Music for Christmas from the Vatican, in MP3 format (all free)

The Vatican ^

[Stoat]

Here are pages from the Vatican website where free downloads of Christmas music are available.

Hymns for the Celebrations of the Liturgical Year, Pontifical Musical Chorus of the Sistine Chapel

Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music - The Musical Offering in MP3

 

Yes, I know that some may complain that this posting is too early in the year for a Christmas-related post, but there are a few reasons why I do this at this time:

• It takes some time to download, re-master, burn and package custom CD's.  I'm hoping that this thread can also serve as a forum for the exchange of information, tips and tricks on how to do this.  Many lovers of good music are not technical experts and will appreciate a friendly,  kind and helpful hand in working their way through the technical aspects of burning music CD's and in producing pleasing cover artwork.
• Many of us (myself included) have friends or relatives in Europe or elsewhere who might enjoy a CD of excellent Christmas music.  Such a CD needs to be produced and mailed well in advance of Christmas in order for the recipient to be able to enjoy the music during the Christmas season, given the slow pace of international mail.
• I am hoping that others may post additional links to free and legal Christmas music or artwork-related websites or sites that offer technical assistance on CD burning.

[Stoat]

Catholic / Christmas ping!

 

[BreitbartSentMe]

bookmark for later, thanks

[livius]

Wow, thank you! These are great!

[alisasny]

Kmarts in my area are already playing holiday music.

[Stoat]

bookmark for later, thanks

You're quite welcome, and I hope that it will bring joy to you and yours   :-)

[NYer]

Wish I had a mp3 player :-(

[Stoat]

Wow, thank you! These are great!

You're quite welcome!  I hope that the music will bring great joy to you and your friends   :-)

[Stoat]

Kmarts in my area are already playing holiday music.

• I will bet you a hot fudge sundae that the music available on the Vatican website is of a dramatically higher quality than what is played on the K-Mart PA system  :-)
• As I mentioned in my post, I am not interested in "pushing the season" as so many commercial entities tend to do.  My intent in posting this information at this time is in response to the realities of the time required to produce a custom CD as well as the international mail transit times.
• Even though I dislike it when businesses 'push the season' in this way, I hope that they are at least playing 'traditional' Christmas music that actually MENTIONS CHRISTMAS, JESUS, and GOD, as opposed to these syrupy "PC" tunes that only refer to "holidays" and seem to take a great effort to avoid mentioning the actual meaning of the season.

[thegreatbeast]

bttt

[livius]

I bought one a couple of months ago and I love it. I got a Zen bottom-of-the-line (about $60) and I love it. Tiny and easy to use, and it has plenty of storage space for my purposes. I had to get better earpieces because I have small ears and the ones that came with it were uncomfortable, but otherwise I have no complaints.

If you want to use ITunes, you have to have an IPod, but if you just want to download MP3 files, a good clone will do.

[Stoat]

Wish I had a mp3 player :-(

If you have a CD player at home or in your car that won't play MP3's, you can convert the MP3 files into WAV format and then burn those files to the CD, which should then play on most CD players.

Many computer-based media players will have the ability to convert MP3 files to WAV, and you can also use standalone audio converters to do this.

If you do a search for "MP3 to WAV converter" you will get many hits, some of which will include freeware options.

[ArrogantBustard]

later

[BreitbartSentMe]

Download iTunes from www.apple.com (either or Mac or PC) I believe it will allow you to import MP3s, and then you can burn the resulting playlist onto a music CD that can play in any regular CD player.

[BreitbartSentMe]

Really, you don't have to have an iPod to use iTunes, you can either use it to play music on your computer, or burn the music onto CDs that can be used anywhere.

[siunevada]

some may complain that this posting is too early in the year

No way! It's a busy time of year.

[backtothestreets]

Thank you! Never too early. Christmas is in my heart year round.

[Stoat]

To all:

A couple of pages that may be of some help:

Burn Your Own Customized CDs         ( A Microsoft page that focuses on their Windows Media Player product, but also contains a video and  "universal" information that may be of help to users of other media players / burners as well)

Media - Templates - Microsoft Office Online   (Free downloadable templates for making your own CD face labels as well as cover inserts )

I'm hoping that others will feel free to post their own links to "help" pages as well as their own personal recommendations and hints.  Many music lovers may be wanting to make a CD of their own but may be too shy to ask for help.

[Stoat]

some may complain that this posting is too early in the year

No way! It's a busy time of year.

Thanks   :-)  Downloading all of the music and then making up a custom CD for friends takes time, not to mention the considerable transit time for an overseas package. We don't want our British or Aussie Friends to get our CD's only two days before Christmas, do we?  :-)

 

some may complain that this posting is too early in the year

No way! It's a busy time of year.

[Stoat]

Thank you! Never too early. Christmas is in my heart year round.

You're welcome   :-)  What a wonderful sentiment!