Today's Musical Giftstravaganza is from An American Christmas: Carols, Hymns and Spirituals, 1770-1870, by the Boston Camerata, an early music ensemble.→[More:]

Two things I particularly like about this album are: it places the familiar Christmas story close to the land, with "images of nature and fertility, gardens and growth, serving both as a metaphor for religious feelings and as a reminder of daily life,"* and it uses different librettos for familiar tunes, as in the selections below.

Lovely Vine

Adeste Fideles

* Quote from the liner notes, available at the album link above.