Music audiobooks

Though carols are traditionally associated with Christmas, this was not always the case. “Carol” comes from the French word 'carole' which means circle dance accompanied by singing. It was part of any festivity and gradually came to be associated with holidays like Christmas. In England, festivities were banned following the Civil War and Protestantism, but many song writers and Protestants wrote musical works to be sung at Christmas and these were referred to as “carols.”

Today, Christmas anywhere in the world is incomplete without carol singers and songs. They celebrate the season, the birth of Christ, the joy of the holidays and convey good wishes and cheer to list...

A selection of twenty hymns sung in this recording.

A biography of the Polish composer and virtuoso pianist Frédéric Chopin and a critical analysis of his work by American music writer and critic James Huneker.

Josephine Preston Peabody was an American poet and dramatist. She was born in New York and educated at the Girls’ Latin School, Boston, and at Radcliffe College.

This year's LibriVox selection of traditional favourites and lesser-known Christmas carols in English, French, German and Latin, including a 17th century harmonisation of a plain chant melody from Susan, French poems set to original music by Ezwa, and Ryan's version of Händel's Hallelujah Chorus. The singers wish all listeners around the world a happy and peaceful Christmas. The Story That Never Grows Old: Words by James M. Gray (1851 - 1935); music by Ira D. Sankey (1840 - 1908) From Far Away: Words edited by Henry Ramsden Bramley (1833 - 1917); music edited by Sir John Stainer (1840 - 1901). Oh du fröhliche: Sicilianisches Fischerlied. A Virgin Most Pure: Anonymous English manuscript, c...

LibriVox volunteers bring you this year's selection of 23 sacred and secular carols, hymns and Christmas songs, in English, French, German, Japanese and Latin.

"Originally modeled on the Psalms and other poetic passages (commonly referred to as "canticles") in the Scriptures, Christian hymns are generally directed as praise and worship to the monotheistic God. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly. Since the earliest times, Christians have sung "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs", both in private devotions and in corporate worship (Matthew 26:30; 1 Cor 14:26; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13; cf. Revelation 5:8-10; Revelation 14:1-5). One definition of a hymn is "...a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung and which expresses the worshipper's attitude toward God or God's p...

This year's LibriVox selection of traditional Christmas carols, hymns and songs in English, French, German, Greek, Italian and Ukrainian. We wish you all a happy and peaceful Christmas. English: All Children are on Christmas Eve - Words & Music: Rev. Charles L. Hutchins (1838-1920). Angels from the Realms of Glory - Words: James Montgomery (1771-1854); Music: Henry T. Smart (1813-1879). Angels We Have Heard on High - Words: French Carol, trans. James Chadwick (1813-1882). Music: 'Gloria' French carol melody. The Babe of Bethlehem - Old Kentish carol, arr. Henry R. Bramley (1833-1917) & John Stainer (1840-1901). The First Nowell - traditional English carol, first published in its current ...

For the past few years we have celebrated the anniversary of LibriVox with a collection loosely themed on the number of the anniversary year. This year is no exception.Readers have contributed 88 recordings in Dutch, English, French, German, Japanese, Polish and Yiddish, and this feast of fiction, poetry, essays, articles and musical items ranges from lectures to love letters, science to songs, travel to taxes, and politics to pirates, spiced with a dash of humour.It has, as always, been enormous fun for the readers and singers, and we hope that you, the listener, will gain just as much enjoyment as we have had producing it. (Introduction by Ruth Golding) Some additional notes: Section 5...

This collection was a joint effort by the chaplains of the US Army and the Navy to meet the needs of divine services conducted in the Army and Navy, and for, in the compilers' words, "the upbuilding of patriotic citizenship." These 20 hymns from the book were selected by the singers.