Well, it’s the 11th day of Christmas by my medieval calendar, so I can get in another two posts on this before Christmas officially ends. And, purely by coincidence, it’s more medieval […]
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Christmas music (19)–Best 20th century choral Christmas music albums
There isn’t just one, so I’m suggesting a bunch here. The first two come from the English Group Polyphony, with two albums called O magnum misterium (note the middle English spelling) and […]
The Shortest Day
A poem by Susan Cooper read every year at The Revels in Cambridge, and, for all I know, at all the other Revels celebrations around the country as well. It speaks for […]
Christmas music (18)–Best "New Age" Christmas album, but it isn't, really
God knows I hate the fact that I even have to consider this a category. But there it is. Every year brings out a reprise of that awful Mannheim Steamroller Christmas album, […]
Christmas music (17)–Themes and Variations
We all know that many modern Christmas carols and songs derive from earlier versions. Musical history is full of these little evolutions. Some of our favorite carols turn out to be something […]
Holiday gifts that make a difference: Good Gifts and Farm Africa
One of the things we have done in Christmases past is to check out the Good Gifts catalog here in the UK. And it turns out that you can do this online […]
Christmas music (16)–Best Christmas Oratorio
Big surprise, I’m going with Bach rather than Handel in this category. He seems like the obvious choice, and in this case you can’t argue with it–the opening alone is one of […]
Christmas music (15)–Best German Medieval Christmas album
Ah, finally. Medieval Christmas music is by far my favorite category, since this is what I listen to most of the time. Being in London helps, because whenever I used to go […]
Christmas music (14)–Best Christmas album by a European medieval babe group
This would be Eya Pueri, by Discantus. Discantus is a French medieval babe group, and the only difference between them and Anonymous 4 is that there are more of them–eight singers, as […]
Christmas music (13)–Best Boston Camerata Christmas album
This is hard. There are so many to choose from. We started going to their concerts in the 1970s when we were living in Providence, and have been going for decades, actually, […]
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