Winter Light: Music in Honor of Advent, Christmas, and Wintertime
Advent
is such a "thin place" for me... This year, among other insights it
has given me, is the realization that winter is a time of latent
potential. This darkness is not beautiful only because it will give way
to light but because it has its own hidden light. The power of water
lies under the ice. The life of the flowers and trees lies beneath the
soil. Hibernating creatures sleep within their burrows and caves. The
preborn child lives within the womb and the Virgin waits. Winter is
fully alive in its sleep and its hidden power.
...It is to this hidden power of winter that this month's Christmas collection gives tribute...
The Old World
The Christmas Revels - In Celebration of the Winter Solstice
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mRMwdyBpkYJipTU28b3zXDX2ytdGOZdAs&si=DKzngr9J79vIbtLs
This is the first of many Christmas and Yule themed albums released by John Langstaff's Revels choir, and it is a true classic! Lesser-known songs and dances of the season are highlighted, especially Medieval and British carols such as traditional wassailing carols, "The Boar's Head Carol," "Nova! Nova!", and "Alle Psallite Cum Luya." Recorded in the 1978, it explores the potential of stereo recording to recreate the feeling of sound coming from different places throughout a song. Poignant recitations from literature and specially composed verses perfect the atmosphere of timelessness and unity with the past.
Maija Kauhanen - "Pinnalla / Floating" (LIVE Tenho Restobar Helsinki 2017)
Maija's
original compositions for the traditional Finnish kantele evoke at once
the sensuous, mystical quality of a Fleetwood Mac song and the eerie,
almost ritual beauty of traditional Finnish music. Note that she produces all theses sounds live and without a looping pedal!
Jonna
Jinton comments: "The Singing Ice of Storsjön is a journey into the
soul of the cold winter nights. Every year, as the ice grows on the
lake, it creates otherworldly
sounds that seem to echo from another realm. The first time I heard
them, I was completely captivated. It felt as though the spirit of the
ice was alive, singing through the frost and darkness. I’ve
spent many cold winter nights on the frozen lake where I live, called
Storsjön, recording, listening and feeling inspired. And those nights
have now become this album. They are haunting yet soothing, like
whispers from the depths of nature, and I hope they bring a sense of
calm and wonder to all who listen."
The full-length recording:
Welsh Plygain Carols
In Wales, a traditional singing service called "plygain" was held for centuries between three and six in the morning to welcome in Christmas, rather like the Midnight Mass of Catholic tradition. A unique trademark of the music at plygain services were powerful three- or four-part harmonies for male singers; at modern plygain services, women are now welcomed to participate in the singing. What a strong, beautiful sound this style of singing produces, full of a feeling of community and joy...
Gwilym Bowen Rhys, Gethin Griffiths, Stephen Rees - "Deffro, Ddaear, Llawenha"
Live Performance of "Ar fore dydd Nadolig" (singers credited in clip)
John Michael Talbot - The Birth of Jesus
https://open.spotify.com/album/520nuXTdQySGUSpNEnDzgi?si=XWjo68JXQK-29-GhuEYV9
John
Michael Talbot’s album “The Birth of Jesus” retells the Christmas story
in song with both original compositions that are based closely on the
Gospel accounts and traditional chants and carols of the season. I first
discovered this album in my childhood, and its classical, baroque, and
medieval influences fired my imagination and touched my soul with the
spirit of being a “troubadour for the Lord,” like Saint Francis and his
followers.
The New World
George Winston- "Joy," "Linus and Lucy"
I have felt even more nostalgic than usual for these past few Christmases for the beautiful "new age piano" music that I grew up with from the likes of David Lanz at Christmas time. The late, great George Winston is yet another giant in this genre; for me nowadays, it doesn't feel like Christmastime until I have heard George Winston's renditions of the Vince Guaraldi classics from A Charlie Brown Christmas as featured on his album Linus and Lucy! "Joy" is his free interpretation of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Linus and Lucy- Personal highlights: "Skating," "Linus and Lucy"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nJnQLWGRS-sjQ-iT9SXdWq0curBb8LbKU&si=2VPuAiMonoo30AXK
Maija's original compositions for the traditional Finnish kantele evoke at once the sensuous, mystical quality of a Fleetwood Mac song and the eerie, almost ritual beauty of traditional Finnish music. Note that she produces all theses sounds live and without a looping pedal!
