Christmas carols. There is nothing skillful about these sudden and odd changes from one song to another. The U-turns are baffling. The keys are almost all no sharps or flats...

and one flat and 5 flats?! (sometimes within the same piece) The arrangements of the classical pieces are often odd, simplified in unnecessary ways. There are much better books which are Christmas Carols arranged in the style of famous composers. This is NOT one of them-- the arrangement of each carol has nothing to do with the style of the classical piece attached to it. Big thumbs down on this book.