A Wish for Christmas is the fifth album recorded by Philippine

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

-based vocal ensemble

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 Hangad

Hangad

Hangád is an inspirational vocal ensemble known for songs like Pananatili and Panunumpâ...

. It is also the group's second Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 album, the first being Pasko Naming Hangad

Pasko Naming Hangad

Pasko Naming Hangad is the third album recorded by Philippine-based vocal ensemble Hangad. It is Hangad's first Christmas-themed album, containing original compositions and arrangements of some familiar Christmas songs....

. It is Hangad's shortest album to date, with four tracks.

Track listing

1. "Raymond's Lullaby"
   • Word and music by Marchan Padla and Paulo K. Tirol; vocal arrangement by P. Tirol; instrumental arrangement by J. Guevarra
2. "Child Emmanuel"
   • Words, music and arrangement by Nicky Reyes; instrumental arrancement by Julius Guevarra
3. "Paskong Pinoy Medley"
   • Arranged by P. Tirol
   • Paskong Pinoy Medley is composed of the following familiar Filipino Christmas songs, in this order:
     1. Gabing Payapa ("Peaceful night") – words and music by Felipe de Leon, Sr.
     2. Pasko na Naman ("It's Christmas-time again") – Words by Levi Celerio
        Levi Celerio
        Levi Celerio was a Filipino composer and lyricist who was born in Manila, Philippines. Celerio was a prolific song-writer, with over 4,000 songs to his credit. He is perhaps best-known for being a leaf-player, a feat for which he was put into the Guinness Book of World Records...
        
        ; music by F. de Leon, Jr.
     3. Himig Pasko ("Christmas melody") – Words and music by Serapio Ramos
     4. Maligayang Pasko at Masaganang Bagong Taon ("Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit") (Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year/Christmas Is Come")  – words by L. Celerio, music by Vicente Rubi
     5. Thank You, ang Babait Ninyo ('"'Thank you, you're kind")- composer/lyricist unknown.
4. "Silent Night"
   • Words by Josef Mohr
     Josef Mohr
     Joseph Mohr, sometimes spelt Josef was an Austrian Roman Catholic priest and composer, who wrote the words to the Christmas carol "Silent Night".-Biography:...
     
     ; music by Franz Gruber; arranged by P. Tirol
   • Hangad's version of Silent Night originally appears in their first Christmas album Pasko Naming Hangad
     Pasko Naming Hangad
     Pasko Naming Hangad is the third album recorded by Philippine-based vocal ensemble Hangad. It is Hangad's first Christmas-themed album, containing original compositions and arrangements of some familiar Christmas songs....
     
      (recorded in 2002)

Credits

Instrumentalists

• Piano – Paulo K. Tirol, Nicky Reyes
• Acoustic Guitar – Toto Sorioso
• Electric bass – Brian Sergio
• Double bass/contrabass – Dave Harder
• MIDI programming – Julius Guevarra
• Drums – Dru Ubaldo, Mikah Azurin
• Guiro, African shaker, clave, electronic percussions – Julius Guevarra

Production

• Produced by the Jesuit Music Ministry
  Jesuit Music Ministry
  The Jesuit Music Ministry is a Philippines-based producer and publisher of music for use in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic church. It also manages a group of artists and composers, whose works are widely used in the liturgy of the Holy Mass in the Philippines...
  
  
• Executive producer – JBoy Gonzales, SJ
• Production managers – Julius Guevarra and Mariel de Jesus
• Copywriting – Paulo Tirol

Engineering

• Recording engineer – Robbie Grande and Jett Galindo
• Mixing and mastering – Robbie Grande

Art

• Art direction – James Lin and Paulo K Tirol
• Art and layout – Jon Tolentino

Raymond's Lullaby

Raymond's Lullaby is an original composition by Marchan Padla, a volunteer social worker at Ang Arko ng Pilipinas (an NGO for mentally-handicapped children). "Raymond" is the name of one of Ang Arko's wards, who was afflicted with autism

Autism

Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...

. The final version of the song was the result of a collaboration between Marchan and Hangad. In accordance with Marchan Padla's original intent for writing the song, proceeds of the album will be donated to Ang Arko ng Pilipinas.

Trivia

, The Easter Journey

The Easter Journey

The Easter Journey is the fourth album recorded by Philippine-based vocal ensemble Hangad. The album contains all-original songs intended to be performed for the Easter liturgy in the Roman Catholic Church...

and A Wish for Christmas are the only albums by Hangad

Hangad

Hangád is an inspirational vocal ensemble known for songs like Pananatili and Panunumpâ...

 that do not contain the word "hangad" in the title.

• The album's title "A Wish for Christmas" is taken from the stanza
  Stanza
  In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
  
  s of Raymond's Lullaby.
• The executive producer of A Wish for Christmas, JBoy Gonzales SJ, composed Panunumpa, which appears on Hangad's self-titled debut album
  Hangad (album)
  Hangad is the self-titled debut album of the Philippine-based vocal ensemble Hangad. It contains the singles "Pananatili" and "Panunumpa", the latter of which was popularized by pop singer Carol Banawa....
  
  .
• In the Philippines, the Thank You song at the end of Paskong Pinoy Medley is commonly sung by children at the end of house-to-house carollingshttp://christmas.inq7.net/tales/index.php?story_num=3. The identity of this song's composer or lyricist is unknown.

External links

• A Wish for Christmas – information about the album, including audio samples (lyrics not available).
• L'Arche – Ang Arko ng Pilipinas's mother organization