Jonna
Jinton comments: "The Singing Ice of Storsjön is a journey into the
soul of the cold winter nights. Every year, as the ice grows on the
lake, it creates otherworldly
sounds that seem to echo from another realm. The first time I heard
them, I was completely captivated. It felt as though the spirit of the
ice was alive, singing through the frost and darkness.
I’ve
spent many cold winter nights on the frozen lake where I live, called
Storsjön, recording, listening and feeling inspired. And those nights
have now become this album. They are haunting yet soothing, like
whispers from the depths of nature, and I hope they bring a sense of
calm and wonder to all who listen."
The full-length recording:
Welsh Plygain Carols
In Wales, a traditional singing service called "plygain" was held for centuries between three and six in the morning to welcome in Christmas, rather like the Midnight Mass of Catholic tradition. A unique trademark of the music at plygain services were powerful three- or four-part harmonies for male singers; at modern plygain services, women are now welcomed to participate in the singing. What a strong, beautiful sound this style of singing produces, full of a feeling of community and joy...
Gwilym Bowen Rhys, Gethin Griffiths, Stephen Rees - "Deffro, Ddaear, Llawenha"
Live Performance of "Ar fore dydd Nadolig" (singers credited in clip)
John Michael Talbot - The Birth of Jesus
https://open.spotify.com/album/520nuXTdQySGUSpNEnDzgi?si=XWjo68JXQK-29-GhuEYV9
John Michael Talbot’s album “The Birth of Jesus” retells the Christmas story in song with both original compositions that are based closely on the Gospel accounts and traditional chants and carols of the season. I first discovered this album in my childhood, and its classical, baroque, and medieval influences fired my imagination and touched my soul with the spirit of being a “troubadour for the Lord,” like Saint Francis and his followers.
The New World
George Winston- "Joy," "Linus and Lucy"
I have felt even more nostalgic than usual for these past few Christmases for the beautiful "new age piano" music that I grew up with from the likes of David Lanz at Christmas time. The late, great George Winston is yet another giant in this genre; for me nowadays, it doesn't feel like Christmastime until I have heard George Winston's renditions of the Vince Guaraldi classics from A Charlie Brown Christmas as featured on his album Linus and Lucy! "Joy" is his free interpretation of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Linus and Lucy- Personal highlights: "Skating," "Linus and Lucy"
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nJnQLWGRS-sjQ-iT9SXdWq0curBb8LbKU&si=2VPuAiMonoo30AXK
"Joy" from the album December
"Joy" from the album December
"Walking in the Air" from Kenny Loggins' December
Last Christmas, I shared with you the soundtrack from "The Snowman," which include some of my favorite winter songs, "Walking in the Air." Kenny Loggins has a talent for drawing forth the spirit of childhood with many of his songs, and his soulful, soothing, and wonder-filled interpretation of "Walking in the Air" from his classic album (also named) December is no exception!
Fernando Ortega - Christmas Songs
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m2y5lWX6hVSOiiE_5-C_7QdpUivngUqjc&si=9BUM0AoH9tps_8xH
A dear dulcimer friend introduced me to this soothing collection of warm contemporary acoustic arrangements of traditional songs of Advent and Christmas by Fernando Ortega. Familiar favorites and lesser known carols together create a wonderful ambience of “warmth in winter”…
"Walking in the Air" from Kenny Loggins' December
Fernando Ortega - Christmas Songs
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m2y5lWX6hVSOiiE_5-C_7QdpUivngUqjc&si=9BUM0AoH9tps_8xH
A dear dulcimer friend introduced me to this soothing collection of warm contemporary acoustic arrangements of traditional songs of Advent and Christmas by Fernando Ortega. Familiar favorites and lesser known carols together create a wonderful ambience of “warmth in winter”…
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