In the Heart of Winter contains familiar holiday songs from around the globe as well as four Robin Spielberg originals that celebrate the Winter season.
instrumentation: piano, cello, flute, percussion, synth
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The Songs:
- In the Heart of Winter [4:51]
- St. Basil’s Hymn [4:11]
- Amazing Grace/Silent Night [4:33]
- What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) [4:04]
- A Change of Season [4:12]
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen [4:30]
- Solstice Celebration [5:28]
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing [3:45]
- Jolly Old St. Nicholas {3:54}
- First Night [3:25]
- Away In A Manger [3:26]
- Still Still Still [3:29]
Please note: this album cover looked like this on the North Star Music label. It is now being manufactured by playMountain Music with updated sequence, cover art and mastering .
In the heart of winter
With snow all around
There is a kindness warm and gentle
Buried in the ground
You can hear her if you listen
Breathing quiet in her sleep
When she awakens you will see
All the secrets that she keeps
In the heart of winter
In the heart of winter
– Robin Spielberg
Reviews
Though her phrasing is thoroughly contemporary and her treatments of the traditional carols completely integrated into a new age motif, the attraction of In the Heart of Winter is, to me, more in the strong set of original holiday songs composed by Ms. Spielberg herself. The CD opens…with In The Heart Of Winter, a contemplatively sentimental tune unique in offering a glimpse of a vocal performance from the artist. Inspired by the fall of Maple leaves in autumn and played with extravagant dexterity, A Change Of Season is imbued with drama and pathos. Solstice Celebration is a light, airy proclamation of the return of the sun. And First Night, an ode to Christmas Eve, is a warm and uplifting tribute. The annual holiday crescendo still months away, Robin Spielberg’s In the Heart of Winter provides an elegant beginning.
– Richard Banks, christmasreviews.com
Anyone would be hard-pressed to figure out how to make prettier, more fitting songs that celebrate Christmas.
–Honolulu Star Bulletin
Robin has captured the feeling of the entire winter season from the last leaf falling in October on into the new year with its snow melting and warmth. Contains wonderful new etheral songs featuring piano, strings, flute and percussion plus 11 holiday songs from around the world. The arrangements are a musical delight. If you only add one Winter/Christmas album to your collection, this should be the one.
– The Gathering Place, Magazine & Resource Guide (Colorado)
Robin Spielberg gives us some of the sweetest piano renditions of carols yo may ever hear. The delicate piano she plays takes us away from the harried schedules, traffic jams, and long lines…an excellent album.
– New Texas Magazine
Pianist Robin Spielberg begins her holiday album with “Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” the epitome of chipper. She caresses her lullaby, “In the Heart of Winter,” with a soft vocal that captures the magical anticipation of a child’s Christmas Eve bedtime. Spielberg has a lively and s ensitive style playing solo, and the occasional cello, flute, fiddle, bells, whistle, and drum add perfect “olde” accents to traditional carols. “Amazing Grace” and “Silent Night” are tenderly melded (with just a ray of synthesizer), freeing the “redeem ing” power of both songs. I’ve listened to this album many times (in August, remember), and I appreciate her grace and musicianship more with each listening. This album is “right on” from the core out: balance, exquisite phrasing, responsive touch, lovely piano tone, moving original compositions.”
– Carol Wright, Music Editor, NAPRA REVIEW
The music lifted my spirit and opened me to deep inner peace–great winter listening.
– Anne Thiel, MOUNTAIN LUMINARY
In the Heart of Winter is sure to touch your heart forever.”
– Robert Carver,Times Newspaper Group
Infectious fun!
– David Hinckley, New York Daily News
Her playlist includes eleven traditional holiday favorites, pl us four well-written originals, which convey the spirit of the season. An interesting touch was the medley of “Amazing Grace” and “Silent Night”… Spielberg’s velvety touch on the keyboards brings a light, refreshing mood to this recording.”
– Dirty Linen Folk, Electric Folk, Traditional & World Music Magazine
Spielberg’s piano playing is graceful and deft. Her original compositions are evocative of the season, especially “Solstice Celebration”, which is sure to become a holiday standard.
– Branch